Brown Hawker in Northumberland?

Sedgie.

Recently I have heard reports from good observers that they have seen Brown Hawker dragonflies at Newton Pool. This is a very rare species in Northumberland, so I thought I would have a look today. The sun, in sheltered spots out of the wind, was warm and there were lots of insects on the wing but no Brown Hawkers...

The scrapes were chocca with birds, including 2 Wood Sandpipers, 8+ Black tailed Godwit, 6+ Ruff, and an adult Mediterranean Gull amongst dozens of commoner species.

On the main pool, a Little Grebe had 4 newly hatched humbugs on its nest, a bit late I think, and there were good numbers of wildfowl including 3 Wigeon. Willow Warbler and Sedge Warbler were in the willows.

I spent some time wandering the track outside hoping for the hawker without success but I did see a single male Common Darter and a host of butterflies  - 1 Painted Lady, 1 Red Admiral, 2 Wall Brown, 2 Small Copper, 3+ Green veined White, 2 Large White all in a short distance.

The seawatching was poor, the wind needs to be more northerly than north westerly here.

Above - Painted Lady with an unidentified caterpillar not seen until the pics were on the computer.

A pair of Wall Browns

Small Copper

Large White

All's quiet...

Wall Brown

 Apart from solid lash, what could be the worst weather for an east coast birder in August? Yep, a strong westerly with bright sunshine. Still I headed out to check a few sites, just in case. Starting off at Boulmer, at high tide,  A wander around Seaton Point was borderline depressing, where the highlights were 1 Whinchat, 1 Wheatear and a scatter of waders roosting on the shore.  This area has taken a severe down turn in the last five or so years since I covered it regularly. The fields are sterile and surrounded by blue 'daleks' to feed the local 'game'. People complain about open cast sites in the county ( I was one of them) but I think it would improve things here...

Turnstones at Seaton Point

 Moving on, a short stop at Foxton for a glance down at the tide full river flood plain had 130 Curlew, 4 Common Sandpipers, a Greenshank and an unringed Little Egret.

With the morning holding little inspiration, I drove down to Hauxley Goose Sanctuary  Nature Reserve. The pool was full with no muddy margin for waders, so a check around the lushly vegetated car park had a scatter of Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap. The flowers here are still looking good with masses of Marjoram and Fleabane adding the colour. A few butterflies were around, Wall Brown, Speckled Wood and Peacock. On returning to the car a Whimbrel flew over calling.

Willow Warbler

The final stop was Amble Braid as the tide was beginning to drop back. Lots of birds were dancing around waiting for the mud to be uncovered, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. 35 Shelducks was a good count. The wind was still increasing, so I cut my losses and headed back home.

Lets hope that wind does a 180 soon...

Caspo Expo!

Apparently this large gull in Amble Harbour is a 4th year Caspian Gull. The yellow darvic ring, PKCS shows that it was indeed ringed in a caspian gull colony in southern Poland, so what more could you ask for in confirming its identity?

Well there is unrest in the camp, with words such as 'unconvincing' and 'hybrid' being bandied about by the twitching fraternity. There may be some discrepancy in a retarded moult in the P45 or something (?) but this morning I visited and kept an open mind.

Ring or not, this gull was a doddle to pick out from the rest when given a good view. The most striking features were the dark 'piggy' eye, the very long bill and best of all for me, those legs! Is it a hybrid with an avocet I wondered ! It seemed very large, possibly indicating a male and was quite aggressive when squabbling over the warburtons, but the locals soon took the better hand. 

Looking through my pics below you can see its very distinctive shape, with the sloping posture when walking that is very unlike argenteus Herring Gulls. I haven't had a chance to consult back issues of  'Gulling World' to check the required patterning on the primaries, but I will, later.

For me personally, I cant see why this is not a Caspian Gull. Had it been wandering in a pig field at Blythburgh no one would have questioned it I'm sure, but they are very rare up here, where just about every non conforming bird of any species is deemed a hybrid.

[ Ive just had a bit of a read of birding world info and on the internet. All features seem fine for Caspian coming into 4th winter. I would like to see it after it has moulted all of the primaries, but I cant see what the doubters are on about really?]

Tell you what, its going on my list, not only a county tick (332) but a proper British tick (403) too! I have seen them in Slovakia and Hungary ( that looked like this), so that'll do. I might just use a pencil tick though til its accepted...  

Wader fest...

Met up with JWR this morning at Alnmouth. As he had not yet been to see the Stilt Sandpiper at Cresswell, we headed off south. Years ago this was where we cut our birding teeth, but, since we live in the north of the county its not somewhere we visit these days, preferring to find areas that are less heavily watched. Still, it was nice to tread old stomping grounds.

The first stop at Cresswell pond was largely lifeless, with little of note, so we moved on to Druridge in the hope the Stilt Sand might be back in front of the hide. What a change since  I was last here! The vegetation has grown vastly and we nearly didn't find the track to the pools! On route down to the hides, the track flitted with young warblers and goldfinches. Out on the main pool, there were a lot of birds but mostly common wildfowl. A few Snipe showed close enough to photograph.

Moving across to the little hide facing the budge fields was better. The marsh looks excellent and will hold waders through out the season I would imagine. Today there were 2 Wood Sandpipers, 1 Green Sandpiper and 2 Common Sandpipers, Ruff and Greenshank adding to the interest.

When the sun came out, so did the butterflies with plenty of Peacock, Red Admiral and Wall, plus this nice Comma.



After some discussion, and verbal abuse from the resident local patchworker, another trip back to Cresswell was on the cards.

What a change in the last hour! Waders were everywhere. 30+ Snipe, 20+ Dunlin, 4+ Common Sandpiper, 4+ Ruff, 3+ Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 4 Avocet and the Stilt Sandpiper put on a great show, along with 3 Little Egrets and a Wheatear. Its a shame they were too distant to photograph, but great scope views were had. I think Dave Elliott was a welcome year tick.

After the excitement we reverted back to form and headed north, starting at the Coquet Estuary between Amble and Warkworth. Although the tide was very low, there were a few highlights, including 1 juvenile Mediterranean Gull, 1 Spotted Redshank, 2 Bar tailed Godwit, 2 Knot, 3 Sanderling and a summer plumaged Grey Plover, 2 more Little Egrets mad us reflect on their abundance now compared to only very recently.

A final pause up at Foxton Bends was quieter (as usual) with 4+ Common Sandpipers, 3 Goosanders, 2 Little Egrets and a Swift overhead. 2 Spotted Flycatchers in the scrub were probably locally bred birds.

So, not a bad morning. I love autumn, me!

Bully for him...

Sitting in the garden on Thursday evening we were visited by this Bullfinch that came to sample the honeysuckle berries around our door. He didn't seem too bothered by our presence as we sat quite still till he ate his snack before vanishing back into cover...

Is it that time already...

I was out early this morning after yesterday's rain. It was bright and clear early on, but things are beginning to feel different. You cant quite put your finger on it yet, but slowly, change is in the air. Maybe its the sounds, the light or the smells or all of them but I know that within a couple of weeks summer will be over.

On the wires, swallows and martins gathered, stretching and chattering in preparation for a long journey, a first for the majority of them. 

Up at Low Newton, a selection of warblers included Chiffchaff, Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler and Whitethroat, while on the scrapes, 14 Black tailed Godwit, a Little Ringed Plover and 2 Ruff were with a number of Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Snipe, Oystercatcher and Lapwing. A Gadwall, was with her brood on the main pond while sneaking about on the reed edge was an early Wigeon.  

Chiffchaff After some discussion with Ian Fisher, it looks like this bird is actually a Willow Warbler. My sloppy observations, having seen another 3 chiffs in the same area, I just assumed this was one too. Must look closer... 

Willow Warbler

Whitethroat

Gadwall and familiy

 Next stop was Foxton Bends and the Aln Estuary. Here 5 Little Egrets, 2 Greenshank and a few Common Sands were nice but we were soon off down to the Coquet Estuary.

Although there were no scarce waders, it is looking good, with 117 Dunlin, 250+ Redshank, 17 Knot, 4 Sanderling and a Greenshank amongst others. More phylloscs were around the braid car park

Even the butterflies looked autumn today. In the garden were 3 Peacock, 3 Large White, 1 Green veined White, 1 Wall and a first...a Small Skipper! Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshells were along at Low Newton.

If the weather is favourable, passerine migration could be on the cards for next weekend...

Red Admiral, a lot fresher than the last one photographed....

Its all a blur...

After all the excitement yesterday, I knew I should have put the optics in the car. On my way to a meeting, a call came through from Gary at Low Newton about a Stilt Sandpiper at Cresswell pond.

I am quite cool with these having seen the one Gary found at Newton scrapes in 2012 and a juvenile in Cumbria a short time earlier than that, but it is a good bird and isn't really one to ignore, especially when it is so close. So, meeting completed, I took a short detour via Cresswell back to the office.

A good turn out was already watching the bird as it roosted over on the main spit. I couldnt say good views were had, because the shadows and heat haze made for a dark bird that looked like a rock. As the sun went in, more flank barring could be seen and some dark feathers in the scapulars and mantle and it even raised its head a couple of times showing the long, slightly decurved at the tip, dark bill.

It didn't look like it was going to do much, so it was back to work for me...

Two great birds in two days locally. What next I wonder....

What a Prat!

A call from Dave Dack this afternoon sent me scuttling off through Ashington, across the River Wansbeck and along towards Cambois to view Castle Island from the south side where this cracking little Collared Pratincole had dropped in.

Only the third for Northumberland after one at Holywell in 1966 and a fly-by at Beadnell in 1983 this is the first twitchable Collared Pratincole in the county in a generation. An what odds on it being in the same year as Northumberland's first Black winged Pratincole too, amazing.

I casually strolled down, cool as, [running, me, as if!] with out a hint of optics, having to commandeer ADMc's scope for half an hour. Cheers Andy. The bird was sitting out, showing well through the scope, running around as if it really was a proper wader and being bullied into flight by Lapwings. Here its copper underwing [too many moths, I know] could be seen as well as the white trailing edge to the secondaries. Another feature to eliminate the mega Oriental Pratincole was the tail being longer than the primary projection.

As I was unarmed, I snatched this photo on my phone. Its not the best, but you get the gist of it...

It soon got up and flew a great distance to feed high over Stakeford with Black headed Gulls probably on flying ants. At this point I had to leave, but I think it returned back to the island later on.

If you are going, go to the south side as many birders were going from the Ashington side. This involves a long walk and chances are the bird will be hidden from view or distant at best.

Puts me on  331 for the county...Nice.

Beauty and the Beast..

A trip out this morning to look for inverts after last nights deluge. Dragons were on our mind, but some butterflies will do nicely too, after all, there will be plenty of bleak fall conditions to look forward to in the autumn, so its time to make the most of the insects.

Willow Warbler

A couple of short wetland stops on route to a favoured woodland area, were also quiet, only giving us a good scattering of Snipe, a Common Sandpiper and a nice Fox doing the 'walk of shame'.

As you can imagine, a wooded area inland is bound to be quiet at this time of year so this Willow Warbler was the only bird to point a camera at. A few Jays glimpsed, plus Great spotted Woodpeckers and calling Buzzards did little to add to the interest.

In the lea of a south facing ride, lots of butterflies were making the most of the warm weather - 10+ Green veined Whites, 10+ Small Skipper, 6+ Meadow Brown, 6+ Ringlet, 4+ Speckled Wood, 4+ Common Blue, 1 Peacock and a 1 Small Copper all looked shining in the warm sunshine.

Common Blue

Small Copper

Some other invertebrates though are more difficult to id. A Wood Wasp or Horntail flew past but this little froghopper thing was new -

Cicadela viridis thanks to Peter and Dave...

One of the strangest things seen though was also the most fearsomely ugly critter I've seen for some time...

Tachina grossa.

This fly was nigh on an inch long, dwarfing bumblebees nearby. For sure you wouldn't want it in the car with you. Anyway, it is a parasite on large moth caterpillars, in particular the Oak Eggar but I bet up here its the Drinker that is the target. While taking pictures, we were targeted by Clegs and ticks...urgh!

Of the odonata, 2 hawker sp were seen that were likely to be Southern along with a few Common Blue damselflies.

Relieved to get back home in tact, this view was from our kitchen window, so excuse the photos...

The Buzzard had taken something quite large, a rabbit probably, and the Magpies were determined to get their share. The raptor was properly irritated by them, and scattered them like a Lion with vultures!

Bedstraw Hawkmoth!

Bedstraw Hawkmoth

I got up this morning at 4.20am to cover the moth trap to prevent spuggie incursion, and found this chunky foreigner sitting on the top egg tray! Judging by the size of the abdomen I assume its a female Bedstraw Hawkmoth. I hope it can find somewhere to breed, but it may be futile as our winters are too cold for the pupae to survive.

This is a first for me, and was much larger than expected. I thought maybe a bit larger than Hummingbird Hawk, but it was about large Elephant Hawkmoth sized. Shortly after the top photo was taken it rose up into the air and off at great speed west...

According to Northumberland Moths this is the 26th adult in the county, but only the 10th in the last 35 years!

The best moth of the year by a long way.

Staycation...

Its great being on holiday at home...especially on a day like this. After I cut the grass today, the garden looked well so here is a snap off my phone in panorama mode...

The local Blackbird is still around though he is keeping low due to the moult. The sun brought him onto the lawn, contorting into all sorts of shapes...

A couple of large moth catches this week with over 600 moths and up to 90+ species a night have included a new macro species - 

White Satin

With no recent VC68 records, this may be only the third or fourth record up here.

Lets hope the good weather continues, as I'm not back at work til Monday...

Aye aye....

Above - all Small Skippers

A lovely evening outside now. A stroll along the newly cut back field behind our drive produced a few Meadow Browns, and 2 nice Small Skippers. The Small Skipper is a relatively new addition to North Northumberland, and are only here in small numbers, so it was pleasing to see these so close to the garden. One day one will hop the wall...

Oh and I've just looked, this blog is now 8 years old. An 8 yr old blog! Not many of the local blogging masses can boast that longevity ;)

Nothing to Crow about...

What a bird...

 A very humid night continued through the day. The morning was misty and drizzly, but warm. Not weather we are used to here in Northumberland. By lunchtime it was hot and sunny.

We decided to check the coast between Amble and Boulmer for waders at various sites. First stop was Amble braid, where 3 Common Sandpipers, 2 Knot and 3 Sanderling were with 100+ Redshank feeding on the estuary. In the car park, rubbish was strewn everywhere and we wondered about the mentality of the litter louts responsible, then this handsome Carrion Crow appeared. Clearly the guilty culprit, I suppose he is to be forgiven, when he was just looking for breakfast.

From here it was on to Warkworth Gut where the highlight was a group of 3 Little Egrets on the new pools. How long until they are a regular breeding bird here I wonder? Its only a few years since one would have caused a twitch!

Foxton Bends  only produced singles of Greenshank and Whimbrel early on, and two Common Sandpipers later. 50+ Swifts were screaming over the village.

Top - Merganser, bottom, Goosander. 

 At Boulmer, a day flying Barn Owl was at Seaton Point, but holiday visitors made the waders flighty. Summer plumaged Turnstones, Dunlin and Knot mixed with Redshanks and Oystercatchers on the shore.

A few Goosanders flew past the point alongside a single eclipse Red breasted Merganser for comparison.

Knots.

A similar selection plus a few Ringed Plover were in front of the Fishing Boat Inn. Later this afternoon I popped down to Craster for a short seawatch, my first of the autumn(?). A hour produced 17 Manx Shearwaters, 4 Roseate terns plus the usual auks and Gannets. A Porpoise looked unusual lying like an alligator on the surface for a while before diving out of sight. Maybe it was eating something?

So, this week I am at work on Monday and Tuesday then off for a few days. Cant wait...

Rain...

Nothing much to report today, because of very heavy rain all morning, but I'm sick of seeing that spleenwort below so here are a few from recent days to brighten things up.

New moths for the garden list -

Pyla fusca

Evergestis pallidata

When I look at these two moths they are about as good as the spleenwort!

So this is better -

Small Copper

Six-spot Burnet

Meadow Brown

Very rare indeed...

Lady Clermont's Spleenwort.

Plants don't come much rarer than this one, or much more underwhelming either. This is Lady Clermont's Spleenwort Asplenium x clermontiae. This is the only one in the UK and is visited by keen botanists from across the country. While it is only half a mile along the road from our house, this is the first time I've seen it, despite looking. It has taken a local expert to show me its exact location, on a wall along the coast road. To its right is the much commoner Maidenhair Spleenwort, one of its genetic parents. The other one is the Wall Rue. Apparently these natural hybrids are so rare as the parents are a different genus, or something? [Apparently not - see comment]

Unlike hybrid birds, I think plant people can tick this one without guilt, so its now on my list.