Butterflies & Flowers

 

This is an amalgamation of tramping around several sites with just an odd photo here and there , I did go on a Botany walk which was very interesting and I did learn some new plants but most where either too small to get a photo or not in flower, this was along Warkworth Links I did however have a Garden Warbler and saw 2 Cuckoos,  lets see what the next one offers. Small Copper out along the dunes last year I photographed one laying an egg and got down and dirty and found that egg with the intention of watching it grow, unfortunately the leave it was on dried out very quickly along with the egg , I will try and be more organized  next time perhaps grow the food plant  before hand.

 

 

Cinnabar Moth they look better in flight with that scarlet rear wing

 I always like a photo of the first for the year but it does not always come out well

Stalking does pay some dividends

 Star of Bethlehem this along the dunes at Druridge apparently the petals have a green stripe underneath which I failed to check for

 Those petals a perfect landing pad for insects

 Scarlet pimpernel either hidden amongst the undergrowth  or as here a good clump in the open

 Lesser Meadow Rue it's very small and those flowers even smaller to me they are like a bunch of bananas

 Checking a small pool that last year had Broad Bodied Chasers on sadly this year no pool at all there was however a very good showing of Northern Marsh Orchid the best Iv'e seen so far along with some Common Spotted just coming  through

 These  growing in profusion on a field edge there where a large number along the whole strip

 22 spot ladybird seems to like Stinging nettles

 One of the Wolf Spiders with an egg sack on the rear, that's that plastic boardwalk it's on , which even had me puzzled and I took the photo

I would love to get more into real close up work there are so many good insect subjects , and you do not always have to know their name , I presume this is an aphid of some sort

Druridge and the Dunes

Recent visit up the coast Cresswell had up to 9 Avocets and 2 Common Sandpipers a look of the dunes saw several large flocks of Common Scoter and many Terns feeding in the bay also 3 Red Throated Divers. Druridge pools although I was looking for Dragonflies of which I could find none a Little Gull on the shore was a nice find a large group of Sand Martins feeding low over the water and some resting on branches single Dunlin also present

Bushes held numerous Sand Martins with also many feeding over the pools

 Swallow alights on the shore , not sure what the strange growth is ?

 Dunlin looking for food along the shore

 Little Gull sat with it's head in most of the time till disturbed by a Black Headed

 Betony out in force

 And here with Burnett Moths

 Good numbers of Common Blues and masses of Meadow Brown

St John's Wort but I forget which

 Dune Helleborine now fully out some 20 specimens in this group

 I had Meadow rue nearby last year but could not find it on this visit

Cresswell and Druridge

Tuesday the 22-5-12, started the day off  just yards from my home looking for Speckled Wood Butterflies  I have counted over 50 at this site but not a one today  not sure if the first hatch of the year have died off before the good weather returned ,next  West Hartford in the hope of a reeling Grasshopper Warbler but no sign today, did have a Garden Warbler which I got some recording of .

travelled up to Cresswell via Lynemouth Flash which only had some bathing Black Headed Gulls, Cresswell only the one Avocet I could see there where three Barnacle Geese a nice bright Yellow Wagtail and a Wheatear just north of the ponds.

Druridge no sign of the Garganey a group of 13(edit) Curlew included a partial Leucistic bird  but taking  photos against the light never gives good results, Small Copper and Wall Brown out and my first Orchid of the year , with a pair of Stonechats feeding young back along at cresswell.

Three Barnacles in with Greylags

 Wall Brown

 First Orchid of the year at Druridge

 Leucistic , or I should say partial , shooting against the light probably does not show it at it's best

 And Stonechats although someway off it was reluctant to visit the nest  so I got this digi shot then moved on

Blyth Valley

Blyth valley firstly I'm not really sure why it's called a valley as it is not quite like say the Hartehope  Valley , but as a birding area it is a fairly large patch incorporating such as the Beehive Flash , Holywell Pond and the Dene and also Seaton Sluice watch tower which I think is actually just out of the area must check my map on that,  Seghill area but not quiet Backworth ,then on the other side  the  River Blyth  including West Hartford  up to about the A1. So it is a fair size to cover now I'm not really a patch watcher but I do like to see what is on the doorstep so this year I'm trying to cover it just a little more thoroughly. 

Avocet on the Beehive Flash apparently the flash in in Blyth valley but the road is in  North Tyneside thus providing sightings to two areas   !!!!

Now Canada Geese  are popular with the general public a pair with 6 Goslings providing many OOO's and RRRRR's at Holywell pond, they are very good parents this brood still intact after more than a week , and there lies a problem the numbers seem to be increasing  yearly they can be encountered breeding at most wetland sites.

Distant view of a Little owl, in the Blyth Valley area a few years ago they seemed much commoner and could be seen regularly but not now .

Tree Sparrows however seem to be on the increase I always thought them rather sedentary but small groups are seen much more widely now.

This is a Blackcap singing his heart out I think it's a pleasant song ,I marvel at just how loud they can be at times

Blyth valley is not a butterfly hotspot apart from the dramatic increase in Speckled Woods in the past year or two.

Barn Owl looking rather pensive and it settles before an evenings hunting