Saturday 22nd May

Some incidental sightings have been a recent feature.

On Tuesday Malcolm and I had decided on a trip to Dipton Woods as the weather was just about suitable to look for green hairstreaks.  There was a bit of time to spare beforehand so I sat out in the garden where the forget-me-nots at least are having a bumper spring.  As well as a stray speckled wood butterfly, I kept noticing some bees that I didn't immediately recognise and so was repeatedly jumping up to photograph them.

On further research my initial reaction seems to be correct as I reckon they were red mason bees - not a rarity but the first time I have spotted them and a change from the tree bumblebee workers that have again nested by the front door.  There were some much smaller bees too but I couldn't get a shot of them.

Red Mason Bee

I wasn't particularly optimistic about the green hairstreaks but we did manage to see three albeit briefly, one immediately on arrival in the main target area and two just before we finished in more or less the same place.  This was even less than last year.  I had been quite optimistic about seeing a bilberry bumblebee but no sign.  All the bumblebees were of commoner varieties.  About half a dozen speckled wood, an orange tip and a couple of green-veined white also turned up at different times.

The day after I did a long exercise bike ride to Hexham.  Yellowhammers were about on the way to Greenside and again north of Bywell but I couldn't get them or a suspected lesser whitethroat to pose.

On a break by the river after Prudhoe I decided to snap a small tortoiseshell just to have a photo of something  but in doing so it struck me it didn't quite look normal.

Small Tortoiseshell

The difference is that the four innermost markings on the upper edge of the wing are almost totally white rather than yellow and even the central ones are very pale yellow.  A bit of research suggests that the colouration of the small tortoiseshell can vary if the larva has been affected by cold spring weather, which certainly fits the bill this year!

At the same place there was a nice view of a pied wagtail, which was sharing a pontoon on the river with a female grey wagtail.  I keep looking at pied wagtails to see if any are white wagtails but this one certainly isn't.

Pied Wagtail

Back at home I had been thinking I hadn't seen a tree sparrow for a while.  Then curiously one briefly visited the feeders two days ago.  Then it was here again this morning and actually inspected the nesting box the tits never use.  A tree sparrow nesting in the garden would be a bit of a story.