Sunday 20th September

 The last  few days of summer, at least a bit better than the end of August...

10 days ago I decided to continue my explorations of Cycle Route 1 up as far as Warkworth.   There was an immediate reward just past the old aluminium smelter at Lynemouth when I stopped to watch a group of buzzards and was distracted by the appearance of a couple of butterflies in a nondescript bit of wasteland.  One proved to be a small copper and the other a rather faded common blue, one of two, my only sighting this summer.

Small Copper

Common Blue

Continuing on into the nature reserves, there were a good number of stonechats around the dunes.  I thought at first there were a few whinchats among them too but on checking I think it was just that there was a large proportion of female stonechats and perhaps a few juveniles.

Female Stonechat

On the way back from what was a very pleasant run on a pleasant day, I happened upon this massive flock of goldfinches, as large as I've ever seen.

Goldfinches

There were a few meadow pipts around too.

On Friday I tried a fishing trip to Big Waters, mainly feeder tactics with sweetcorn.  It didn't work for most of the day until I caught two good roach in succession, probably straddling the 1lb mark.  In the meanwhile, I'd noticed some fish playing in the shallows and managed to pick up a couple of nice wee rudd on worm beneath a light float, plus a roach.

The better fish came when the sun was in.  When it came back out bites became niggly and I only got one more roach.  I fished on til dusk in hope, by which time I had lost all ability to cast straight and it was too dark to get a decent photo.

My attempts to preserve the buddleia for longer this year have worked a bit.  Two out of three plants still have some blooms so that small tortoiseshells have continued to visit.

Small Tortoiseshell

Speckled wood and red admiral have passed through as well but small tortoiseshell and small white are now the main visitors.

Wednesday 9th September

I was nearly fooled into misidentifying a dunnock as some sort of warbler this week.  In fairly bright light there was very little sign of brown making it look almost totally pale and it's habit of sitting in the hedge looking nervously around didn't seem a particularly dunnock-like behaviour.

Nervy Dunnock

However the camera showed clearly that it was definitely a dunnock.

I don't know if the birds and butterflies were out partying on Saturday night but there was little sign of them on Sunday when we walked from Corbridge up past Aydon Castle.  Then on the way back around 2.00 pm on a cool, dull day they started to reappear.  I was pleased to spot a jay and a woodpecker at considerable assistance in my new binoculars.  A few whites showed up and even a red admiral of which I got a poor shot but it was large and looked and in pristine condition, like the others I've seen this year, albeit few enough of them.

Red Admiral

Reaching the river again at Corbridge there were grey wagtails, a couple of male goosanders and a little egret.

Also noted were a couple of dung beetles, several fungi including this massive one and an example of robin's pincushion on a dog rose.

Fungus

Robin's Pincushion

The buddleia has struggled on and still attracts the odd small tortoiseshell or peacock.  One or two small blooms are still developing but I'm not optimistic they'll reach any size.

Friday 4th September

Some of the Naturewatch group did an informal walk around Bolam Lake last Wednesday.  Perhaps relieved to be out again, there was more chatting than spotting.  Apart from tits, we did see a treecreeper and heard a buzzard but that was about all and the main feature was perhaps the scenery in the early autumn sunlight.

Bolam Lake

It was surprising that, apart from a number of mute swans there was nothing on the lake at all in the way of ducks or waders.

A ramble around Chopwell Woods with Malcolm on Sunday wasn't very revealing either.  We did see five speckled wood butterflies and a (probable) common hawker but his dog found a corpse at one point and smelled of maggots all the way to the local pub.  I thought I saw a slightly different carder bee but the camera proved otherwise.

Since I have reflected how frequently you think you have seen something possibly unusual and get the camera out in evidence, only for the target to disappear before you can capture it.

On a bike ride to Belsay during a windless day I was a bit surprised to see a couple of buzzards.  The one on the way back seemed to have red on its tail.  It settled nicely in a tree within camera range and I was wondering if it might just be a red kite, which would have been interesting so far north.  All I can say is that it behaved much more like a buzzard in making its departure.  

The only other thing of note was a grey squirrel scrambling across the road between two farm fields.  A little bizarre.

Similarly in the garden a very slight and slender white butterfly with few dark markings rested on the plum tree and I started to wonder against all the odds about a wood white.  However it flew off strongly, unphotographed, and was almost certainly just a small white.

Unfortunately, the buddleia is now almost devoid of blossom and it remains to be seen whether it can produce any more sizeable blooms.  So this may be the last small tortoiseshell to visit me this year.

Small Tortoiseshell

A booted warbler, a species of which I had never heard was reported at Whitburn Country Park a few days ago, so I decided to take a brief trip out there, well aware that it would probably have departed.

It had.  However as soon as I entered the park, I did see a wheatear, which obligingly posed on the sign at the entrance.

Wheatear

This is apparently a pretty typical appearance for an autumn female.  As an advert it was though totally misleading, as it was the only bird of I managed to see in the park apart for a couple of pigeons.  Still, it was the only one this year.