Saturday 26th May

There has been an outbreak of gang warfare in the garden between the jackdaws and the pigeons.  I was surprised to see that it was the pigeons who seemd the more aggressive.  Maybe it was a case of size matters.

Wednesday was forecast to be sunny so I rode up the Tyne valley some way past Bywell in the hope of spotting some butterflies.  But it was one of those days when the forecast couldn't have been more wrong.  It was overcast the whole time and not a single butterfly to be seen.  In fact the most interesting thing I did see was possibly this farmer's field full of blue flowers.  I'm not sure what they were or what they were grown for but it did strike me as kind of odd.

There were quite a few skylarks singing high up in the gloom and it took me most of the day before I saw one.  On the way back along the Tyne, there was an area on the edge of the Spetchells near Prudhoe where trees have been cleared to allow sand martins to nest and there were a few flying about.

By coincidence, the next U3A Naturewatch walk on Friday was to the Spetchells, and this time the forecast was spot on - very gloomy and so I gave up hopes again of any butterfly spotting.  One orange tip did turn up just as we set off, but that was it.

Apart from sighting a kestrel above the river, we were soon into flower-spotting. Once again I was straight out of my depth but I did manage to identify a few items as below:

Germander Speedwell

Orchid

Bird's foot Trefoil

There was a bit of argument about the orchid as it might have been an early purple or a marsh orchid. Obviously I couldn't possibly comment. It does seem that there is some hybridisation anyway.

What interested me more was the amount of mining bees that were around in spite of cooling temperatures and a shower.  There were holes all over the place in some parts. All of a sudden a moth turned up and landed on the chalk.  At first I thought it was a common carpet, but further research proved it was a treble-bar. Quite pleased to have worked this out as I don't normally do moths.

Buffish Mining Bee

Treble-bar

Saturday 19th May

A farly quiet week.  On Tuesday I took another run down the Derwent Valley but didn't see anything more exciting than the odd orange tip and specled wood.  I dropped in at the Thornley Woods hide the day after to check their sightings book but it seems that nothing more exotic than a nuthatch has been spotted so far in May.

On Thursday evening I walked along the river at West Wylam to try and identify an old fishing spot I used to visit 35 years ago.  The topography of the bankside has changed vastly including the addition of a tarmac cycle track but eventually I think I did nail it. On the way home a fox ambled casually across the road between Greenside and High Spen.

It can be amazing how long or how little time it can take to see something interesting.  On the Friday, with just 10 minutes to spare before catching a train at Prudhoe,  I took a quick walk on the river bank and saw a well-formed female orange tip settled on some greenery.  I got the camera out but it was then briefly disturbed by a male before returning so that, for once, I got the shot I wanted.

Female orange tip

Note of course the lack of any orange on the upper wings.

In the garden, the sparrows have come alive to the fact there is free food is on offer, but have not visited in the same numbers as these jackdaws.

Jackdaws

I realised after seeing them that I did not know the collective noun for a group of jackdaws.  Apparently there are in fact two - a clattering of jackdaws or a train of jackdaws.  Based on the behaviour they have exhibited so far, I would suggest that "clattering" seems more appropriate.

Friday 11th May

Orange tips are now turning up quite regularly now, along with the other main whites.  On Tuesday I visited Thornley Woods for a general lookaround and in the vague hope of finally seeing a green woodpecker.

Speckled Wood on Wild Garlic

I didn't see the green woodpecker and it was the time of year still when butterflies are flying about (in search of mates?) more than settling.  As well as the main whites there were some (very) large whites and 10 -20 small brown butterflies fluttering along the woodland path.  I suspected they were speckled woods but it took some while before one settled long enough to convince me.  It's been an awful long while since I saw one, so I was well pleased.

After passing through a hedgerow crammed with willow warblers, I followed the riverside path along an attractive stretch of the Derwent and spotted a kestrel in a tree above some open ground.  As I got closer, it kept shuttling around between three different perches and diving down onto the grass.  I'm not sure what it was eating but it must have been pretty small and never hovered in the typical kestrel manner so that for a while I took it to be a sparrowhawk.

What struck me most was that it seemd completely undeterred by the arrival of various passers-by.  I thought this to be the fortunate result of having such a large amount of lush woodland that is so frequently visited. I don't think I could have expected to observe one for so long in Dumfries and Galloway.

Kestrel - with flies

Further along the river there was a green-veined white that seemed to be fascinated by the bankside mud.

This is certainly an area I will consider revisiting, especially as there are one or two stories about hairstreaks being sited. It also seems that the holly blue is a bit more common here.

Meanwhile I had some amusing attempts trying to get a photo of a magpie attacking the peanut feeder in the back garden. It didn't quite work, but here's another one preparing to move in...

Magpie

Sunday 6th May

Went on a hilly bike ride on Tuesday, hearing a couple of skylarks on the way.  Cycling back along the Tyne from Bywell, I saw a couple of white butterflies, one of which was the first orange tip that I've seen this year.

I cycled through to Ryton before leaving the Keelman's Way.  Just after I crossed the railway line, a walker stopped me and suggested I cycle up a footpath as the narrow road had been blocked by a broken down car.

Half way up the path  a small copper landed nearby and waited a full three minutes while I got out my camera before flying off at the last moment.  It was briefly replaced by a rather tatty looking green-veined white but it was good to see them anyway.

Yesterday I was pleased to see a female orange tip visiting my carefully preserved garlic mustard but it was clearly nectaring rather than laying.

There was also a sparrow on the back lawn and a starling on the feeders this morning, the first of either I have noticed.  It made me realise the garden is still  unpredictable.  Dunnocks heavily outnumber sparrows and there are far more jackdaws than starlings.  However this fellow (below) was definitely not something I thought I would come up against.  He certainly looks a lot nicer than the grey rats I used to glimpse arond Georgetown after dark!

Brown Rat