Another First

The weather has inevitably started to breakdown and both the buddleia and the butterflies are gradually becoming more scarce.

Speckled Wood

I took a belated walk to Chopwell East Field but as I had feared virtually all the vegetation had turned brown, including one particular area where the flowers had not been out at all on my previous visit this year.  Apart from whites the only species showing was a few speckled wood.  However, as I went round the fringe of the reserve and started to work my way back through Chopwell Woods, it did strike me that I was actually seeing a very large number of them, I'd say somewhere between 50 and 100, virtually all quite small and looking fresh.

One can only conclude that there has been a very successful late hatch.  I wonder how they fared over the succeeding days.

Another pleasant surprise was to spot a single small copper next to the main road on my way back to the village.  I've never seen one so near to home before.

Taking advantage of a tip off from a local naturalist, I took a brief trip to Wylam and quickly found my target - a little colony of ivy bees near the bridge.

Ivy Bee

The ivy bee was only recognised as a distinct species in 1992 and was for a long time only seen in the Channel Islands and the South of England - so a pleasing first sighting for me that I have been keeping an eye out for for some time. They were all males.

My other trip out at the weekend was to Carlisle Gardens at Morpeth.  They looked quite promising with plenty of flowers in bloom but the sun was not to be seen. Apart from a bumblebee giving a wasp a bit of a hiding, the main noteworthy item was the floral clock.

Floral Clock 

Apparently it is one of very few floral clocks that are still working.  Ironically it had stopped before I was there.

Returning to the subject of butterflies, Butterfly Conservation are suggesting that the Big Butterfly Count indicates only a small rise in numbers this year.  My perception is rather more positive.  I have never seen as many small coppers as this year and white and purple hairstreak seem to have done well.  In the garden red admirals and large whites have been prolific this year, with a good late burst of small tortoiseshells. While it hasn't been a painted lady year, there have been a fair few about.  

I sometimes think that the Big Butterfly Count is prone to statistical error, relying as it does on sightings over three weeks at the end of July/beginning of August.  Certainly it's not a good time to count orange tips or green hairstreaks!

More Landmark Sightings

The day after I finished writing the last post, I saw something I'd never seen before - in the dining room.

Apparently this is a moth fly (also known as a drain fly) of the pericomini genus but apparently you'd need to be a serious expert to identify one more closely.  It was tiny and had a wingspan of about 3/8".

Another pleasant surprise occurred on 30th August, when a painted lady was finally spotted in the garden and reappeared several times until the sun clouded over.  With the weather now on the change I doubt if it'll be seen again...

Unlike the bullfinches, which will probably keep turning up while sunflower hearts are available. This time I managed to capture the male.  You can't quite see the sunflower heart in its beak.

Male Bullfinch

Today I took a trip to the Big Waters Reserve, where something interesting has been reported.  I have mainly known it as a fishing and birdwatching venue, but was quite impressed on wandering around that there's quite a fair amount of invertebrate-friendly territory in the form of meadows (now mostly dead) and woodland clearings.

Near the Little Waters area there were a good few speckled wood and a few dragonflies.  I think the ones that actually landed were common darters.

Speckled Wood

Common Darter

There were also some large blue dragonflies - possibly emperor dragonflies.

Moving further around the area, I was pleased to come across some small coppers.

Even more were to turn up when I searched an area by the path near the track to the bird eyes, probably about twenty and also a good number of common blues, both male and female.

Common Blue

Small Copper

I wished I had taken the trouble to get a better photo of the small copper.  There were plenty of opportunities but they didn't land for long.

I was heading back to the car park when I bumped into a chap who said he knew where I could find what I was originally after.  We went back to the same area a bit further along where the farm fields have a good covering of bird's foot trefoil and after a fair bit of messing around (and me starting to head for the car park again) we found it.

Clouded Yellow

I'd never heard of the clouded yellow being observed this far North and had thought it might be rare here.  This isn't so as there have been scattered sightings in the past but it is distinctly scarce locally and I don't think I've seen one elsewhere in the UK.

There was actually a very large amount of farmland with a good covering of bird's foot trefoil, so who knows whether there are more of them at Big Waters?