Friday 11th June

The morning I left Dumfries, I took a walk along the Nith from Nunholm to see if I could spot any kingfishers.  There weren't any but there were good views of sand martins swooping over the river south of the caul.

At home there were a few sporadic visits by woodpeckers (both genders), more invisible greenfinches and equally invisible willow warblers.

One day I spotted was a carpet moth sunning itself upside-down on one of my favourite pots.  To be more precise it was a garden carpet.  I don't usually have carpets in my garden.

Garden Carpet

We went fishing at Brenkley again the Wednesday after but it was astoundingly quiet on two leger rods and one pole line, until a switch to worm on the pole produced a small perch.  Then around 6.00 p.m. there was a strong run on one of the leger rods while I was on my own and I brought in a nice common carp in spite of getting in a tangle with the other rod.  It was taken on glugged sweetcorn.

Common Carp

We were fishing off the peninsular and wondered if it was a good swim.  There appeared to be a bank of weed about half way across.  On the other hand there was no sign of any other carp being taken near us.

We are now debating whether fishing with two rods is a good idea.  I think maybe start with one and put up another if no bites result... or maybe start with two and take one in if bites are frequent...

On the Thursday there was another interesting looking bee on the forget-me-nots.  On trying to identify it though, I wasn't so sure it's a bee at all.  Once again I emailed a friend at the Natural History Society of Northumberland who confirms that it is in fact a Narcissus Bulb Fly.

It's not a bee...

It's a Narcissus Bulb Fly

The forget-me-nots are now past their best and I am starting to see some large carder bees on other flowers around the decking,

This Monday I was out for a short walk along the Tyne from Wylam with my cousin and his wife.  We hadn't got very far when we noticed frenetic activity in the trees by a number of blue and great tits.  We soon saw they were trying to chase off a young-looking jay that had presumably discovered a nest it was trying to rob.

When we got to Hagg Bank Bridge, I noticed what I thought was a pied wagtail on a rock far beneath us.  For some reason I decided to take a photo and it proved in fact to be a common sandpiper. 

There weren't many butterflies to be seen fairly early in the day but while looking for them I rather liked the look of some white flowers amongst the campions.

Common Sandpiper

Maid's Violet

We came back over the Spetchells where a few buffish mining bees were still active and one or two orchids are starting to show.  The bird's foot trefoil is also coming through but not profuse enough yet to attract the common blue or dingy skipper.  Also strangely absent here were the sand martins, apart from a possible couple over the river.

Monday 15th May

Then there was a slightly curious bike ride to Dalry last Wednesday.

Having decided to start at the car park above Glenkilns reservoir in beautiful weather, a bird I had never seen before landed on the remains of the stolen Henry Moore statue - a common sandpiper.

It was a day when I reckoned to watch and listen for cuckoos and so set of over Speddoch Hill in anticipation. there were green-veined whites and orange tips, but no cuckoo.

Heading up towards Loch Urr it was a good day for stonechats and pipits and I reckon I must have seen about five stonechats on the ride overall. On the run down to the loch itself there was a good view of a male wheatear, just when I started to wonder if one would turn up.

Then I flushed a roe deer out of the undergrowth of the moor on the right hand side.  So it stupidly decided to jump the fence onto the road in front of me and started trying to batter its way through the fence on the left hand side of the road as I slowed in the hope of stopping its panic. Eventually it climbed clumsily over.

A bit further on, a ewe and lamb decided to jump out onto the road too and then ran on ahead in front of the bike for about half a mile until there was a gate across the road and they faded away through a gap to the left.

By that time I was running late and had to push the pedals quite hard for the rest of the day. During a brief rest, I spotted yet another flower I wasn't familiar with:

Greater Stitchwort

The last part of the trip was my old favourite cuckoo haunt between Bogle Bridge and the reservoir, but not a cuckoo to be heard.

Riding back up to the car park, I caught sight of two or three black swans on the reservoir and as soon as I got of the bike, heard a cuckoo singing from the hill right next to it!