A Mixed Bag

Keen to take advantage of the supposed heatwave, I set out for Wallington Hall Gardens on Sunday.  In fact the weather was cloudy all day and en route I thought I might do better with bees than butterflies.

On the whole the reverse was the case.  It was certainly warm enough, the winds were low and butterflies were out in abundance.

Particularly pleasurable was to see three painted ladies, to add to the one at Havannah the other week.

Painted Lady with Comma

Apart from commas, there were plenty of red admirals and small tortoiseshells, the former predominant on the several buddleia bushes, the latter more in other areas.  I don't recall having seen a peacock.

Other sightings were speckled wood and wall brown, the latter very briefly before being scared off, partly by a deranged young willow warbler that was going through the vegetation just a of couple yards away from me and appeared at times to be actually chasing the butterflies.

Deranged Willow Warbler

Not a well bird I suspect.

However it was the bees that produced the single business turn-up as I found several specimens of what I'm fairly certain were broken-belted bumblebees.

Broken-belted Bumblebee

Here's a second photo:

As a moorland species of Scotland and the Pennines, you'd have to ask what they were doing in a walled garden.  The yellow facial hair and legs are probably due to pollen.

The only other pollinators I noticed were honey bees, one with an orange tip to its tail and a plain-faced dronefly.

I decided to spend a good part of Bank Holiday Monday in the garden, just really to see if anything interesting would turn up. It was sunnier weather, but with a fair breeze most of the time.

Meanwhile I did a bit of counting of the most frequent butterflies.  Notably several commas turned up in the morning, but I did not see any after about 1.00 pm.  By contrast, small tortoiseshells were much more in evidence after about 3.30 pm.

Large whites, which have been very frequent this year, predominated but all three main variations of white were present.  On a very unscientific count, I reckoned that again the most numerous visitor, red admiral, outnumbered peacocks by a good bit over 10 - 1.  Perhaps it hasn't been a great year for peacocks.  My memory suggests that in past years, there have sometimes been more of them than red admirals.  Still no painted lady however.

As often on these occasions, a couple of things happened within a few minutes of each other.  An unfamiliar moth turned up on the buddleia.  It showed up orange in flight but looked a good deal different when settled.

New Moth

I assumed orange underwing but they don't settle with their wings tightly together.  A helpful suggestion on facebook is broad-bordered yellow underwing as orange underwing is in any case no longer on the wing in August.  Sure enough, internet photos show its colour is more orange than yellow.

Then up in the trees a blueish shape passed by.  It was a slightly less fleeting view than the one at Bradley Hall Gardens.  I'm pretty confident that it was the holly blue.

Meanwhile, the bullfinches kept sneaking up on the birdfeeders three or four yards in front of me.

Female Bullfinch

The male was rather more elusive.

In the evening I spent an hour or so at Marden Quarry hoping the night heron would turn up.  It didn't.  There were however a good number of gadwall to keep the mallards and coots company.

Gadwall

Catching Up

Dear, oh dear! I'm well behind with all this, partly because I took the liberty of going on holiday and partly because I've seen some things that have proved tricky to identify.

Let's start in the garden - about three weeks ago.

Sadly my forget-me-nots are now finished but the male bullfinch continued his visits to them and was last sighted raiding very close to the house.

Greedy Bullfinch

The same day, while taking a break in the summer house, I discovered this strange looking wasp crawling around.

Strange Wasp

I believe it is a form of ichneumonid wasp, without being able to identify it further.

The mystery bee mentioned in my last post continued to turn up in the same place and the nearest I can get to labelling it is that it MIGHT be an orange-tailed mining bee where the colouration has been faded by the sun.  One or two sightings suggested an orangey tinge on the tail and it has occurred not far from here.  I also considered a honey bee drone but the abdomen is too solidly black.

Suspected Orange-tailed Mining Bee

A few days before all this, I fitted in a trip to Prestwick Carr in temporarily overcast weather.  I went late in the day, hoping to catch up with a short-eared owl which duly failed to appear.  However I did get a nice view of a wren, and a chance one of a willow warbler, which I had first thought was a whitethroat!  At the feeders there was a willow tit and a tree sparrow I didn't even notice seeing.

Wren	Willow Warbler
Willow Tit	Tree Sparrow

Well I did say the light was poor! It certainly made the only speckled wood butterfly seen look a bit sombre.

Speckled Wood

I reckon Butterfly Conservation NE will record a record drop in Speckled Wood numbers this year.

More about my holiday shortly...

A ladybird spot or two

On Saturday I went on another Natural History Society walk at The Spetchells in slightly gloomy weather - again.  Compared to the Morpeth one a few weeks ago it was a bit disappointing.  It was a large group of about 20, which limited the opportunity to share sightings with others and not as well organised.

The first twenty minutes of a planned two hours were actually spent foraging in the undergrowth at the edge of the Tyne leading to a sudden yomp to the Spetchells, by which time I had captured what I thought was an interesting bee but couldn't catch up with the leaders to check.  In fact it was probably just a buffish mining bee that was carrying a lot of pollen.

Buffish Mining Bee with pollen

I had been hoping to see an ashy mining bee but as far as I'm aware the subject didn't come up.  

Nevertheless some interesting sightings occurred.  While still next the Tyne I caught sight of a very small ladybird that only two spots.  It was of course a two-spot ladybird.  This was quite pleasing as it was the first time I've identified one of the less common ones.

Two-Spot Ladybird

As the main group didn't manage to get more than about three hundred yards into The Spetchells, some including myself foraged ahead.  I managed to find two dingy skipper and a couple of red-tailed bumblebees.  The photos aren't up too much, in the latter case because of the bug tube I used.

Dingy Skipper

Red-tailed Bumblebee

There were some nifty wee bees moving around the clumps of speedwell that eluded both camera and bug box though I did get a good view.  Apparently they were red-girdled mining bees.  The diversity of mining and nomad bees never ceases to amaze!

Before we got ushered back, I did a quick check for common blues but the bird's foot trefoil was only just starting to show and none were to be found.  I did however catch up with a single red admiral catching a fleeting bit of sunshine - the first I have seen this summer.

Back at the Tyne we could hear but not see a singing blackcap and earlier there had been a few willow warblers and someone reported hearing a garden warbler.  I don't even know what they sound like.

Still unsure about what to do about the ongoing jackdaw invasion, it was however interesting to observe that one of the visitors is slightly leucistic on both flanks.

Slightly leucistic Jackdaw

Friday 11th June

The morning I left Dumfries, I took a walk along the Nith from Nunholm to see if I could spot any kingfishers.  There weren't any but there were good views of sand martins swooping over the river south of the caul.

At home there were a few sporadic visits by woodpeckers (both genders), more invisible greenfinches and equally invisible willow warblers.

One day I spotted was a carpet moth sunning itself upside-down on one of my favourite pots.  To be more precise it was a garden carpet.  I don't usually have carpets in my garden.

Garden Carpet

We went fishing at Brenkley again the Wednesday after but it was astoundingly quiet on two leger rods and one pole line, until a switch to worm on the pole produced a small perch.  Then around 6.00 p.m. there was a strong run on one of the leger rods while I was on my own and I brought in a nice common carp in spite of getting in a tangle with the other rod.  It was taken on glugged sweetcorn.

Common Carp

We were fishing off the peninsular and wondered if it was a good swim.  There appeared to be a bank of weed about half way across.  On the other hand there was no sign of any other carp being taken near us.

We are now debating whether fishing with two rods is a good idea.  I think maybe start with one and put up another if no bites result... or maybe start with two and take one in if bites are frequent...

On the Thursday there was another interesting looking bee on the forget-me-nots.  On trying to identify it though, I wasn't so sure it's a bee at all.  Once again I emailed a friend at the Natural History Society of Northumberland who confirms that it is in fact a Narcissus Bulb Fly.

It's not a bee...

It's a Narcissus Bulb Fly

The forget-me-nots are now past their best and I am starting to see some large carder bees on other flowers around the decking,

This Monday I was out for a short walk along the Tyne from Wylam with my cousin and his wife.  We hadn't got very far when we noticed frenetic activity in the trees by a number of blue and great tits.  We soon saw they were trying to chase off a young-looking jay that had presumably discovered a nest it was trying to rob.

When we got to Hagg Bank Bridge, I noticed what I thought was a pied wagtail on a rock far beneath us.  For some reason I decided to take a photo and it proved in fact to be a common sandpiper. 

There weren't many butterflies to be seen fairly early in the day but while looking for them I rather liked the look of some white flowers amongst the campions.

Common Sandpiper

Maid's Violet

We came back over the Spetchells where a few buffish mining bees were still active and one or two orchids are starting to show.  The bird's foot trefoil is also coming through but not profuse enough yet to attract the common blue or dingy skipper.  Also strangely absent here were the sand martins, apart from a possible couple over the river.

Return to Dumfries - Day 2

The search for birds continued, similar weather to Day 1 with slightly less wind again largely ruling out the possibility of butterflies and bees.

I did an old trick and drove the bike to Ken Dee marshes enabling me to forage further West.  The first target was the Laurieston area where I have heard cuckoos a couple of times before.  However my progress was quickly interrupted on the road over when I could clearly hear a cuckoo calling from  a conifer spread in the middle distance.

Annoyingly again, I couldn't catch sight of it but stopped at the very next field where about three red kites were performing acrobatics.  By the time I got off the bike, removed two layers of gloves and got the camera out they had moved on.

I was just about to do the same when the cuckoo flew right by the road, hotly pursued by two smaller birds - an impressive view.  It settled in a small tree along the road but soon retired some distance away.  I did not know that cuckoos get mobbed but I suppose it makes sense if the pipits etc have worked out what they are up to.

I rode on amongst a chorus of willow warblers and chaffinches and spent time in a certain area where a golden eagle is reported to pass by.  Needless to say there was no sign, nor indeed of any other bird of prey which was a little surprising.  There were just plenty of pipits and the odd skylark singing.

Things remained quiet until heading towards Girthon I heard exactly the same insistent chattering from a hawthorn bush as I encountered yesterday.  This bird was even more invisible.  I wondered about lesser whitethroat but it was only when I replayed the video I attempted that I realised it was a sedge warbler.

Must be a sedge warbler in there somewhere!

This was rather annoying as I have heard sedge warblers before and should have recognised it.  Perhaps I eliminated it on the basis that there was no marshland nearby though on reflection there was a small stream as was the case the day before.

At this point I realised I was quite a way behind schedule and pedalled on at some speed for a late lunch at Kirkcudbright.  This was a bit of a pity as I passed through some interesting territory and someone told me the day after he had seen grayling at Carrick.  I wish I had known that in advance.

The idea was to cycle back slowly to Laurieston from Ringford but a sudden shower sapped the enthusiasm and I did not pay much attention to the cuckoo calling north of Ringford, nor the one south of Laurieston.

After Laurieston I had warmed up a bit and was considering a quick run round the reserve at Ken Dee Marshes to check for peid flycatchers and wood warblers.  But just past the spot where I saw the cuckoo that morning I stopped to inspect the undergrowth and spotted a cuckoo in a tree further along.  I just managed to get a mediocre shot of it before it flew on further to a telegraph pole and started singing.

Before I could get a better shot peering through the trees it bolted up the valley, singing all the time, and made itself scarce.  It was probably the same bird as earlier.

Cuckoo

Thus was a minor ambition achieved in the very last mile or so of the expedition. By the time I reached the car, it was too late for further escapades and I headed back to the B&B.

Wednesday 5th May

Last Thursday I decided to brave the weather and take a fishing trip to Brenkley Pond, partly as I still had some usuable maggots from several weeks ago and was happy enough to catch a few smaller fish on waggler in view of the ongoing near-freezing temperatures at night.  That was exactly what I got - 6 small perch and 6 small roach, some of which rivalled the ones at Milkhope for minuteness.

Even on fine tackle bites were infrequent and finicky and had a knack of arriving at inconvenient moments when I was pouring a coffee or fiddling with gear, so I should probably have caught more.  At least the presence of perch is likely to weed out some of the smaller fish over time.

Covid travel restrictions having been relaxed I took the opportunity to meet up with Alex and Vicki at a certain Scottish moorland last Friday in search of birds of prey.  Maximum temperature forecast 9C, actual temperature on arrival 3C, enlivened by strongish wind and a squally shower.

Within half an hour of arrival, we spotted what we thought was a barn owl hunting and soon there were two or three on the go.  Then hen harriers started to appear, both male and female, overall about a dozen sightings though some may have been the same birds returning.  Some of the males were displaying by zigzagging up and down on the horizon.

Not really dressed for the  cold, I was more interested in fiddling with a flask of tea and a pork pie than the camera, so left it to Vicki to provide the photos.  

Male Hen Harrier

Short-Eared Owl

It transpired on closer inspection that the photos were of short-eared owls, though I suppose it's just about possible that both were present.  At one point two owls were together and there was a clear size difference and all sightings were at some distance.  However the habitat certainly makes short-eared owl a good deal more likely.  We had also hoped for peregrine falcon or merlin but neither showed up, not even on returning later in the day.  Still, having only ever seen one male hen harrier before, it was great to see several on the same day.

Meanwhile, on a brief walk up a nearby valley, we encountered numerous meadow pipits, the first two swallows I have seen this year, a few pied and and one grey wagtail.  I had a notion there might have been a white wagtail but it didn't hang about, neither did one larger pipit on the stream which I suppose was a rock pipit.  On the return walk, there were a number of willow warblers around and one reed bunting as well as a pair of stonechats back on the moor.

I suspect this Spring will turn out to have been a disaster for butterflies and there have been remarkably few on the wing these last ten days.  Today a white landed that was either a female orange tip or a green-veined white.  After it departed a male orange tip appeared.  Otherwise there has been nothing apart from a single speckled wood at the tennis club on Sunday.

Orange Tip

Thursday 11th June

Keeping ahead of more bad weather forecast, and very dreary it has proved, I was out on a couple of trips earlier this week.

On Monday, a rather arduous bike ride from Wark to Kielder Dam and back didn't produce many sightings but I did hear a cuckoo quite close by on the South side of the river just West of Bellingham.  It's the first I've heard since returning to the North East.  On the way back I also caught sight briefly of a red squireel running across a forestry track and again I think that was the first I have seen since relocating.

On Tuesday feeling stiff I decided on a very slow walk along the road through Prestwick Carr, partly persuaded by a mention of snipe though I didn't really expect to see any.  As soon as I parked a lot of willow warblers could be heard and I again thought I saw a lesser whitethroat but again could prove nothing as it wouldn't stay still for long.  All I can say was it was behaving the right way..

Another whitethroat showed up in a hedgerow soon after but I don't think the photo is good enough to tell what kind.

Whitethroat

However the most interesting feature on a day that was virtually windless was the number of birds that elected to land on the small number of bare trees along the moss.

This resulted in sightings of linnet, meadow pipit and - sure enough - snipe in similar poses.  I'd certainly not have expected to see the latter two at the top of a tree. In fact I don't think I've seen so many birds do this on the same day.  There were a couple of other examples where photos taken at distance against the light were too indistinct to make out so the birds couldn't be identified.

Linnet

Meadow Pipit

Snipe

Further up the path, the willow warblers were a bit more visible.

Willow Warbler

Once or twice on other trips I've noticed a bumblebee that was too big to be a carder bee and spent quite a lot of effort trying to take one on the way back. Typically it was hard to get a full body shot but I think it was probably an early bumblebee.

Early Bumblebee

I've seen them before but had entirely forgotten about early bumblebees. Put it down to my late age.

Slowly getting tired as I got nearer to the the car, I still couldn't resist chasing up another suspected lesser whitethroat skulking through the hawthorns. As it was constantly moving around I tried to video it.  The pictures were pretty useless but you could hear the consistent 'tec tec' call on the soiundtrack - which I think is decisive. I'm claiming.

Not a bad overall result for a rather hastily planned trip and perhaps shows the value of taking your time!

Wednesday 17th July

I did a bit of a double hit on Monday, taking advantage of a nice warm day when only a visit to the dentist was scheduled.

Cycling slowly down cycle track 14, I kept a look out for places where there might be butterflies.  At first all I encountered was a grey wagtail and a few speckled wood.  Then right at the bottom end of the Derwent just west of the confluence of the Tyne (and very near the edge of the industrial estate) I found a flower meadow.

Here the results were very similar to those encountered at Blaydon just over a week previously - plenty of meadow brown and small skippers, several burnet moths and common blues and a few ringlet. I had a suspicion that one or two of the skippers might be large skippers but the suspect I checked was a small.

On the way back I saw a female roe deer with two foals drinking at the riverside.  They had a very reddish look and at first I thought they were red deer.  Research however shows that there are no red deer in the area.

The session was nicely capped off when I got off the bike at home to see a small tortoiseshell on the wee buddleia in the front garden.  There were three more sightings later on in the day.

Small Tortoiseshell

In the evening, I decided to go to Waldridge Fell in search of purple hairstreaks, my current number one target.  I did see three seperate willow warblers and after a longish period of staring at various oak trees, of which there are many, I did on four occasions see some buitterflies circling the oak crowns.

Unfortunately they were all speckled woods!

Monday 30th April

There have been some interesting appearances on the bird feeders to be noted and recently we have had jackdaw and male woodpecker.

Furtive Jackdaw

Male Woodpecker

I think this pretty much completes the photo sequence of regular visitors apart from wood pigeon who I haven't bothered with and magpie who takes fright as soon as I reach for the camera.

Over the past weeks I have been out a few times and the accent has been on nature walks and botany.  The only bike ride was last Thursday when I took a look around Gibside followed by a fairly chaotic attempt to cycle back home via Track 14 and Chopwell Woods.

For an estate Gibside has obvious potential and I did see my first willow warbler by the cycle track and the first of several plants I couldnt identify in Chopwell Woods, plus of course the inevitable grey squirrel.

On Friday I went on the Prudhoe U3A walk in Whittle Dene with no idea what to expect. It turns out the area is an ancestral forest and the botanical experts in the group could point out several specialised flowers and trees, notably wood avens, marsh marigold, spindle, wood anenome and opposite-leaved golden saxifrage.  Frankly I was well out of my depth but absorbing at least some of this knowledge and appreciating the at times stunning scenery made for a rich experience.

Wood Anenome

Wood Avens

I did however spot a lone small tortoiseshell and managed to identify the song of a small group of blackcaps that obligingly showed themselves shortly afterwards.  My other observation was that there were no fish to be seen in the burn - hopefully not another sign of successful otter preservation. It was also good to learn that one of the plants we saw (garlic mustard) occurs in my new garden and is a food plant for the orange tip caterpillar.

On Saturday, my sister and I attended a supposed drop in at Gosforth Park Nature Reserve, except that the guy who was hosting it seemed a bit surprised that anyone turned up.

On the way to Hide 2 we had good views of at least one sparrowhawk moving through the trees, saw a couple of overflying waders (common sandpipers??) and heard what we thought to be a sedge warbler.

On the lake itself there wasn't too much happening but I enjoyed watching the antics of a couple of common terns performing acrobatics and swooping to (presumably) catch flies just above the water's surface.  Amongst the commoner inhabitants (little grebe, black-headed gull, shoveler, canada goose, tufted duck) one greylag posed nicely right in front of the hide.

Greylag Goose

Sunday 15th October

It has been a quiet period between the seasons. A lot of my time has been spent on an overdue tidy-up in the garden including much pruning and chopping so the main forms of wildlife I have seen have been the odd spider and beetle apart from the usual infestation of greenfly on transporting things to the tip.

Temperatures have been fine and red admirals have continued to appear on occasion, the last actual sighting being last Monday.  There would have been more given some sun.  Signs of autumn are however encroaching.  The coal tit has started to reappear though less so than last year when it had a sunflower to deal with.  And numerous quckings from on high clearly indicate that barnacle geese are back in the area.

Trips out haven't produced much.  I did get a shot of female stonechat messing around on the moors at Glenkilns on 20th September and a few willow warblers still in the trees on the way up there.  Last week I saw a single swallow on the way to Kirkcudbright.

Female Stonechat

Yesterday I went for a bit of a walk round Dalbeattie Town Wood, hampered somewhat somewhat by drizzle. Nothing noteworthy appeared, just a few mallards and some garden birds.  It was a nice peaceful atmosphere though, almost eerie in its quite stillness.

Plantain Loch, Dalbeattie

Tuesday 4th July

Busy, busy lately, so this is just a quick summary of what happened on the nature front.

A fortnight ago swifts were flying around the estate merrily.  One bird seemed to be entering the eaves of a house across the road.  I was starting to have ideas of videoing them but the weather broke at the end of the week and I haven't had even heard them screeching since.

That Thursday I had a meeting in Kendal and was surprised to see a grey wagtail hopping around on the pavement in the town centre.  Fair enough the River Kent was not many yards away but I haven't seen one in an urban environment before and if you see a wagtail on country roads. it's always a pied wagtail.

Last Wednesday there was a short bike ride to Ae Forest which I was happy to keep short as I had a heavy cold.  I took my time and looked out for redstarts by the stream just before Amisfield Moor without result in by now downright dreary weather.  On the moor there were a few pipits and a couple of willow warblers to be seen and I also heard a whitethroat on the run down off it.

Just before the crossroads at Ae Forest a large volley of siskins went through the trees, just as a group of fellow cyclists drew up behind.

Yesterday I was at Kingholm Park for other reasons and another mysterious brown butterfly moved away out of the grass just in front of the Pavilion.  That is the third time I've had this experience recently and not been sure what I'd seen, but I'm inwardly convinced it was the same species each time!

Wednesday 21st June

Got out on a small fishing trip on Saturday, mainly to use up some of the bait from the earlier trips this month.  I had intended to go to Lochfoot but the north bank has been rendered virtually inaccessible by extended heavy fencing.  So I ended up legering from the north bank at Mill Loch.

At first it looked like it might be another blank as bites were not forthcoming for a while.  Of course, as soon as I set up a second rod, the bites did start to come and I landed a perch, a roach and two more perch in a fairly short period around three to four o' clock.  After that bites got shyer and harder to detect.  I switched to corn on one rod, retaining red maggot on the other and got another three roach before packing up mid-evening.  None of them were any size and there were no bream.

The catch before release

Another angler told me he had been catching good roach and six bream from the western stretch of the north bank, which seems to be the favoured stretch these days.  However it is an awful long way from the road.  I was exhausted enough after carting the gear as it was!

Yesterday, Vicki and I decided on another quick walk at Kingholm Quay.  Once again it was quite productive and there were a couple of pleasant surprises.

It started quietly setting off towards Glencaple with a brief sighting of a female greenfinch and a couple of ringlet butterflies (first of the year) that flew around restlessly without ever settling plus a green-veined white (probable) doing exactly the same.  There was also an extensive pink-flowering bush that may have been some sort of domestic escapee.

Another unidentified pink flower

We then spotted two or three birds behaving very furtively in a group of dog roses.  I got enough of a view to reckon they might be sedge warblers, but it proved impossible despite several attempts to get any sort of a photo.  Then Vicki used her phone to confirm the spotting and actually played the sedge warbler call a afew times, which immediately drew a considerable response from all around!  So we unconsciously found a new means of identifying bird life.

Shortly thereafter I spotted a fascinating section of rough scrub.  I was trying to follow a small flock of birds entering a tree when a redstart showed up in the binoculars as it settled in the undergrowth just in front.  It didn't stay for long but long enough to identify it positively.  I haven't seen one for a few years now.

On the way back there were more similar encounters with warblers and butterflies, including a couple of willow warblers.  At one point a small brown butterfly settled that I expected to be a small copper.  However it proved to be a skipper.  On appearance I thought it might be a small or essex skipper but they are not common here and not yet officially on the wing, so I suppose that large skipper is the obvious answer.  Frustratingly, no photograph was possible yet again but we did rather better with a single red admiral that was nectaring on flowers - the first of the year for me.

Red admiral

You can see how fresh it looks, so I think it must have hatched recently.

Wednesday 24th May

Lesser Redpoll

Last Wednesday I had a lovely short run coming back over Troston from Beeswing.  On the way up the hill in the brief period of reasonable sunshine, there were green-veined whites and orange tips everywhere and on the top I reckoned I'd seen a couple of birds with a bit of white on their tails that I didn't readily recognise.  They flew into some young conifers and started to feed so I hung around and they turned out to be lesser redpolls - the first time I've seen one for four years.

I stopped a bit later to forage for willow warblers but instead there were three cuckoos singing simultaenously from different directions - not something I've ever heard before.

I was so pleased with that run I decided to repeat that part of the route again today.  This time I headed to Beeswing via Kirkconnel Flow and encountered a minor mystery.  Just past Mabie, I glimpsed what looked like a meadow brown over the grasses to my left. There were cars behind me just after a bend so stopping would have been unsafe and I couldn't investigate.  Annoyingly there were a couple of other brief flashes of brown between New Abbey and Beeswing but totally unidentifiable.

The problem about this is that the meadow brown isn't on the wing yet, and neither are the other species that it could possibly be mistaken for.  It wasn't a wall butterfly and too big for a small heath, so I have to record an open verdict.

Then there was a young red deer past Kirkconnel Flow that took a look at me before sprinting 300 yards across the pasture to get away.

The run back over Troston was unluckily during an overcast spell so today only one butterfly on the whole of the run to Whinneyhill. There was a bullfinch and a couple of willow warblers.  But my main hope was to see a cuckoo and, during a brief stop where a walking route crosses the road, I heard one that I managed to trace to a somewhat distant treetop.  So I finally managed to get a photo of a male cuckoo, albeit at a considerable distance.  Lesser redpoll however did not make a reappearance.

Distant cuckoo

Meanwhile I got a pleasant surprise while labouring away in the garden last Thursday, when I heard the first swifts chasing each other around the estate.  It may be my imagination but it struck me that it was early for them to be around - to be precise 18th May.  I must check this out.

Sunday 14th May

Well things really have taken off on the nature front over the past eight days!

After a full day stuck in the house last Saturday, I managed to get out for a teatime walk on the river by Threave Castle. The most striking thing on the way to the ferry landing was the number of red kites following the farm vehicles working on the land. There was actually a sign towards the end of the walk noting that they do this to catch insects and worms that get churned up, plus any small animals that might get killed.  It was certainly a spectacle!

Ospreys were then duly spotted in the distance in and flying over the nest.  I then spent a longish time confirming a view of a peregrine falcon that is now nesting on the castle itself.  At first the sun was a nuisance, then I ended up taking pictures from upstream, which meant it was mostly a rear view.  But the poor pictures I got confirmed the slate grey back and a hint of white at the neck.  Curiously a crow landed very near it as if looking for a chance to steal some eggs and the peregrine did nothing to chase it off.

Up by the weir there were numerous green-veined whites playing amongst the bluebells. Also sighted were willow warbler, blackcap a couple of lapwing, some orange tips and (as on previous visits) a cheeky robin begging for food. Oh, and another in the series of (for me) hard to identify pink flowers.

But the best photograph I got was of this swallow peering over the roof of one of the farm buildings. I don't think s/he meant to look as angry.

Swallow

As I left a couple of people arrived who were looking for otters.