Saturday 20th April

Not so much evidence of smaller birds coming to the garden this week, but I was treated to the spectacle of a magpie devouring a vole on the back fence, cleverly using a bit of climbing ivy to hold it on for some time. While driving down to the Derwent Valley a couple of days ago, I saw another one eating horse manure.  I know that they do this but hadn't observed it before.

What had been a pretty cold spring so far drew gradually to an end on Wednesday so I decided to take the bike out to Prestwick Carr as I thought it might be a possible venue for the emperor moth.  It took a while before the sun to break through and there wasn't too much to see at the observation platform apart from a begging chaffinch, a willoe tit on the feeder and a tree sparrow or two.

Comma

As soon as the sun did come out butterflies started to appear. They were in flight so it was hard to identify but I think I saw enough to suspect they were painted ladies, as well as a couple of small browns circling skyward.

Having missed a turn off down a mud track leaving Ponteland, I happened on a couple of comma butterflies.  At first I thought they looked very fresh, but the one that landed looked distinctly tatty.  On refinding the route there were several more, perhaps as many as twenty.

Later on heading for Stamfordham Road, a small tortoiseshell and a peacock appeared, the first I have seen of either this year.

Before all that,  I encountered a bit of a mystery. I clearly saw a yellowhammer perching on a hedge opposite Ponteland Golf Course.  It disappeared before I could get the camera out and I got this (below) instead.  Someone has suggested a sparrow but I saw it as being the same size as the yellowhammer.  Another bird on the same hedge turned out to be a thrush. A discovery of this dead moth (below) found in the summer house made it two mysteries in one week, as I can't identify that either.

Mystery 1

Mystery 2

The day after (18th April) the first male orange tip of the year sailed across the garden.

Wednesday 10th April

I happened to revisit Whittle Dene Reservoir last Monday week on a bike ride and  there were now 30 or 40 sand martins flying low over the Southern Reservoir.  Another group member had to go back to retrieve a lost item and reported the same thing, except that she was lucky enough to see a little owl as well.

Wary chiffchaff

Last Wednesday turned out sunny so I again ventured off over the hills on the bike to Stocksfield.  Returning along the Tyne Valley, there were a number of chiffchaffs showing in the lower bushes and trees between Prudhoe and Wylam. I got the camera out a couple of times before capturing this slightly wary-looking fellow.

More surprising since temperatures were no more than 11 or 12C was to glimpse a couple of butterflies going down a steep path - one brown and one white but impossible to identify.  However, on the way back home from Ryton a couple of red admirals clearly flew across the road.

There was another trip to the Whittle Dene itself this Monday, but frankly last year's visit, a couple of weeks later in the year produced more interesting results.  Apart from a few long-tailed tits, the main event for me was actually managing to see a skylark singing fervently above until it slowly disappeared into the low cloud as it rose.

The most interesting changes have occurred around the garden.  The jackdaws have pretty much disappeared and the smaller birds have taken over. A siskin (a young female I suspect) frequently visits the nyger seed.  A nuthatch and even a jay (first time) have been seen passing through the silver birches and a chiffchaff briefly inspected a bush in flower. I wonder if the jackdaws are finding more to intyerest them in the farm fields round about.

The idiosyncratic features of the garden are still apparent.  Plenty of dunnocks (often chased away by a robin) but no sparrows or starlings.  It was typified when I was surprised to see a chaffinch on the lawn.

Meanwhile the two magpies are still lolloping around the place without any obvious sign of producing offspring or having laid any eggs.

Magpie pair