A Minor Breakthrough

Things have been pretty quiet still - until yesterday.

Last week I had some time on the way back from Matfen on a bike ride, so I did a diversion via Whittle Dene Reservoir in the hope of seeing a little owl, though the few minutes I spent there meant there was little realistic chance of success.  I spent longer at Wylam to check for early run salmon at the fish pass but the river was full and the current possibly too strong for them to take it on.

Then yesterday i took advantage of the next spell of reasonable weather to follow up reported sightings of a slavonian grebe at Killingworth Lake.  As ever there was plenty of activity at the car park end where the ducks get fed and as I moved round anticlockwise I got good sightings of tufted duck (always a favourite) and goldeneye (one single male and a pair) and eventually a great-crested grebe.

Tufted Duck

Great Crested Grebe

Male and female Goldeneye

Eventually, I got to the far end of the lake where the slavonian grebe was said to be, only to be told by a twitcher that I'd missed it by about two minutes...

So I started foraging along the bankside, only to find a couple of greylag geese sailing along.

Greylag Goose

Then, on doubling back to where it had been first seen, there it was again! It seemed perfectly at ease and at times came within a few yards of the bank where we were taking repeated photos, paddling strongly and diving now and again for tiddlers.  It wasn't a first sighting as we encountered several breeding on a loch near Findhorn when I was there with V&A - but I certainly would not have expected to see one at Killingworth Lake. I was also surprised that there was only one of them and still in winter plumage.

Slavonian Grebe...

...in close-up

The above shots were taken when it got close to.  You can even see the drops of water on its back from diving.

Buoyed by success, I decided to try my luck at Clara Vale hide, where a green woodpecker had been seen a few days back.  A young lad was there already and said that though he had occasionally seen the green woodpecker, it had been an extremely quiet day with no notable sightings.

But as he was speaking, he caught a partial view of a little egret the other side of the island. Sure enough, it emerged briefly to allow a few photos before being frightened off, probably by some playing squirrels.

Little Egret

I think you can just about still see a fish in its beak.

Then it began to rain and we downed tools.

Meanwhile, there have been sightings of a white-tailed eagle at East Chevington. I ignored them at first, thinking it was probably a juvenile seeking territory and would move on quickly.  However it seems it has stayed on for at least a few days...

A Quiet Period

Not much to report at the moment in spite of, or perhaps because of the recent unseasonably mild weather bringing neither sun nor wind.  More significantly, I was ill with a virus so for a couple of days, I couldn't see much more than the trees out the back and the jackdaws reeling around in the sky.

Before that I did get out for one Sunday bike ride and, while the bird life was scarce, I was surprised to catch sight of a red admiral skirting a hedgerow north of Ovington.  It didn't hang around but I stopped to notice some ivy still in flower and took a quick look to see if there were any ivy bees.  There weren't but I did spot a couple of honey bees amongst a number of imitators.  This was on 27th October in a temperature of no more than 11C and is probably as late as I've seen a butterfly that wasn't disturbed from hibernation.  It wouldn't totally surprise me though if one or two turn up later this week if the sun gets out.

The purpose of this trip was actually a visit to Whittle Dene Reservoirs in pursuit of the little owl,  a bird I've still never seen, and a possible chance viewing of an osprey.  It wasn't to be as the conditions at the reservoirs were much windier so it wasn't a day to be hanging around long.  I did have a bit of a look at the ducks etc. on the water and thought I might have spotted a great northern diver at distance.  But when it came nearer it was quite clearly a great crested grebe already pretty much in its winter outfit.

One piece of success was that I finally managed to catch the nuthatch that has been making coy visits to the caged grain feeder.

Nuthatch

I'm a bit surprised to see it there so often as I'm more used to seeing them on peanut feeders.  I thought some of the earlier sightings I had were of a female, but this seems to be a male.

Incidentally I cleaned the peanut feeder last week, since when it has been largely shunned by all birds.

On a darker note five mice have recently managed to commit suicide in the buckets etc. I put out to catch the rainwater from the summerhouse roof.

Getting Around

I got out on a couple more trips this week.

On Monday the U3A Nature Watchers made it to the Low Barns Reserve next to the River Wear, which looks quite promising and certainly produced several pleasant if not unexpected sightings.

Straight away we caught my first sighting this year of a swallow in the typical 'bird on a wire' pose.

Swallow

Of course there were a couple of pairs of Canada Geese, one of which had some charming chicks, the other distinctly amusing in their mating activities.

Canada Geese mating

...and having mated...

Also we found the more obvious members of the grebe family:

Great-crested Grebe

Little Grebe

I was also quite amused to spot what I take to be a pair of immature greylag geese.  I think they look rather stately.

Greylag geese

Then at one point, something out of the ordinary happened when a bird appeared briefly on the fence and bushes in front of the hide - and appeared to be sporting a definite red breast,  Unfortunately, I had turned away briefly to check the feeders and couldn't get a photo of it.  But I did see it later in flight, which was noticeably rapid and again got a clear flash of red breast. The only conclusion I could come to was that it might have been a red-breasted flycatcher, a relatively rare passage bird.

Unfortunately the only photo that someone did manage to take was inconclusive and looked more like a reed warbler and no further reports have followed.

As it happened I had to content myself with a shot of the first speckled wood butterfly I have seen settle this year.

Speckled Wood

In fact there's been remarkably few of them around this year.  Perhaps something to do with the cool, damp spring?

Dazed and Confused

Eventually the weather had to perk up, resulting in an increase in activity both in the garden and elsewhere.

One of the first signs of this about ten days ago was finding a large number of nomad bees swarming around my forget-me-nots.  I've never seen so many together and hardly any were actually settling, so a bit of a scunner.

I was fairly comfortable identifying Gooden's nomad bee and in subsequent days reckoned I'd identified male and female Panzer's nomad bees, one of which also turned up (I think) at Bolam Lake on Friday.

Gooden's Nomad Bee

Panzer's Nomad bee

The presumed female I caught in a bug box at home had entirely red and black bands on the underside, which tallied with a photo on the internet.

Then much more recently, this item turned up and also fell victim to brief imprisonment the bug box.

Nomad Bee

For reasons that are hard to define too closely, I'm not convinced that this is a panzer's.  Perhaps it's a bit too large, particularly in the thorax area.  So I started to wonder about flavous nomad as the nearest alternative but a bit of research show's that Marsham's and Kirkby's nomad bees are possible locally.  So I'm now unsure about nomad bees with any red markings...

Also, as there are so many nomad bees, where are the mining bees they predate?

Also confusing has been the continuing lack of butterflies settling in the garden. The couple that have were both green-veined whites but I had to take a bike trip along the Tyne before I could get a snap of an orange tip - a rather bedraggled female.

Green-veined White

Orange Tip

Now orange tips are everywhere including five in the garden yesterday, but still not settling or only briefly.

One clear certainty is that the red mason bee is back in big numbers and the wee bug hotel (more like a bug B&B really) is doing a roaring trade.

Red Mason Bees

I was also fairly confident of identifying a Hawthorn Mining |Bee at Bolam Lake...

Hawthorn Mining Bee

... unless it's Gwynne's Mining Bee, or something completely different?

For a few days now, I've puzzled over this small bee that landed on a californian poppy:

Chocolate Mining Bee

After careful consideration, I think chocolate mining bee.  I saw one last year I believe.

And again on bees, I definitely saw a garden bumblebee the other day.

Garden Bumblebee

Okay the tail looks a bit weird but I got a really good look at the double stripe around the waist.  You can just about make it out.

Lastly on a quick tour of a few lakes in Northumberland, it really looked like our small group was not going to see anything beyond standards like tufted duck, canada goose, common tern and great crested grebe.

Great Crested Grebe

Common Tern

Then, just as I was turning to go back to the car, someone someone spotted on osprey flying close overhead with a large fish between its claws.

Dazed and confused indeed!

A Bag of Mixed Surprises

On the whole you could say not much has happened over the past couple of weeks but just occasionally something did happen that I wasn't expecting.

Last Sunday, I returned to the QEII as a female smew had been reported for two days in succession.  I couldn't find it over a two hour session but did spot a juvenile red-throated diver at considerable distance, and there have been no reports of them for a while.

Juvenile Red-throated Diver

Numerous gulls and tufted ducks turned up and I wasn't surprised to spot a couple of great crested grebes near the bank. But another distance shot of a mystery item hanging around with the mallards had me scratching my bird brain for answers.

Great Crested Grebes

Mystery Item

Hungry Mute Swan 

It was probably some sort of hybrid.

Similarly I didn't see the apparently injured whooper swan, which hopefully wasn't accepting bread offerings from the irresponsible tourists at the motel complex. 

But while I was checking a reed bed for the smew, this mute swan decided to get up close and personal. It was clearly begging for food and I could easily have reached out and stroked it.

Thinking of another mute swan I had seen earlier that was sitting motionless by the path and looked in poor condition, I decided it was best not to lay hands on the King's property and moved on.

In any case the last time I got anywhere near as close to a swan while fishing as a kid, it was hissing at me and threatening violence.

The trend to slightly unexpected but not monumental sightings in the garden has also continued.

Last time I mentioned the occasional visits by nuthatch, woodpecker and blackcap and the set was complete when a marsh tit visited the nuts last week, albeit briefly.

Nice surprises also were the appearance of a song thrush, which doesn't happen often and the fact that a pair of bullfinches, which usually lurk shyly around the back fence picked up enough courage to come and visit the peanut feeder.

Song Thrush

Bullfinch Pair

In fact Mrs Bullfinch has visited again today.

Confusion and Consultation

On 11th November I was on the way to the tennis club and paused briefly to check out an expanse of ivy near the Derwent for ivy bees.  What in fact appeared to my surprise was a single red admiral.  I've made a mental note of this as the latest date I can remember seeing an active butterfly, discounting the one I found in my garden in Dumfries one midwinter. 

That one had clearly erred from its hibernation spot in sunny weather but was unable to fly in the near freezing temperature.  Having done a bit of research, I captured it and allowed it to warm up in the house for forty minutes, after which time it hopefully flew back to its chosen place of slumber on release.

On SundayI took my new camera out looking for a couple of bird novelties.

The first target was Northumberlandia, where bramblings had been reported.  A lady said a birdwatcher had seen 24 in a woodland area but I couldn't find them, the only suspect turning out to be a stonechat.

Stonechat

However I did manage to get a nice shots of some tree sparrows on the feeders.

Tree Sparrows

Someone had reckoned they had seen a black-throated diver at the QE2 lake, so that was my next destination.

The trouble was I was baffled by a series of distant sightings of large diving ducks.  In the end I sought advice from those more expert than myself on facebook as to what I'd actually captured on film.  Fortunately it was duly forthcoming.

The first suspects I had lined up turned out to be great crested grebe and goosander in winter uniform.

Great Crested Grebe

Goosander

A third suspect came a bit nearer the shore.  It isn't a black-throated diver but a juvenile red-throated diver according to trusted advice on facebook - a nevertheless excellent first sighting.

Red-throated Diver

It's not actually easy to identify these ducks in winter plumage and the discussion of black-throated v red-throated diver is a particular issue. One respondent suggested this guide on the subject.

Quite amusing at the same location was to suddenly spot a whooper swan by the bank.  According to a local couple it is the ONLY whooper swan on the lake amid hundred or so mute swans!  At the top end there were also considerable numbers of gadwall.

Whooper Swan

Gadwall (male and female)

However my confusions were not at an end as I put in a brief visit to Killingworth Lake on the way home.

Here there was nothing special to mention but another duck that defied identification.

Mystery Duck

It was poorish light and the water looks brighter than the bird!  Anyway, I half suspected a hybrid and this was duly confirmed on referral - probably mallard and domestic duck hybrid.  Apparently it has been there for years and I think I may have photographed it while looking for a scaup a couple of winters ago.

Surprise and Disappointment

 As expected the buddleia hasn't lasted into October well enough to have much chance of attracting further butterflies, as just two or three reasonable sprigs remain.  The last red admiral to visit was sighted on 24th September.  Perhaps surprisingly though, the penultimate visitor on the 21st was a one-off comma.

Comma

Holly blue sightings did manage to rise by one, making a presumed final total of 14.

On Friday I finally got round to manage a planned visit to Hammerlands at Moffat (now apparently The Green Frog) to see if I could catch a trout on my father's old fly fishing gear.  Unfortunately most of the lake was heavily weeded and I didn't catch anything - and neither did the other two visitors on the day.  I did however manage to see some hefty looking trout but most were moving around at considerable speed and seemed disinterested in any offerings.

Staying over with my son in Crawford, we then got out for a birdwatching trip to Lochwinnoch RSPB  that proved my theory that you will often see nothing interesting until you are on the point of giving up.

Although it was a pleasant walk, there wasn't that much birdlife around, the main items noted being shoveler, heron and long-tailed tit plus some distant views of goldeneye.

Goldeneye

One interesting section was the boardwalk to the Peel Tower, where there was an abundance of himalayan balsam.  We noted several bees and wasps nectaring on it, all of which seemed to have white markings on the thorax.  I wondered if the first one we saw was a rare bee or if some kind of disease was prevalent.  We eventually concluded that it was in fact pollen from the balsam as it affected all of them, including honey bee, carder bee and buff-tailed bumblebee.  Attempts to photograph it were  in vain as the marking simply doesn't show up well.  This was my best attempt:

Buff-tailed Bumblebee

On a nearby lake, we did manage to add great-crested grebe and tufted duck to the list for the day.

Tufted Duck

Great Crested Grebe

Giving up on further sightings, we headed for Lanark where we bought fish and chips, which we decided to eat at Lanark Loch, mainly because it is a known carp venue.

Leaving binoculars and cameras in the car, we found a bench near the water and opened up the chips.  It was no surprise when a couple of swans came over but they were then followed by up to 20 gulls we couldn't immediately identify.  It turned out they were bonaparte's gulls, an occasional migrant from North America.  Fortunately, Vicki managed to record this first ever sighting for me on her mobile phone.

Bonaparte's Gull

Purple Heron and Colourful Flies

Although the pace of events has slowed since I got back from holiday, I achieved a successful twitch last week.  A purple heron had appeared at Gosforth Nature Reserve and has been there for some while now.  People have waited for up to five hours to see it as it spends most of the time behind the reed beds, only emerging for a quick fly around and then disappearing again.

By extraordinary luck, I entered the hide ten minutes before one of its fly pasts and got a pretty good view.  Unfortunately there was no chance of a photo as I was in the second row of twitchers who were snapping away on burst setting.  Afterwards most of them promptly left having achieved their 'job done' stickers so I hung around for a bit but it didn't reappear.

At another hide there was a great crested grebe on the nest and a rather grumpy-looking duck (perhaps a juvenile) I couldn't identify and a couple of butterflies (literally just a couple.)

Great Crested Grebe	Grumpy Duck
Speckled Wood	Red Admiral

The other thing I noticed while waiting for the purple heron was that there were splashes in the lake every time a swallow flew low over the water.  I realised there must be a lot of small fish in the water.

Fish splashing...

At home the buddleia is now out at the front and, as in previous years the first visitor observed was a small tortoiseshell.

Small Tortoiseshell

Always a pleasurable moment!

I've also noticed one or two interestingly coloured small flies or gnats around the garden.  One on the fence looked metallic green and brown and another similar one ended up in my tea.

Waiter, waiter!...

I couldn't identify it but the tea was Tetley's English Breakfast.