Lucky Scops Owl.

About 35 years ago, I first read Richard Millington's book 'A Twitcher's Diary'. It was a diary of a twitchers exploits over the year 1980. Until then, rare birds were just a thing of rumour to me, I had never seen one and wouldn't have known where to look.

On reading his book, I wondered how it was possible to see so many exotic species that, to me, were just pictures in a field guide, yet he was seeing them on a daily basis. Of course, now I know how he did it, but not then.

I would pore over his illustrations with envy, birds like Belted Kingfisher, Pied billed Grebe and Ivory Gull were fantastic creatures. Little did I know that all of those and more would be on my British List 35 years later.

However, one illustration stands out. On the cover is a Scops Owl that spent the summer of 1980 in the village of Dummer, Hants, then the first UK twitchable record. Since then, a few have turned up, but all are on either the south coast or the Northern isles way too far for me to access. Today, that was about to change....

Early this morning a young birder called Tom Middleton was birding a small scrub filled gully near the sea at Sunderland called Ryehope Dene. He saw what he thought was a Yellow browed Warbler fly into a large Elder bush and went to investigate. He raised his bins and saw a movement, but not the expected stripy sibe he was looking for, no, one of the branches moved around and turned out to be an owl, a small one at that! Tom could hardly believe it, he had found a tiny Scops Owl all the way from southern and eastern Europe.

News soon filtered out via social media and people were on the move. Luckily, again, the bird was in the open, on show, in a location where people could not get too close to flush it, but it could be seen well from a footpath only a few yards away.

I was in the office at work, on a half day with commitments at home 25 miles in the opposite direction at 1pm. I had no birding gear with me and was dressed in office clothes. Still, where there's a will, there's a way and I reasoned that some kind birder would let me see through his scope. As it happened, there was no need, ADMc came with me and I used his gear.

We arrived at Ryehope at 11.15am and stayed for half an hour before I needed to get away, but what a bird. We had scope filling views as it preened and stared those large pale cats eyes at us, quite unconcerned. It was fantastic and will not be bettered this year that's for sure.

So, if you think about the odds of one bird, landing in one bush where a birder is looking, and then it stays in the open for people to see well, luck was certainly on Tom's side today....and ours!

This little fluff ball makes my British list 411...

Post Holiday ticking...

Its been over a week since our Suffolk hols now, and I have finally got a round to this photo I took of a Willow Emerald Damselfly on my phone. I wish I had taken my camera on this walk now.

This species is a new colonist to England, and doesn't even appear in my dragonfly guides its so new.
In this very poor photo you can still see the pale buff pterostigma in the wing and the long spur mark in the thorax below the humeral stripe. All a bit technical but these features are quite obvious when you have a look. A new species for me...

Feed the Birds...

Let me take you back to 1974.

Yes, I was birding, well, bird watching, back then at the tender age of 10 years old. My mate Geordie, then aged 60 ( I know, some age difference but with similar interests, I didn't care) used to breed British finches. Siskins, Bullfinches, Redpolls and Greenfinches all had large out door fully planted aviaries made from aluminium greenhouses with the glass removed and wire mesh fitted. One side of the roof and a back wall were covered on the outside with clear corrugated plastic to provide shelter from the elements.

One of my memories of these days was the sweet oily smell of the brown paper bags of John Haith's British Finch seed mix that he used to get delivered, mail order, from Cleethorpes. He would have a mix plus black sunflower, niger and hemp seed all fed in carefully measured quantities to ensure his breeding birds were in the finest fettle for spring. It worked too, the songs of all of these finches echoed around the allotments when we arrived at 6am to start the day. Siskins wheezed and Redpolls chuched to each other from their broom, gorse and larch clad enclosures.

So, imagine my surprise when I got an email from Gemma the Customer Services Manager of Haith's to ask if I would like to try a free sample after she had seen my blog. Er, yes, I would, I like owt for nowt .... So within the week, a parcel arrived with a nice bag of Niger,  a tall niger feeder and a catalogue that that have been put to good use with my goldies. 

It took me right back to the old days when I saw the product. A nice quality seed, with the same logo from back then and, yes, even the brown paper bag was the same...the only difference was that now all my bird interests are wild, just as they should be. Happy Days....Thanks Haiths!

You can see more one their website, click HERE.

  

Proper Autumn..

When I get up for work now I have to put a light on. Same when I come home. Its not dark then, but its 90 minutes away. With this equinoctal ( is that even a word?) lighting, things are changing all around. Leaves are beginning to fall, things smell damp and the Robins Pincushions are reddening up nicely. Just like a page from the Ladybird Book of What to Look for in Autumn.

On Tuesday I found my earliest ever county Yellow-browed Warbler on the coast path when I was out with Bunty at first light. It called twice and stayed unseen. But I knew that was it. The year was passing on.

On Bunty's 'before bed walk' it was still and clear outside, and very mild. Either 4 or 6 Tawny Owls were calling, a pair of which ended up keeping us awake in our garden later, a Barn Owl was hissing and a Golden Plover whistled off key as it flew west in the darkness . The bats feeding under our two streetlights didnt seem to notice.

On Wednesday morning, the YBW was still in the same spot but calling its head off and flickering around the bushes. I noticed for the first time since April that there were no hirundines above our village. None on passage either. Maybe its just our locals have taken advantage of the recent Northerlies to give them a lift on their way?

50 Meadow Pipits, 2 Grey Wagtails and 3 Pied Wagtails headed south without a swallow escort.

This morning, I flushed the YBW from some nettles along the coast path, a very sheltered spot from the southerly breeze. A Whimbrel trilled S and 3 Ruff were with 25 Curlews flying across the bay. Two young Swallows tacked S, but that was all.

In an average year the main arrival time here for Yellow brows is 22nd Sept while our village Swallows tend to move off on 23rd. This year both have been early.

I wonder if it is an omen of something?

Seawatching...

Once was a time when every late Summer through Autumn we would look forward to regular bouts of hypothermia, sat glued to a spot staring out east. In recent years it seems that these opportunities are becoming ever more infrequent, so, it was a pleasure to get out this weekend, on the deckchair, eye screwed into the scope to look for seabirds.

In Northumberland we are spoiled really.

In Suffolk last week I looked out to the sea from Minsmere and all I could see was a sepia looking, wet patch, practically devoid of bird life. If I looked out just down our road, in any month during a flat westerly there would certainly be more birds than down there.

Recent posts on social media, show birders enthusing over '500 Gannets! a record!' or 'Arctic Skua 2, and a Kittiwake, a good patch day'. Up here we don't have time to count Gannets, Kittiwakes or Fulmars. They are present most of the time, like Black headed Gulls. I am not trying to be smug here, not at all, this is just how it is. Its horses for courses really, its just that our county is a great sea watching area, maybe not up with the likes of Cornwall, but over a full year, not far away. We may not do spring, but seawatching, when weather allows, makes up for it I think.

So, on Saturday morning, I took up position at Craster soon after 6.30am and waited. The wind was a moderate NW4, maybe not the best for us where a straight Northerly or North easterly is best, but at least the thick cloud cover prevented the glare from a rising sun.

First bird past was a nice Sooty Shearwater, quite close in too, always a good sign, closely followed by a juvenile skua that looked suspiciously small. As it came closer it was joined by an Arctic Skua and showed an excellent size comparison - a juv Long tailed Skua!

From then on things were steady as she goes with a nicely building list with nothing earth shattering happening until at 7.20 - Great Shearwater! Only my second county record, it came through at close range, indeed the closest bird of the day, so all features could be seen. Superb. At 8.10am it wwas time for home as we had other commitments...

  On Sunday,John and myself headed up to Beadnell where the point should get us closer views of the sea bird passage. We camped out from 07.15 until 11.45 and had a grand morning, with nice birds, but unfortunately, no cigar...

Later in the afternoon, reports were still coming through of good numbers passing with some better species too, so I though I'd give it an hour back at Craster...it paid off with a juv Sabine's Gull N, albeit, a bit distant but ok...

The lack of detail is deliberate in my notes as this was the view I had. My first patch Sabine's too, so seven and a half hours staring across the waves was really worthwhile. Lets hope there are more northerlies in the near future!

For a further impression of my view, see Jonathan's blog in the side bar, he has some video of what may have been the same bird, though a few were reported during the day.

Holiday.....

Last week we were off down to Suffolk on holiday. We stayed in a nice bungalow in Westleton, our seventh visit here, though not to the same house. In this village we have stayed in 5 different properties over the years but we like the area, being quite central for some nice places around about.

Most years we try one week in the north of Scotland and another in the south. Being from Northumberland, a colder, quite dry, county, it makes a change to sample some of the milder climate the south has to offer. On this occasion, however, it did not want to play ball. The week was mixed with some nice fine autumnal spells and some odd heavy rain storms. Luckily we didnt get caught out in one.

On the wildlife front, there is always something of interest for me so far from home, things that might be commonplace to naturalists who live south of the Humber, but do not or very rarely occur in Northumberland. This visit was no exception.

I didn't really put myself out to go seeking out new things, but just kept an open mind to see what would turn up... 

Above - Our digs for the week...

Unfortunately, this happened on several occasions.

Above - When the sun came out though, it was very nice, these pics are the hamlet of Shingle Street.

Blood Vein. A common species over much of England, but I've never seen one at home.

The Dusky Thorn was one I hoped to get in the trap down here. On our first night, the first moth to arrive was this. 

Hornet. What a fantastic beast. I have seen them at Westleton before but have never got close enough for a photo, so one in the moth trap was very welcome.

The Vestal. A scarce migrant moth, rare at home and new for me. This one was caught during the day as it fluttered across the lawn.

Even pest non native species are welcomed in our garden...Rosemary Beetle. New to me.

Brown Argus was a lifer for me having only seen Northern Brown Argus before.

Southwold

Even the storms were good to see. Very dramatic. 

Sizewell to Minsmere, lovely despite the Nuclear Powerstation!

Sheeps-bit

Sea Holly 

Parasol Mushroom. Not new and found regularly at home, but I liked this location...

Sugar table...

In less than optimum conditions my tray of mashed fruit and beer attracted a star turn the other night - a Red Underwing. Only my second after one in 2009, this may be the furthest North Red Underwing in the UK! Note my comment about this species in the previous post, now, where is that Old Lady?

Taking a photo in near black darkness is tricky, so I lit the moth with my headlamp and manually focussed on it with the on camera flash set. I took half a dozen shots and one came out sharp...

Still on the moth theme, decent records continue to arrive this week to more conventional means with 2 Butterbur in the same trap and my first Scarce Bordered Straw, a nice fresh darker specimen....

Scarce Bordered Straw

Butterbur is annual here, but usually only one at a time. This is my first multiple occurrence in the trap. Here with two Rosy Rustics for size comparison.

Grey-Chi seem to be getting scarcer year on year...

Hubble Bubble...

"Eye of newt, and toe of frog,

Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,

Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,

Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing,--

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."

In the days before widely available electricity, those pioneering 19th century moth hunters had to resort to other means at their disposal. Many methods generally involved a lot of knowledge and field craft to find, eggs, larvae or pupae then rearing these through to the adult moth stage.

Catching the imago was quite tricky, by either 'dusking', not the nefarious activity of lurking in suburban car parks, but wandering, net in hand as the light fades to catch moths on the wing or by 'Sugaring'. Dusking was fine but in total darkness, a candle wasn't much use in attracting sought after specimens so bait was used. Things like red wine, beer slops and honey were all used. Moths of certain species naturally feed on nectar, tree sap and aphid honeydew, so this is a natural progression.

There are places in the New Forest where favoured sugaring sites left the patch on a tree for generations of moth collectors to return to, having been impregnated with many years worth of various sweety concoctions.

It is a much less used method nowadays, with the readily available MV light traps and portable generators on hand, but it cant be a bad thing to try some of the old ways. If for nothing else, it will hopefully increase the field knowledge of our familiar insects.

The way to do it is to make up a recipe along the lines of Macbeth's Witches, that will simulate fermenting fruit or sap and painting it in 2" strips on fence posts or trees along a line of about 50 mtrs and checking it regularly to pot up interesting customers. My brew is as follows -

1x Bottle of Brown Ale
1x Tin Golden Syrup or Treacle
1x Bag of Brown Sugar
4x Ripe Pears
1x Over ripe Banana.

All boiled and simmered together then cooled and stored in jars just like Ipin's marmalade until ready for use.

The other day I drained the beery solid mash from the pan and placed it in a plant pot tray in a south facing sunny spot below an old ash tree beside our garden. This pear and banana beer mash is like manna from heaven for the local wasp population, but it also attracted 4 Red Admirals and a Speckled Wood, then once it got dark, my first moth - a Svenssons Copper Underwing. A scarce moth in the garden... Not a lot but you have to start somewhere. My targets are Old Lady ( would be a first for me) and Red Underwing ( my only garden record was in 2009)...

The brew on the boil...

Three Red Admirals getting drunk...

One of the Copper Underwings, Svenssons is the most likely here...

Subbuteo II

On Thursday evening Jane, Bunty and me were walking along the coast road a few hundred metres out of our village when I looked back and saw a small falcon heading towards us. As this bit is often bird free and we were just out with Bunty, I had no binoculars ( school boy error there methinks). Luckily the raptor was flying steadily towards us, quite low, so I prepared myself to get as much on it as I could on a brief fly past. As it came along side, I was over the moon to see not the more likely Merlin, but a fresh juvenile Hobby!

It is early for juvvies but they are on the move soon after fledging sometimes so maybe this one hasn't come too far? They dont breed in Northumberland as far as I am aware? Some years back, on the day the Red necked Stint was at the Wansbeck Estuary, John and myself had a juvenile Hobby at Alnmouth, again flying south, so it can happen.

Our bird passed steadily and on south. It put up a flock of starlings that balled up, when it made a half hearted stoop at them, before continuing on its way. Only my second patch record in 8 years...

Crake!

On Friday ADMc found a Spotted Crake on the Budge Fields at Druridge Pools. This is a big area of tall juncus with muddy patches in the middle, where birds as large as Spotted Redshank can go missing for hours on end, so I didnt bother going. The bird seemed to be typically elusive until Sunday where it began to get a bit more confident and fed out in the open so, as I had a couple of hours free time today, I popped along to try my luck. Lucky I was too, as I had only been in the hide for a couple of minutes when the bird swam out of a thick rush clump and back in. It then appeared on a muddy strip,walked into the water right in the open and began bathing and preening for a while.

Great little podgy creeping birds these, full of character as it sneaked past Snipe and Water Rail, making both look like large birds.

This is the first Spotted Crake Ive seen since the one found here by Steve Taylor in 2002 and is only my 5th ever.

After having my fill, then adding padders to the book such as 3 Ruff, 50 Dunlin, 2 Whimbrel S, Black Tailed Godwit and 1+ Water Rail, it was time to head back to the farm...

Digger Wasp

At the weekend I found this funny faced chap loitering around our sweet peas. It seemed to have a flight route around the border often returning to this leaf. Unusually for an insect of this type, it had a neck and even looked up at me when i took its photo! The massive eyes gave it a comical expression that I had not seen before.

A short sweep of the internet, found it to be a likely Ectemnius cephalotes, a Digger wasp that nests in dead logs or stumps. I have a pile of such nice habitat only a few feet from this fellows hunting path. It feeds on flies and hoverflies apparently.

A nice, medium sized wasp, a new one on me.

White Rumper

After work this evening I popped down to Druridge Budge Hide to look for the White-rumped Sandpiper that has been kicking around the bay over the last week.

It didnt take too long to relocate it feeding along the muddy edges of the field flashes. A nice cold grey little wader and quite easy to pick from the Dunlin once a clear view could be had. These used to be mega in the county but seem almost annual these days.

Also around the scrapes were 1 Little Stint, 40+ Dunlin, 2 Ruff, 1 Spotted Redshank, 50+ Black-tailed Godwit, 20+ Snipe, 2 Garganey and a male Marsh Harrier .

As the wind got up and the light dropped making the birds on the field into blackish silhouettes, it was time for tea. A good couple of hours out...

Anti-social Media.

Once again I have found myself neglecting the blog. Usually I have some reason or another, been busy, other stuff to do etc but lately there is a more sinister reason for this lack of entries. Social Media. Or should I say, Anti-social Media. I spend probably hours gazing at digital imagery on the phone.

In 2006 when I began this blog, I did it as a diary rather than some form of written social statement. I was never going to push the boundaries of anything. Then, some years later,  came Twitter. I like Twitter, you can link with loads of like minded people who you don't know, but they become 'pen pals' if you like. News comes through as it happens, info is passed around and it is like reading a bespoke magazine just for you that never ends.

Remember that bit. It never ends.

When it came to Facebook, I always resisted the connection saying it was just frippery, boring stuff with endless pics of people's meals and cats, but my friend John was on it and not on Twitter so I joined to see what he was posting. So I could see his photos and stuff.

Then smart phones became ever more seductive. Info on the go, at anytime, at a press of a screen. No longer would you be out of touch with mates you'd not seen for ages or people who have moved abroad, no, its like they live next door, or even in the same house! You can join groups and get advice on things you know little about, you can troll those you disagree with too.

This is where all the time goes. I know it and most of you know it too. We hate it. We all think that this social media mullarkey is a right old pain in the arse so why is it so prevalent in our lives? I cant answer that one, but lately I have considered jacking them all in, but cant do it. What if I miss something? Not someones breakfast or cream tea but something important to me, like my nephew's school play or nice pics of the rare bird I have just been to see ( or dipped).

As I have mentioned earlier, this stuff never ends, that's what irritates. There is no escape or down time, because that too will drive you mad. Its like an addiction.

What is there to do about it?

I don't know. I'd like to trim it back and keep my blog updated more, at least that's more writing rather than throw away commenting. I think. I'd like to read books more rather than the inane sometimes aggravating comments on the small screen too.

If you read this, and are not too busy on your phone, leave me a comment, telling me what you do, or try to do with this bloody awful demon in our lives...

Normal service WILL be resumed!




  

Autumn creeps...

I've just been looking through my recent photos and can't find much to post about. They all seem to be moths! Despite a few identification cock-ups, this has been a decent season for new species in the garden, and August always has potential for more.

Meanwhile, sitting counting moths, more groggy than a zombie on methadone due to too many late nights and early starts, autumn sneaks up. Yesterday we had a short trip down to Cresswell for breakfast  er, to see the two adult Curlew Sandpipers on the causeway scrape and very nice they were too. Alongside them were 80+ Dunlin, a Common Sandpiper and 500+ Sand Martins.

Up at Amble, the Coquet Estuary held 6 summer plumaged Knot, 22 Black tailed Godwit and 30+ Dunlin, but the oddest thing occurred as I took Bunty out before work this morning.

Not rare, but certainly scarce these days, a nice Whinchat was on the roadside fence line just up from our village. A taste of things to come perhaps...we'll see....

 

and another....

Speaking of new garden moths earlier, another has just been id'd!

The smallest of tiny moths in the trap this morning, I mis-identified as Phyllonorycter geniculella, a species I have had once before, in 2015. Tom Tams, County Recorder has just given me a lesson on why it is actually a much rarer Northumberland moth, P. acerifoliella !

This is not only a first for VC68 it is also the first adult to be taken in the whole of Northumberland VC67 and 68, the other 18 records were hatched from leaf mines taken near Newcastle in 2013.

These things could be much commoner really. They are tiny. About the size of one of those little Thrips or corn flies that you can get in your eye, maybe 3mm nose to tail, so could be easily overlooked.

Still, they all count, so I'm well pleased.

Phyllonorycter acerifoliella

And still they come...

I have been moth trapping on a regular basis here in our garden at Howick now since August 2009, almost 8 years, but unlike birds, the list is showing no signs of drying up.

2017 has so far been quite a good year for new arrivals, and I have long since stopped trying to second guess the next new species to appear.

This year I have gotten 'second wind' with the trap after last years slightly slower pace, and each morning I look forward to getting up half an hour earlier than I need to, taking my coffee, notebook and terrier out onto the seat below the kitchen window and sifting through the black bucket of jewels.

The new faces this year so far are...

16.008 Yponomeuta sedella
16.014 Pseudoswammerdamia combinella
35.141 Teleiodes vulgella
37.044 Coleophora discordella
45.043 Adaina microdactyla                       Hemp Agrimony Plume
49.022 Ptycholoma lecheana
49.087 Acleris literana
49.307 Rhyacionia pinivorana                       Spotted Shoot Moth
70.150 Eupithecia linariata                               Toadflax Pug
70.198 Lobophora halterata                       Seraphim
73.036 Acronicta alni                                       Alder Moth
73.100 Chilodes maritima                               Silky Wainscot
73.272 Papestra biren                                       Glaucous Shears

What a motley collection. Glaucous Shears and Silky Wainscot on the same square metre of ground. One moth of high moorland, the other of flat southern reedbeds. I wonder how they made it here? Regardless, these and the ones to come are the reason why I spend all summer wandering around in a daze, after too many late nights and early mornings. Here's to the next one...

Back again...

Well that was a right old trial... As usual our BT Broadband went off without notice leaving us for 10 days without any connectivity. Its not the waiting for it to be fixed that is the issue, its the lies, false promises and downright neglect of all customer care from BT. What a shower they are... Any way, I'm back.

Last week a few decent birds cropped up locally, with two White winged Black Terns, a showy Red Kite and a Corn Bunting from god knows where. There was an adult Pectoral Sandpiper too but it hid away when I was on site.

In between those, a few butterfly sorties around us was quite good with several Large Heath and up to 9 Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries being the highlight.

Here are a few shots from our 'dark spell' and I should be back on track after that...

White winged Black Tern at Druridge.

Corn Bunting at Longhoughton Steel. My last was here in 2006 the very first post on this blog.

Red Kite at Druridge, I've seen many more WWBTerns in the county than these...

A nice Large Heath, a scarce butterfly of boggy moorland.

Scotland...

There has been a paucity in blog posts this month for one reason or another. Early on we were away to our usual hidey hole, Allt Beithe, near Acharacle, Ardnamurchan.

The weather was a bit disappointing but we had a couple of good sunny days, one write off day and the rest were 'mixed'. I took the moth trap this time and it gave some great highlights, with a few new species for me. Here are some pics from that week away...

This is Allt Beithe, hidden away in thickly wooded gardens....

The drive way over the moss...

The moss...

Looking north towards Kentra Bay with Eigg and Rhum beyond.

The moth trap on the moss...

Ardnamurchan. Nowhere like it...

A day trip to Tobermory on Mull is a bit of a tradition now...

Sunset from the garden.

Our only Eagle of the week, this imm White tailed flew low over the car near Kilchoan...

It took until our last night before we caught up with two Pine Martens. This one came to the bird table.

The local and rare Chequered Skipper at Ariundle Oakwoods...

Large Heath of the form 'scotica' just came on the wing at the end of our stay.

Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary along the track to the cottage.

The Saxon, one of my most wanted moths was captured on our first night!

The Beautiful Brocade.

The Clouded Buff is anything but...

And all too soon our week was over and work beckons...