Have the Seasons Changed?

I stumbled on a post I wrote while still in Dumfries, celebrating the fact that I saw butterflies on the buddleia as late as 22nd September. At the time I scoffed inwardly, reckoning I'd easily beat that date as my goal each year now (have I ever achieved this??) was to see a butterfly on buddleia after the beginning of October.

In fact there was hardly any buddleia flowering in the garden by 22nd September this year and the last buddleia butterfly sighting must have been three or four days earlier. This came as a minor shock and I speculated that the long dry spell may have been responsible for all three bushes at the back deciding to shut up shop early.

Around the 22nd there were one or two painted ladies around but they passed on without stopping.  The only thing that did call in while I enjoyed the last of the sunshine was this common darter.

Common Darter on decking

Of course there are still a few butterflies around and, whilst checking a few possible ivy bee sites, I found a couple of red admiral guzzling ivy nectar on the Tyne between Bywell and Ovingham.

Red Admiral on Ivy

Turning my attention to garden birds a bit earlier in the year than usual I put out some extra feed. This drew an instant response from two male nuthatches until one of them fought the other off. No sign though of the willow warbler, which has presumably headed off to Africa. 

In the meanwhile I have been on a cultural visit to Berlin and as a change from cycling and targeted nature watching. Inevitably there were plenty of hooded crows. It always amazes me how common they are in big cities in Europe and how seldom anywhere here.

Garden Nuthatch

Berlin Hooded Crow

There were a few butterflies around, notably in Treptower Park.  Mainly they were all large and small whites, two pairs of the latter typically having sex right in front of me, and one or two speckled wood. I did start to wonder if the southern small white had reached Berlin yet (it has) but the only suspect was assaulted by another white and quickly flew off. However I did catch sight of one holly blue flying between trees.  Interestingly there were no nymphiladae to be seen and it struck me that I haven't seen a peacock anywhere for over a month.

Insects on Ivy

Struggling for two weeks to finally shift a heavy cold and chest infection, I took a laborious bike ride to Corbridge with the plan of checking out the several bushes of ivy on the way back to the Tyne.  

In fact the areas where the ivy was actually flowering were still fairly scarce. South of Styford I did find one good crop that was popular with honey and bumblebees but no sign of any ivy bees, which I think could possibly be found in the area. One thing I did find was a rather large hoverfly which according to others is a pellucid hoverfly (genus volucella.)

Pellucid Hoverfly

A little further on there was a south-facing bush with more bee action going on, plus a visit by a red admiral to nectar on the ivy flowers.

My attention was mainly drawn by a very large queen bumblebee with a decidedly brown tail.  I was trying to figure out which species of queen it was. The matter was resolved when it was sexually assaulted by what was clearly a buff-tailed male so that I once again found myself witnessing insect pornography.  The tussle went on quite a long time and, when I tried to move some leaves for a better view, spilled over onto my glove.

The Queen

The tussle...

...on my glove

After all this, I stopped off again at Wylam to see how the known ivy bees again.  The action was considerable:

Ivy Bees

A large area of ivy that hadn't flowered yet was also found near the Tyne East of Bywell.  This might be worth further investigation as ivy bees are known to favour river banks.

In the garden, space on the buddleia is becoming tight and painted lady and small tortoiseshell had to share the same bloom.

Painted Lady and Small Tortoiseshell

Between Summer and Autumn

I did a couple of trips this week as meteorological summer came to an end.

On Bank Holiday Monday I revisited Wallington Hall Walled Garden and made an early common sighting - a common darter.  More interesting however was one of those bumblebees that just doesn't look right and was eventually confirmed as a field cuckoo bee.  It was also nice to catch up with a red-tailed bumblebee worker as one hasn't appeared for a while when I've been out.

Field Cuckoo Bee

Common Darter

Red-tailed Bumblebee

There wasn't quite as much around as last year, when the weather was noticeably better.

However, I did take the opportunity to check for ivy bees at Wylam Bridge on the way home.  At first sight it seemed quiet but on checking it became clear that they were there in force, probably over 100.

Ivy Bees

They were all males apparently so probably hadn't been out long.

On Friday, I was on a bee walk at Allenheads where heavy winds emphasised the change in the seasons though it at least remained reasonably warm. Here we saw over ten broken-belted bumblebees but my understanding of the species was rather shattered by the information that they don't always have an interruption to the upper yellow band on the abdomen.  Otherwise bee sightings were restricted to white-tailed bumblebees plus one buff-tailed bumblebee and several common carder bees (rather than the moss carder bee we'd hoped for).

There were also a coupe of sightings of the fox moth caterpillar and isolated butterflies including a single, very small common blue.

Broken-belted Bumblebee

Fox Moth caterpillar

Perhaps more exciting was that we (rather than I) discovered a couple of flowers that are known to be rare.  These were the autumn gentian and the grass of parnassus.

Autumn Gentian

Grass of Parnassus

It seems the latter is a Cumbrian emblem.

Meanwhile it has been business as usual in the garden but still with one or two surprises.

I found an interesting fly I am provisionally guessing to be tetanocera ferruginae (common buff snailkiller) and the hornet mimic hoverfly has turned up again on two successive days.

Tetanocera Ferruginae

Hornet Mimic Hoverfly

Then frustratingly yesterday I encountered a large, dark bumblebee but just could not get a decent shot of it.  From observation I think it might be a tree bumblebee queen.

Tree Bumblebee Queen?

Maybe another day...

Home and Away

Last weekend I visited V&A plus baby.  We took quite a long trip to the Loch of the Lowes which promised various interesting sightings including osprey, red squirrel and beaver but overall we were underwhelmed.  True enough the entry fee (!) for the two hides did give us a good view of an osprey nest but apparently the beavers are only around early and late when the centre is closed and none of the seven red squirrels resident showed up.

Osprey Chick

We took a bit of a wander and while the vegetation looked promising, there was an eerie lack of bird song once we were a hundred yards away from the car park.  The only thing of interest was a tiny scavenger crossing the road which turned out to be a vole and obligingly fed on the roadside verge for a while. 

Vole

I don't think I've seen a vole before.

We decided to move on and settled on Loch Leven RSPB Reserve which proved more interesting. Ironically, one of the first things we saw was an adult osprey hunting and I was quite pleased to get some in-shot flights at distance as well as a video:

Osprey

There was a large area of flower meadow that, although very parched as elsewhere, looked potentially attractive.  I was happy enough to find a lone small copper on heather near the footpath.

Small Copper

There were a lot of greylag geese in the fields by the lake but while the rest of us were taking a rest, A managed to spot three ruddy shelduck among them.  Unfortunately they proceeded to move behind some reeds and, late in the day, we must have spent another half hour or more trying to spot them.  All I managed to get was a blurry head and shoulders shot but it is clear enough for identification purposes.

Ruddy Shelduck

This wasn't a first sighting as there were some at Shibdon Pond just after I moved here.

On the way back out we noted some interesting flowers and came upon a cinnabar caterpillar as well as being greeted by some baby house martins nesting outside the visitors' shop.

Cinnebar Caterpillar

House Martins

The overall reflection was that Loch Leven would be well worth another visit earlier in the summer.

Back at home I've realised I haven't observed a garden bumblebee yet this year, and so decided perhaps belatedly to check out the bees in the garden more closely.  I haven't found one but have seen on at least three occasions a broken-Belted bumblebee.

Broken-belted Bumblebee

Really you'd expect to find them in the Pennine moorlands but this isn't the first summer they've visited the garden.

Otherwise the usual suspects have turned up regularly on the buddleia, record numbers of hummingbird hawk moth in particular. However another surprise was to see a speckled wood on it on two occasions.

Speckled Wood

Also seen on two occasions has been a willow warbler visiting the plum tree, but it has proved very adept at making a quick exit when its presence was noted.

Lastly, riding at fair speed along the Derwent Walk near Swalwell on Thursday I glanced right to see three or four ponies feeding at the edge of a field except that one was clearly - a zebra.

Small Tortoiseshells Appear

After bemoaning the lack of small tortoiseshells, I was obviously pleased when one turned up on Tuesday. 

Small Tortoiseshell

I didn't say so earlier but I did have a slight notion that the chances would be better at the end of summer and they have been appearing regularly since. Today there were three in the garden on two occasions - so the famine is over if not exactly a feast.

Butterfly appearances have generally hit the high spot over the last week. Some while ago I decided not to repeatedly take photos of the same species.  It would be nice to capture several together but so far they've been too widely spread on the buddleia.  I reckon the most frequent visitors have been red admiral and painted lady, the latter perhaps preferring to wait for the sun to warm up - unlike the single red admiral that turned up during the solar eclipse.

Red Admiral and Painted Lady

A holly blue was also seen again today.

Away from butterflies, I encountered a minor rarity earlier this week in the form of this hornet hoverfly.

These can grow up to two inches long and the photo doesn't do justice to the size.

Hornet Hoverfly

I thought it was too yellow for a bee on seeing it from a distance but it was fairly easy to work out it was a fly.  Fortunately I haven't seen any hornets.  

One bee did catch my interest today but I think it is probably just a dark buff-tailed bumblebee queen. Note the gingery tail band.

Buff-tailed Bumblebee Queen

For some reason, it made me reflect that I haven't recorded any garden bumblebees this year, perhaps dismissing them as buff-tailed.  I shall keep a more careful lookout - if it's not too late.

Staying Local

On Sunday I had planned to cycle out to Parkhead on the Waskerley Way.  I was thinking that I hadn't seen a small copper since returning from Avignon and that seems to be a good area to look for them.  However the plan had to be abandoned as the Derwent Walk cycle track 14 is still closed. I could have sworn I'd seen a sign saying that it would only be closed until early July.

So another plan was called for and I decided to head in the opposite direction, effectively limiting my scope to revisiting a couple of gardens near the Tyne.

Comma

Cutting across to Blaydon, I hit the Keelman's Way westwards and quickly spotted a holly blue in the area of Blaydon Station. As it's a known site for small copper, I took a quick look around Ryton Meadows but, as elsewhere, the vegetation was so dry that the chances were minimal. In spite of one fleeting sighting of something brown, I doubled back and crossed Newburn Bridge to the local Community Garden.

Here the buddleia was producing the usual suspects - several painted ladies, red admiral, peacock and a good few comma.

As in my garden the other day however, the notable absentee was the small tortoiseshell.

People worry about the small tortoiseshell and for a while its decline was a bit of a mystery, but now ascribed to climate change, altered hibernation patterns and parasitic flies.

Moving on I took another look at the Calaminarian Grassland at Wylam to check - rather late in the year, or so I thought - the story that there might be harebells attracting the gold-tailed melitta.  In fact there were a good few harebells, if somewhat sparsely distributed, though I could not find any sort of bee activity on them.  One very small item was dismissed as a possible wasp.

Having expectedly also failed to find anything in the small Wylam Nature Reserve (more trees than flowers) I went up the hill to Bradley Gardens as the most likely of all to produce something interesting.

It wasn't long before, among the usual red admiral, peacock and plentiful painted ladies, I encountered another holly blue. 

Holly Blue

It wasn't long either before a few more turned up and by the end of the day I reckoned I saw about five including a late visitor in my own garden.  In fact a couple that flew past overhead looked very blue and I did wonder about common blue, however unlikely in a formal garden.

More of a surprise was the definite sighting of a couple of small copper, thereby achieving the original purpose of going out in the first place:

Small Copper

Neither would I have bet any money on a meadow brown turning up there. Mayne it's another statement about the arid nature of the grassland.

Meadow Brown

As ever the painted ladies were frequently posing on the ground.  The only other butterfly I caught on film was a rather battered green-veined white.

Painted Lady

Green-veined White

There were a few hoverflies around at both the gardens which i basically chose to ignore apart from one. Apparently it is a common tachinid.

Common Tachinid

Today I had a slightly strange sighting in the garden - a nuthatch scurrying over the path and stones picking up bits of food.  I didn't know they did that.  I have also positively identified a couple of small whites on the buddleia.  I wonder if I've been overlooking them?

In The Garden

Following my own lead that gardens are the best place to be for insects this year, I've spent a fair bit of time in my own.

The best day so far was yesterday, when I made a rather hurried contribution to the Big Butterfly Count, recording totals of Red Admiral 7, Peacock 7, Large White 5, Painted Lady 10, Comma 2, Green-veined White 2, Holly Blue 2, Humming Bird Hawk Moth 2

I don't think I saw a small white but it was a bit chaotic.

Clearly it is a painted lady year and it is currently being seen daily.

Painted Lady

Painted Lady (underwing)

I continue to find butterflies in compromising situations, which very much applies to two of the large whites in each others' clutches for more than ten minutes that I noticed.

Large Whites

It hasn't quite come out in the image but they had a strong yellowish sheen so that I first wondered if I'd uncovered a female brimstone.

An absentee from the party was however the small tortoiseshell, and I don't think I've seen one yet in the back garden at all.

I was however particularly chuffed to get a great video of one of the hummingbird hawk moths.  Unfortunately it was too big for blogger, so you'll have to look for my post on facebook today.

One minor disappointment was not being able to catch up with one of the holly blues, which again landed on the buddleia but didn't hang around.

Meanwhile my neighbours across the road think they are getting visited by a raven - and I think they may well be right.

Raven?

In fact the first shot I took showed a second beak behind the silhouette so maybe there's a pair...