A couple of bike rides have paid off unexpected dividends since I got back from Scotland.
Riding back from Newcastle a week ago on Saturday, I paused briefly at a small meadow near the the Derwenthaugh Industrial Estate and managed to see a couple of small skippers nectaring on tiny mauve flowers. This was a nice surprise since - as expected - the bird's foot trefoil was only just starting to show.
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| Small Skipper |
On Wednesday, Kate and I did a run up the coastal track, mainly for the pleasant scenery and a visit to the ice-cream parlour at Amble.
As usual there were a few stonechats and goldfinch around but I was a bit surprised to see a linnet singing right next to the path.
While we were scoffing the ice creams outside, we noticed that there was a plant growing from between the stones in the yard. It reminded me of the scarlet pimpernel I used to see in my grandmother's garden in Hampshire - and so it proved.
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| Scarlet Pimpernel |
Its appearance in the North East is classed as unlikely though I guess the limestone tracts in Co. Durham might be a favoured habitat.
On the way back, we found a birdwatcher, who it turned out was observing a whitethroat that was gaily singing from the surrounding trees.
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Somewhat surprisingly, the linnet was still in the same area on the way back, just after we had observed some Highland and Galloway cattle, and gamely hung around while I fumbled for the camera.
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| Linnet |
Back in the garden I have finished clearing away the garlic mustard with the expected decline in butterfly sightings. I've also stopped feeding peanuts for the birds as I got fed up with constant flow of jackdaws snaffling all the food.
However the bees have continued to enjoy the various flowers that are still out. For a while I was mainly seeing garden bumblebees but now the buff-tailed bumblebee appears to predominate. Occasionally I have suspected white-tailed bumblebee but have yet to provide the proof.
One bumblebee that I hadn't seen in the garden before was an early bumblebee that turned up on the chive flowers. And one non-bumblebee that wasn't the expected mason bee was in fact a chocolate mining bee - a species I did once encounter here a few weeks ago.
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