Howick Hall Meadows...

I spent Sunday afternoon in a brief warm spell checking tall oaks in the grounds of Howick Hall for Purple Hairstreak butterfly. This is flogging a dead horse, but one was seen and photographed in Alnwick Garden last year, the first for North Northumberland so this place looked as good as there ( in my opinion the gardens are much better at Howick).

No joy with the Hairstreaks but I did see 1 Red Admiral, 1 Small White, 3 Meadow Brown, 35 Ringlet, 1 Comma and 1 Large Skipper. The uncut meadows here are excellent too and well worth a look especially if the sun is shining...

The Croquet Lawn, Howick Hall. Complete with uncut flower margins.

Howick Church. This is how church yards should look with lots of hidden over grown corners for wildlife.

The Croquet Lawn from the other way. Look closely at the short turf, its full of wildflowers too with Self Heal in profusion.

A Speckled Wood

Martagon Lillies were naturalised into the meadows.

Also noted were Chiffchgaff singing, Nuthatch, Bullfinch, 2 Buzzards, Jay, 1 Roe Doe.

Holidays...

Westleton Church

Just came back from a week in Suffolk. We stayed in Westleton, between Southwold and Aldeburgh, a handy locale close to a variety of nice habitats.

As this was the first time I have taken my moth trap south you can see the results here. I was very pleased with 32 or more new species with a couple more still to identify.

Apart from the moths, I didnt do any real birding, so all I had of note was a Hobby and a couple of Marsh Harriers.

Odonata is always an attraction for me down there as we have so few dragonfly species available in the north east. On Minsmere River at Eastbridge a few Norfolk Hawkers weren't new species but only my second while Hairy Dragonfly and Variable Damselfly took my list up to 30 species.

Eastbridge dragon habitat.

Variable Damselfly

Norfolk Hawker

The weather was warm enough to sit out on the beach and enjoy the plants of the shingle ridge such as Sea Pea and Yellow Horned Poppy.

Thorpness Beach

Sea Pea

White Bryony

The hedgerows were full of stuff such as White Bryony, Hop and Old Mans Beard.

Silver studded Blue going to roost.

On the heaths this was my only Silver studded Blue. In previous years I have seen 70 or more here.

All in all a lovely week in a great place. I think we'll go back next year. The weather is better than Scotland!

Last Sunday...

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Young Tree Sparrow

I got up early looking forward to getting out and about, but was met with a strong NE wind and rain. This eased off to dull drizzle by 8am, and myself and JWR headed up the coast.

Low Newton Pool and scrapes had a few birds including Black tailed Godwit, 11 Gadwall, Teal, a male Wigeon and 7 Shelduck while the dune bushes had a good show of local warblers with Blackcap, Chiffcahff, Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler and 2 Reed Warblers singing in the background. A lone Black headed Gull was incubating, maybe trying to restart the old colony...On the way back to the car, day flying Long Eared Owl was on the fence next to the main car park, a nice bonus.

A few moths flushed from the damp trackside vegetation - Common Pug (ok, this one was in the phone box) 2 Timothy Tortrix and 2 Epiblema cynosbatella.

At a loose end because of the weather, we took a look up at Spindlestone Quarry near Bamburgh. No birds were around but the flora was quite interesting on the scree and old slag areas ( I wonder if 'old slag' gets me more hits?). Not being too clever on botany, our list is as follows -

White Stonecrop, Red Valerian, Birds foot Trefoil, Black Medick, Hop Trefoil, Candy Tuft, Hares foot Clover, Thyme, Herb Bennet, Herb Robert, Rough Hawkbit, Wood Sage, Barren Strawberry, Pirri pirri Bur, Ribwort Plantain, Greater Plantain, Pineapple Mayweed, Nipple Wort, Common Cudweed, Curled Dock, Red and White Clover, Maiden Pink and Perforate St Johns Wort.

Some of those must be right.

Hop Trefoil

Common Cudweed

Later on in the garden were 8+ young Tree Sparrows from my boxes plus about 8 adults. A male Great Spotted Woodpecker fed a juvenile, one on each feeder, leaning across.

Catch Up...

Just a few snaps from the last couple of weeks to test out the new PC.

Cocklawburn Links

Lamberton

A few weeks back we took a trip just over the border into Scotland, all of about 35 miles from home. Our target was the Small Blue butterfly, a species with a scarce and fragmented distribution in the UK.

Firstly we checked out Cocklawburn Links where masses of its food plant, Kidney Vetch was growing. Unfortunately no butterflies though.

We then drove north to a spot on the coast near Lamberton, where after a bit of a trek we found our quarry.

Small Blue male.

A Small Blue female?

This one showing the distinctive underside.

We had over 20 Small Blues flickering about the scree, including females egg laying and males behaving territorially. Typically for the species, it prefers areas with less of the food plant and lays eggs on isolated small plants rather than the bigger clumps.

A Small Heath keeping watch.

The grass moth was quite common, Crambus lathionellus.

A few other butterflies were around, 5+ Small Heath, 5+ Wall and a good few whites sp.

This area around Burnmouth / Lamberton is excellent for butterflies with Grayling and Northern Brown Argus later in the year too. Well worth a day out.  

Next week...

At last a deadline. Midweek coming will see a new lease of life into the 'From the Notebook...' I.T section. It cant come soon enough for me. This bloody thing plodding away, it takes too much time to upload images and posts...

Unlike the weather suffered by the south east, this weekend was very pleasant indeed, with loads of jubilee celebrations in the village. I was almost glad to get back to work for a rest!

Back soon ( I hope)..

Its here!

New PC arrived today, but as you can imagine setting up and transferring data from this one to the new one isnt a job for a donkey wearing boxing gloves...so, I will get a professional to sort things out after the bank hol. I hope to be back blogging soon....

As a short update, I could have had a nice post last week. John and myself took a trip north of the border ( by 5 miles) to a colony of Small Blue butterflies. We had about 20+ on a nice hot day. I've been a bit busy of late to see very much else, artwork for a chap from Notts, visiting Jane's sister and new baby in Northants, writing some articles on the local wildllife for a book about our village , village hall duties, and last night I gave a talk on moths of Howick to Alnwick Wildlife Group. It seemed to go down well, with lots of questions and interest afterwards. Oh and I forgot I still have to fit in work!

Back soon...

Partially postponed.

Hi all, this PC is still causing no end of sluggish behaviour on the blog front. But, help is nigh, I have ordered one of these...MEGA PC!

Hopefully normal service, with photo's 'n' that will be resumed as soon as poss....

This week's update...

The first week of May has pretty much followed in the footsteps of April. Cold.

I am convinced now though that better weather is just around the corner...

On Monday evening a short walk with Bunty up towards Hips Heugh to check for Ring Ouzels, did not find the mark, but 6 Wheatears were a bonus, plus 2 adult Brown Hares and 3 leverets in one field. A Roe doe was flushed on the way up.

On Tuesday after work we walked up the coast path to check Cullernose Point for Spring Squill flowering. This went the same way as the Ring Ouzel hunt-  none were in bloom. The first Sea Pinks were in flower though and the Kittiwake colony were very much in 'full song'. Another 3 leverets were in the Scar field here, showing that there is a good population around here. More concerning, 9 Swallows headed purposefully south along the cliffs. An omen for forthcoming weather?

Saturday am was bright after sleet and 1 degree at midnight last night.

A Stoat was being hounded by a dozen Jackdaws along the road through the village before it could reach the cover of some ivy. One or two butterflies were in sheltered spots -  2 male Orange Tip and 1 Peacock at the top of the Long Walk and a Small White was in the garden. A Whimbrel was feeding on the rocks in the bay this evening.

On Sunday, the first Whitethroat arrived in the village. JWR and myself headed onto new territory, when we checked out Roddam Dene and Harehope woods. The cold suppressed birds and butterflies, but some flowers were struggling through - Greater Stitchwort, Bluebells, Wood Sorrel, Leopards Bane, Ramsons, Wood Rush, Woodruff, Opposite leaved Golden Saxifrage, Water Avens, Wood Forget-me-not, Violet, Primrose and Red Campion were all noted.

Roddam Dene and footbridge. 

Another cold and windy day with a NNE6 and leaden skies. Fortunately the rain held off until dark.

A wander around the Foxton and Alnmouth area this morning with JWR turned up a few spring migrants.

At Foxton Bends what we assume was a pair of breeding plumaged Green Sandpipers took the 'best of the day' award. A much different bird to the autumn juveniles we are used to, these ones were nicely speckled above in black and white. Nearby a Brambling called then flew west while our first Swift of the year flew north overhead.

From here we walked the golf course at Alnmouth. The pond trees held Whitethroat, a singing male with a beak full of nesting material. How do they do that? A Sedge Warbler was also a year first but was sensible and stayed at the bottom of a thick patch of brambles.Plenty of Chiffchaffs, Willow Warbler and Blackcaps were heard but only s few showed themselves.

A half hour seawatch curtailed due to hypothermia was very slow except for Razorbills and Guillemots with hundred flying north.

Green Alkanet

Spring Beauty carpeted the banks in a bright acidic green.

  

Yes I'm still here....

This is getting pretty dreary isnt it. My posts are very thin on the ground these days so here is something to start with.

Last week I was up there in Scotland. Speyside to be precise. We had a nice house in forest near Dulnain Bridge. The first couple of days were cool but sunny, but the rest of the week was pretty much like the rest of April has been, but colder.

We got out when ever the weather allowed but the landscape was very much still wintry up there with little bird activity. We had a lone Osprey on a nest away from the Garten site, sitting with its back into a blizzard, 4 Crested Tits in Abernethy and thats about it really. Roe Deer and Red Deer plus one or two plants helped the days along....

Holiday House - Craignay.

Siskin

Bearberry - Lochindorb

False Morel - Abernethy

No, none...

Our Blackbirds in the ivy are feeding young now and the outhouse Robins have 2 eggs...

Its been a long winter....

12th April. Still nowt. A pair of Shelduck on the coast path were new for the year but proper migrants - nil. While it has long been known that Northumberland does not have a spring, due the the cooling effect of the north sea coupled with the high ground and northerly latitude, this year is getting ridiculous.

For me I reckon on Wheatear on or about 3rd April, Sand Martin first week in April, Willow Warbler 8th, Blackcap 10th, Sandwich Tern similar,  etc, but so far none of them. Swallows are due in the village on about the 15th. At this rate its going to be summer before I see them!

Oh well the Coot is still on the pond along with the same 2 Teal, 4 Tufted and 1 Goldeneye...

Maybe this weekend will drop some in....

Excuses excuses...

Ground Ivy

What can I say. April 11th and not a single blog post. Why? Well, my computer is at death's door and is very slow indeed. I fear every new photo uploaded will do for it, so I am pondering some expense. In the next few weeks I will be getting a new one, powerful enough to launch satellites, but, til then its back to my seven year old one.

Checking the spec on it is a laugh. My current machine is steam driven - 512mb RAM and 160gb HDD. No wonder its slow. I have my eye on one with 6gb RAM and a TB HDD...That should load sites and pics quicker.

So what else have I not been doing....seeing migrants that what. To date, Chiffy is my lot. Not a Wheatear or Sand Martin has gone this way, yet, but I'm sure they will soon. No Blackcaps or Willow Warblers either, what on earth is going on!

I have had one bird highlight though so brace yourself  - Coot. Oh yes, I can induce envy in the hardest of listers. The other day I was over the moon with a Coot on our pond. Its the first since spring 09, making it rarer than Yellow browed Warbler and Barred Warbler, Marsh Harrier, Peregrine, Pomarine Skua, three diver sp, Purple Sandpipers, Storm Petrel(!) Snow Bunting and Waxwing. Patch watching is great for putting things into context...

None-bird highlights - some nice Ground Ivy flowering in the woods among the daffs, mmmmm, er, ...oh dear. Yes - moths - Oak Nycteoline and Chamomile Shark, both scarce county species graced the garden this month.

Thats about it really. I'm still getting out and about just not seeing much. You'll be the first to hear when I do...


  

A Garden tick and a lifer!

Last year I had a brief glimpse of a bumble bee that I fancied may have been Tree Bee, Bombus hypnorum. By the time I grabbed the camera it had gone.

So, while checking the moth trap this morning I was surprised to see this one cuddled into the bottom of an egg tray. They are quite a new arrival up here but Nigel, Tom and Tim have had them in their gardens at Morpeth, Tynemouth and Whitley Bay respectively, so I kind of expected one soon...

This bee was new to the UK in 2001 around the New Forest area, but in recent years its spread has gone on unabated.

A great little creature.

Melancholia...

Well, long time no see.

I have struggled to get blog motivated in recent weeks, despite some lovely days and a few off work too. I'm not sure what the problem is, but please bear with me. Maybe its because I'm not seeing a great deal, enough to keep me happy, but not many photos or exciting migrants for readers.

Its great just pottering around looking at whatever appears. I'm enjoying it so much, milling about my patch in a zen like state, that I have taken a big step. The pager is on its way out. Contract terminated and after 13 years it will be returned at the end of May. I hope the new bird club info emails will keep me up to date with new county birds!

What have I been seeing? A few butterflies locally with Small Tortoiseshells and Peacocks and my first Small White of the year in the garden on Monday. A Bee Fly evaded the camera as it patrolled our plant pots outside on the same day.

Its nesting time in the garden and locale. A Blackbird has eggs in the ivy on our wall, a Wren is building a 'cock-nest' in an old Swallow's in the outhouse while not three feet away a Robin is filling up a nook with leaves. A pair of Grey Partridges are prospecting along the edge of the field next to our drive too, but I dont suppose I'll find that one.

The moth trapping is coming along fine with last nights highlight being a Pale Pinion, only my fourth. While checking the moths in the morning, some migration has taken place overhead with 5 Lesser Redpolls, 8+ Meadow Pipits and 30+ Linnets this week. A Fieldfare was heard chakking in the fog the other day but remained unseen. I wondered if it was a Ring Ouzel briefly...

Brown Hares have been showing well with three in the back field the other night and, tonight, a bull Grey Seal was loafing offshore.

Further afield, on my way home from work last night a pair of Short eared Owls were squabbling over the road next to Boulmer radar base. they were only feet above the car so I stopped and watched for a while.

I'm sure a Wheatear is just around the corner...

Even more string...

While I'm on about records more dodgy than an MPs expenses I cant help but notice an eerie silence about a reported Alpine Accentor for Bamburgh Golf Course in September last year. Needless to say the description is still outstanding....

Is it a coincidence that the Harlequin and site of Alpine Acc can be seen by standing on the same spot?

Waiting to Tee off...

Mega! Mmmm...

Probable female Harlequin off Stag Rocks this afternoon before flying off to Holy Island.

I wonder?

Who knows, maybe it will be relocated....

[ Word is, this might be the real deal. A good known observer is the reporter]
[PPS Nope it wasnt the observer we thought, just same initials! Looking like a mile of string]

Moors and Moles...

 Up on the moors yesterday morning, sunshine and cloud shadow made for a dramatic landscape. Unusually no birds of prey were seen at all, not so much as a buzzard.

A while back I mentioned how common Moles are around here. Well, they have been thinned out a little on the higher pastures. There were 63 on the fence. They mustn't taste very good because they are never picked at by crows or magpies or anything.

 

While we walked up a nice gulley in the moor, a Raven came right overhead chasing a crow off its territory. Look at the size difference, the Raven cronking while the crow gave a panicked chatter...

On the walk we flushed a Woodcock from the burn side, maybe a bird back on territory, 5 Stonechats in one area was good and a scattering of Reed Buntings were feeding on heather seed. A few pairs of Curlew were displaying overhead. All this to a throng of singing Skylarks and Meadow Pipits.

While nothing too special was seen, just being up there, on a spring morning, made it good to be alive...

Chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff

A lovely clear sunny spring day with blue skies all round.

This mornings dog walk was to woodland along the lane to look to see if any Chiffchaffs had arrived. They had! Three males to be precise, all singing away. One seen well in yellow sallow catkins looked typecast for the part.

At the lane end, a Stoat risked death by coming towards me along the main road. Luckily I flushed it into cover before a vehicle came along. Last weeks Long tailed Tit nest is almost finished now, with one bird adding extra lichens to the outer crust.

Elsewhere, a singing male Reed Bunting, a singing male Siskin and a ( you get the picture) singing male Nuthatch made for a pleasant stroll out.

Go wild, go wild, go wild in the country...

A belter of a day today, with the temp at 16 degrees at lunchtime.

This morning was spent at Branton doing the WeBs count with John. Before we started, a casual stroll checking a sunny hedge bottom produced 8 Adders basking in the early morning sun. All seemed to be females (They are males, see comment below). A selection of individuals are above, with one pic containing a pile of three!(Count the heads).

[See note below. Thanks the Greenie for his comment on the Adders. I found it a good help, so maybe it will come in handy for you too...
Stewart ,
Males are very variable in colour and when first out of hibernation as they are now , and can be very dull having spent several months under ground . When they 'slough' their skin , they will be much brighter . They also emerge 2/3weeks before females , and can be found lying around in numbers just outside their hibernacular , as your 3 were . In the past I have found up to ten animals lying together . Females tend to have a light brown/ginger ground colour with darker brown zig zag marking , which is less defined at the edges than the black , more defined zig zag of the male . The 'silver' colouration you mention occurs when a female in season , just every other year for them , is found , then hormones in the male go to work to produce that silver and black phase . Of interest , on all four occassions that I have witnessed 'the dance of the Adders' the combatants have always been silver/black males .]


Lots of Coltsfoot was in flower (top) and on the Sallows -

Peacock

Small Tortoiseshell

Of the birds, a darvic ringed Mediterranean Gull ( ring was Red PJJ1), 3 Great crested Grebes and lots of returning upland breeders such as Oystercatchers, Redshank, Curlew, Lapwing and Lesser black backed Gulls were the highlight.

Back home, it was warm enough for the first grass cut of the year. Time in the garden produced Small Tortoiseshell, Red tailed Bumblebee and Buff tailed Bumblebee and the resident Tree Sparrows. 

On my way to work this morning a large skein of about 70 Whooper Swans flew north, low, over Longhoughton. Before the end of the month new visitors will have replaced them....

Reporting In...

After seeing Mr Malloy's post about his cover of the Durham Bird Report, I forgot to show this. A  fine report with a fine cover by a little known artist... ;)

In Annual Reports Top Trumps, I think Northumberland beats Durham...