Friday 16th November

This is the slightly delayed report on the visit to Low Hauxley WWT reserve on Monday.

Driving by a rather more direct route than planned following my argument with Sally Satnav, we were treated

Tree Sparrows

to a good view of a kestrel hovering on the approach to Hauxley Village.  We duly assembled in the cafe observation area.  Conditions were slightly tricky looking directly into the sun but secerla ducks including little grebe, wigeon and tufted duck were soon spotted.

I sidled off to watch the feeders, which were soon being plundered by a number of tree sparrows, two of whom performed an 'eyes left' routine for the camera.

There was also the first sighting of a red-breasted merganser.  It popped up again later when we were half way round the reserve but, annoyingly for me, it managed to sneak behind an island both times before I could catch it in the binoculars properly.

Female Shoveler

After that we split to visit two hides.  I chose the one facing seawards where there were a few female eider near the shoreline.  Several woodland birds visited the feeders there as well as a moorhen on the ground and a large volley of long-tailed tits passed through, one perching in the twigs right in front of the hide window.

From the other hide there were also reports of a bar-tailed godwit.

Further round past Ponteland Hide, we encountered some gadwall, a shelduck, teal and a pair of female shovelers that seemed to have particularly large beaks - even for them.

Hebridean Sheep

As there had been no substantial frost, there were still numerous plants and trees in flowers.  The ones I noticed most were sea buckthorn, red campion and viper's bugloss.

On the way to the last hide on the western side of the lagoon, there was a group of hebridean sheep, one of which managed to look strangely like a baboon.

Perhaps due to the incoming tide, this was arguably the most productive location and produced amongst others excellent sail past views of a teal and a male goldeneye, while numerous curlew, greylag geese and wigeon could be spotted on the grass upland opposite.

Teal

Goldeneye

All in all a good visit to a well-maintained reserve that had me wondering what rarities might turn up there over time.

Thanks to Ruth of the Prudhoe U3A Naturewatch group for the photos in the absence of my snapper.

Monday 12th November

There have been brief sightings of a nuthatch and a long-tailed tit in the garden plus the odd coal tit.  Otherwise the garden has been totally dominated by marauding jackdaws who get virtually all the feed I'm putting out. They were decimating the peanuts in the feeder and when I replaced them with fat balls to deter them, it didn't work. I'm now seriously considering not feeding the birds at all until there's a decent frost.  Even then I may need to change tactics.

Otherwise I've been on a couple of bike rides in the Consett and Stanley area, where parts of cycle track 7 look very attractive.  Last week I was pushing on to make time and only managed to see a red kite and a hovering kestrel past Beamish.

Sloe bush

On Saturday I determined to take it slowly as I set out towards Consett from Rowland's Gill.  Grey squirrels were clearly very active and I counted a total of eight on the way to Ebchester.

Cycle track 7 didn't produce any notable bird life but a roe deer did cross right in front of me.  There were also a lot of bushes with dark berries. I think were sloes rather than bilberries, which would have been of interest as a possible green hairstreak location. I'll bet the same area is good for butterflies in summer though as it faces south on a slope. And it was notable that the small pond near Annfield Plain, deserted last week, was clearly being fished for carp by at least half a dozen anglers.

Heading towards Tantobie and Lintz on a poor quality track, there were three separate bullfinches and a huge looking red kite skimming the trees by a farm.  On arriving home, I caught sight of another red kite, a male,  hovering low right over the estate.

Today there was a Naturewatch trip to the Low Hauxley Reserve near Amble, which was more eventful.  Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera with me - again - so I'm waiting for some shots from another member of the group who has a better camera anyway.  Full report to follow.

Monday 29th October

The day after I finished writing about the apparent lack of interest in my fatball feeders, two or three long-tailed tits visited them briefly but haven't returned, though the weather has now certainly turned cold.  Today a grey squirrel was nosing around the garden but it was after peanuts.

Arguably more interesting was the appearance of a female pheasant on the back fence.  It sat there for quite a while, doing nothing.  It struck me that I never mention seeing a pheasant but of course I have been seeing them all the time, specially when I was out cycling in Dumfries.

Pheasant

Last Wednesday I went on a bike ride to Segedunum in Wallsend and encountered an urban fox trotting towards me on the cycle track in Walker.  I'm not sure who was the more surprised.

On Friday I deided to try out some of the local bird hides to see if winter visitors had started to arrive.

I started out at Shibdon Pond and quickly caught a duck I didn't recognise in the binoculars.  A quick google after a check in the hide log confirmed it was a ruddy shelduck, so something of a rarity although it's obviously featured regularly at Shibdon Pond and another couple of birdwatchers I talked to afterwards didn't seem to regard it as at all notable.  It isn't quite clear whether ruddy shelducks that appear in the UK are errant migrants or feral birds.  However, there are some at Washington WWT that eat out of your hand.

Ruddy shelduck (centre) and others

Unfortunately, I had forgotten my camera and had to make do with a poor shot on my phone.
The other main species at Shibdon were moorhen, shoveler and over 20 canada geese that probably had just arrived.

I then moved on to a hide at Lamesley where things were quiet but for some teal and a pair of gadwall.  Teal also featured closer at a hide near the Derwent at Thornley Woods, along with a heron hunting in slow motion and a diving cormorant that then settled to dry off its wings.

Monday 22nd October

I have been thinking it's about time I got myself round some of the bird hides to see what winter visitors are starting to turn up. However there has been some reasonably mild weather for the past few weeks with a good deal of sunshine despite lower temperatures when the sun did not shine.

On 10th October it was sufficiently warm for me to be sitting out in the garden and I noticed there were a few red admirals showing interest in the ivy that clings to the trees at the back.  On closer inspection, it proved that they were nectaring on the wee, greenish flowers it produces.  Later a comma landed on the fence and the inevitable speckled wood fluttered by a couple of times. Squirrels have started to show up again in the trees too.

Red Admiral

Nectaring on ivy flowers

For some while the jackdaws have been totally dominating the peanut feeder and bird table so that I have started to think of ways to discourage them. But nothing seems to be interested in the fat balls at the moment.  Perhaps all the birds are totally focussed on seeds and fruit.  I can only imagine it will change once the weather turns frosty.

The Monday after the butterflies I got a very good view of a low hovering red kite over the main road in Rowland's Gill on my way to the supermarket.

This Saturday I took a bike ride to Seaton Sluice from Newcastle.  Apart from the large numbers of cormorants at the coast, there were a few curlew and lapwing in the stubble field behind the reserve at St. Mary's Island, where I also quickly saw another butterfly on the wing - probably a small tortoiseshell.

Nicely marked curlew

Friday 5th October

Comma

The weather has moved slowly into the autumn thermocline and more of my time has gone towards doing jobs around the house and garden before the frosts come.

One momentary high spot was the appearance of a comma butterfly that settled on the summer house to take advantage of what sun there was. This was the first time I've seen one in the garden.

Last week Alex was over with Vicki and she and I did a short walk along the Derwent Valley cycle track. The idea was to see a red deer but it was always a long shot. We didn't see that much - a red kite, a few squirrels and long-tailed tits plus a brief flurry of about 20 speckled woods on one of the viaducts.  It gave me a good feeling to see how she enjoyed these minor sightings.

A speckled wood was last sighted over the garden on 2nd October and it is possible that they will go on for a couple of weeks yet. The late specimens are small and look fresh, obvious results of a second brood. I was reading that they have increased spectacularly in both population and distribution over the past few years, though not this one as the Big Butterfly Count is actually showing a fall in numbers, along with several other species.

Whilst painting the shed and partly obscured from the bird feeders, I got some good close of views of long-tailed tits landing next to them. they eyed me over a bit but eventually departed without risking it.

Sunday 23rd September

Painted lady

It's that time of year again.  Summer has gone but it's a little soon for the winter visitors.  What has pleased me most over the past couple of weeks was the arrival of a painted lady on the diminutive sprig of buddleia I imported from Dumfries in March, when I scarcely believed it would flourish at all.  Before it finally gave up the ghost a few days back it was also visited briefly  by a small tortoiseshell, so that all four common nymphalidae have appeared on it and I view that as quite an achievement.

There should be a good deal of buddleia around by next September.

Deer?

Apart from that it has been bits and bobs, a red admiral here and there and a continuing abundance of speckled wood including one in quite low temperatures today.  I did do a visit to the bird hide at Gibside and saw more or less what you'd expect to see around feeders - tits, nuthatch, woodpecker and grey squirrel.

This animal did however give me a bit of a scare when I saw it out of the corner of my eye.  It must have been because the antlers are real.

Monday 10th September

The last few weeks has produced various bits and bobs though nothing really spectacular.

Towards the end of August there was another visit from the long-tailed to the feeders tits and in fairly big numbers,  I reckon there are seven of them in the photo.

Long-tailed tits and others

Also in the last week of August I tried a bike ride to Prestwick Carr where short-eared owls can sometimes be seen.  I didn't see them but there was a peacock and a red admiral and a number of green-veined whites feeding on the remains of some thistles.  I hadn't seen any for a while and so wondered if they are double-brooded, which it seems they are.  On the next clump of thistles there were more whites but they were almost exclusively small whites, as if some sort of segregation was going on.

Sequoia

On Friday 31st there was a Naturewatch walk along the Devil's Water near Corbridge.  There wasn't much in the way of birdlife around but we got a fair view of a comma sunbathing and there were some funghi and unusual trees.  One was identified as a sequoia.  Apparently treecreepers like to roost in the crevices of the trunk, though I don't suppose they were responsible for leaving a shoe there.

Last Monday I went back to Dumfries.  I spent some time looking for salmon leaping the caul, which I never saw in all my time there and still haven't.  Waiting at the station, I was quite amused by this train-themed flower display (below).  I've no idea what the dangling maroon flowers are but they're very effective.

On Sunday at Riding Mill, my reappearance on the cricket field and early dismissal lead to me sighting a large number of lapwings flying over the fields in the distance.  You couldn't make them out properly from a photo taken on my mobile but there were moments when I reckoned there must be a couple of hundred of them in the air - a far greater number than I can remember seeing before in my adult life.

Flower Train

Today there was another Naturewatch walk from Hagg Bank to the most Eastern of the Spetchells.

Our first sighting was a couple of improbably large pumpkins in the allotment.  By the pond there were three herons resting in the same tree and a few house martins overhead.  Possibly sand martins too, but I couldn't be sure in the conditions.

On a cool, sunless day it was a bit surprising to see speckled wood butterflies out and a couple of blue dragonflies. Also more funghi.

As we got to the chalky areas, we started to find the rarer plant species.  As ever, I couldn't really keep up but there were definitely some yellow wort.  Apparently the italian alder here were frequently used to replant old mining areas as they are fast growing and resistant to noxious soils.

Walking back to the car park at Wylam, we noticed a man fishing with the assistance of a dog.  I don't suppose that it helps the catch much, and if so, that it is permitted by the local Anging Club.

Huge pumpkins

Funghi

Fishing with dog