Druridge To Hauxley

Last week I had  a run as far as Hauxley the intent was to look for Butterflies and Dragonflies, walked over to the pond on Summerhill Lane  and down the road to Woodhorn ponds a bit breezy at these locations and no Dragonflies save a few Damsels , further on at Druridge Pools  a pair of Stonechats busily feeding there now scattered young , amazing how they could find them so easily, first Ringlets of the year but none would settle and little else of note . Hauxley via Hadstone Carrs road , plenty of Geese on the Ponteland hide pool but nothing else and I couldn't be bothered to walk around to the other hides , I did notice the huge excavations in the dunes the well advertised Archaeology Dig and also mentioned by other bloggers ,no one around at the time to ask about it but it seems a sizeable project , I drove further along past the Carrs and checked the dunes etc for Orchids I have had Bee Orchid  along here in the past , a few more Ringlets and   meadow Browns . A look over East Chevington North pool with the scope showed plenty of Terns starting to gather with the water level dropping  3-4 Little Gulls amongst them and several 1st Summer Arctic Terns , the Lesser Butterfly Orchids starting to turn but the Dune Helleborines  just starting to flower(they will be well out now) Common Blues evident 

 Juvenile Stonechat one of at least three

"Skipper"

 These Moths also a few around at this time of year

 Many many Common Twayblade at first glance a rather dull Orchid but look through a hand lens to see them at there best

Lesser Butterfly Orchid starting to turn

rather delicate flowers

 Dune Helleborine just coming into flower

 The extensive dig at Hauxley Dunes

 It seems all the sand is first stripped off to get down to the soil layer

 Not sure if it was all done by hand or machine although I could see no sign of tracks .
The view North to Amble from the dunes

 And South to Cresswell  a bit more crowded here with two figures in the distance

 This small pool near Ladyburn lake looks ideal for Dragonflies but is rapidly getting overgrown there is a platform here but it's hard to see !!