Larks Not On Shore

Not too much to report from the garden.  I blame fairly or otherwise the continuing construction of a new housing estate in the middle of the village.  However I did manage to get a brief video of the long-tailed tits mobbing the suet dumplings that I've been trying to capture for some while:

Long-tailed tits

Not a bad roll call though I have had as many as seven or eight on previous occasions.  Unfortunately I couldn't get the same suet dumplings on my last trip to the supermarket, and the attempted replacements has been viewed with puzzlement by tits and corbids alike.

In fact this blue tit preferred instead to rob a few seeds from the mahonia bush.

Blue Tit

After some humming and hawing I decided after a typically abortive trip to Chopwell Woods to visit Beacon Point at Newbiggin again, where conditions yesterday were somewhat misty and rather rough.

Rough conditions

Thanks to another birder, I did this time managed to catch up with a pair of shore larks.  These however were found several hundred yards away feeding next to one of the greens on the golf course and nowhere near the shore where they were supposed to be.

Shore larks seem to be fairly confident birds and at times I had the feeling that, even at 250 metres range, this one was giving me the eye.

Shore Lark

There were again a good number of twite on the path next to the golf course, though once again I didn't make a great job of getting them in focus.

Twite

I think i might need to find out more about focal lengths.

The flock was perhaps slightly smaller than last time but feeding in exactly the same place on the path, where I gather people have been putting bird seed down.  I do hope this isn't to be regarded as cheating...

I didn't manage to catch up with the snow buntings that have visited occasionally but another bonus sighting, this time as considerable distance, was a couple of ringed plover down on the rocks.

Ringed Plover

Immediately to the left of them was this rather scruffy item, which puzzled me a good deal.

Scruffy Item

It spent most of its time trying to preen itself.  On reflection I suppose it's perhaps a juvenile oyster catcher without as yet the red beak.

Late Summer Sightings

Long-tailed Tits

The long-tailed tits are still very keen on the suet ball feeder. Typically they arrive in good numbers but are clearly nervy and make off at the least disturbance so visits don't last long.  I notice too that they won't come much if the feeder is well-filled, perhaps fearsome of something bigger than them, but prefer to wait for the other tits to whittle the supplies down somewhat.

Up until about a week ago, large numbers of small tortoiseshells were continuing to visit the buddleia, often eight or nine at a time.  As the buddleia blooms gradually died back, it was possible to see as many as four or five clinging to the same sprig, occasionally landing on the shed or elsewhere to warm up a bit when the sun weakened.  In one case elsewhere proved to be my foot.  This was pleasing as about a month ago a red admiral landed on my shoulder.  I got the photo but accidently deleted it and so had no proof. 

Small Tortoiseshell on large foot

On the 20th,  the buddleia also attracted an early bumblebee queen.  I gather there have been a few on the wing and probably saw one a few days before as well.  On the same day I had been on a bike ride in mediocre weather not seeing much at all and certainly no butterflies.  Having also thought I'd already seen my only painted lady for the year it was bit of a surprise when one turned up on the route past Ryton Golf Club, and kindly posed on the track for a few seconds.

Painted Lady

Alex and Vicki visited at the weekend.  On Saturday we spent a good deal of time in the hide at Clara Vale, hoping that a kingfisher would turn up.  It didn't.  We just saw a little grebe and a couple of moorhens and nothing more to add on a tour of the small Nature Reserve.

The day after we made a trip to Holy Island on what was palpably the last day of the September mild spell.  Although a little too early for spectacular sightings we did manage to see a raven, redshanks, rock pipits, sanderling, ringed plovers, razorbill, cormorant, guillemot as well as a school of seals.

Bar-tailed Godwit

Ringed Plovers

Seals

There was also a little brown job that was in the same area as a flock of pipits but I didn't think it was one.  Awaiting identification on that one...

Lastly, on a quick visit to the Gertrude Jekyll Garden near the castle, we stumbled on my third painted lady of the season.  They all looked pretty fresh.  Perhaps there are more around than I thought.

Another Painted Lady

It's getting to the time of year when I wonder what will be the last butterfly I see.  The latest contender on the buddleia anyhow was this red admiral, found clinging to the last decent sprig of flower in the wind yesterday.

Red Admiral

12th March

A couple of walks with Alex this week. At Mersehead saw reed bunting, pipits, curlew, ringed plover and 18 shelduck on shore. Still several hundred barnacle geese. Area behind beach towards Southerness looks to be worth investigating.

Caerlaverock Nature Reserve today.  Heard woodpecker and several skylarks but no sighting.