Monday 29th October

The day after I finished writing about the apparent lack of interest in my fatball feeders, two or three long-tailed tits visited them briefly but haven't returned, though the weather has now certainly turned cold.  Today a grey squirrel was nosing around the garden but it was after peanuts.

Arguably more interesting was the appearance of a female pheasant on the back fence.  It sat there for quite a while, doing nothing.  It struck me that I never mention seeing a pheasant but of course I have been seeing them all the time, specially when I was out cycling in Dumfries.

Pheasant

Last Wednesday I went on a bike ride to Segedunum in Wallsend and encountered an urban fox trotting towards me on the cycle track in Walker.  I'm not sure who was the more surprised.

On Friday I deided to try out some of the local bird hides to see if winter visitors had started to arrive.

I started out at Shibdon Pond and quickly caught a duck I didn't recognise in the binoculars.  A quick google after a check in the hide log confirmed it was a ruddy shelduck, so something of a rarity although it's obviously featured regularly at Shibdon Pond and another couple of birdwatchers I talked to afterwards didn't seem to regard it as at all notable.  It isn't quite clear whether ruddy shelducks that appear in the UK are errant migrants or feral birds.  However, there are some at Washington WWT that eat out of your hand.

Ruddy shelduck (centre) and others

Unfortunately, I had forgotten my camera and had to make do with a poor shot on my phone.
The other main species at Shibdon were moorhen, shoveler and over 20 canada geese that probably had just arrived.

I then moved on to a hide at Lamesley where things were quiet but for some teal and a pair of gadwall.  Teal also featured closer at a hide near the Derwent at Thornley Woods, along with a heron hunting in slow motion and a diving cormorant that then settled to dry off its wings.

Monday 22nd October

I have been thinking it's about time I got myself round some of the bird hides to see what winter visitors are starting to turn up. However there has been some reasonably mild weather for the past few weeks with a good deal of sunshine despite lower temperatures when the sun did not shine.

On 10th October it was sufficiently warm for me to be sitting out in the garden and I noticed there were a few red admirals showing interest in the ivy that clings to the trees at the back.  On closer inspection, it proved that they were nectaring on the wee, greenish flowers it produces.  Later a comma landed on the fence and the inevitable speckled wood fluttered by a couple of times. Squirrels have started to show up again in the trees too.

Red Admiral

Nectaring on ivy flowers

For some while the jackdaws have been totally dominating the peanut feeder and bird table so that I have started to think of ways to discourage them. But nothing seems to be interested in the fat balls at the moment.  Perhaps all the birds are totally focussed on seeds and fruit.  I can only imagine it will change once the weather turns frosty.

The Monday after the butterflies I got a very good view of a low hovering red kite over the main road in Rowland's Gill on my way to the supermarket.

This Saturday I took a bike ride to Seaton Sluice from Newcastle.  Apart from the large numbers of cormorants at the coast, there were a few curlew and lapwing in the stubble field behind the reserve at St. Mary's Island, where I also quickly saw another butterfly on the wing - probably a small tortoiseshell.

Nicely marked curlew

Friday 5th October

Comma

The weather has moved slowly into the autumn thermocline and more of my time has gone towards doing jobs around the house and garden before the frosts come.

One momentary high spot was the appearance of a comma butterfly that settled on the summer house to take advantage of what sun there was. This was the first time I've seen one in the garden.

Last week Alex was over with Vicki and she and I did a short walk along the Derwent Valley cycle track. The idea was to see a red deer but it was always a long shot. We didn't see that much - a red kite, a few squirrels and long-tailed tits plus a brief flurry of about 20 speckled woods on one of the viaducts.  It gave me a good feeling to see how she enjoyed these minor sightings.

A speckled wood was last sighted over the garden on 2nd October and it is possible that they will go on for a couple of weeks yet. The late specimens are small and look fresh, obvious results of a second brood. I was reading that they have increased spectacularly in both population and distribution over the past few years, though not this one as the Big Butterfly Count is actually showing a fall in numbers, along with several other species.

Whilst painting the shed and partly obscured from the bird feeders, I got some good close of views of long-tailed tits landing next to them. they eyed me over a bit but eventually departed without risking it.