Partially postponed.

Hi all, this PC is still causing no end of sluggish behaviour on the blog front. But, help is nigh, I have ordered one of these...MEGA PC!

Hopefully normal service, with photo's 'n' that will be resumed as soon as poss....

This week's update...

The first week of May has pretty much followed in the footsteps of April. Cold.

I am convinced now though that better weather is just around the corner...

On Monday evening a short walk with Bunty up towards Hips Heugh to check for Ring Ouzels, did not find the mark, but 6 Wheatears were a bonus, plus 2 adult Brown Hares and 3 leverets in one field. A Roe doe was flushed on the way up.

On Tuesday after work we walked up the coast path to check Cullernose Point for Spring Squill flowering. This went the same way as the Ring Ouzel hunt-  none were in bloom. The first Sea Pinks were in flower though and the Kittiwake colony were very much in 'full song'. Another 3 leverets were in the Scar field here, showing that there is a good population around here. More concerning, 9 Swallows headed purposefully south along the cliffs. An omen for forthcoming weather?

Saturday am was bright after sleet and 1 degree at midnight last night.

A Stoat was being hounded by a dozen Jackdaws along the road through the village before it could reach the cover of some ivy. One or two butterflies were in sheltered spots -  2 male Orange Tip and 1 Peacock at the top of the Long Walk and a Small White was in the garden. A Whimbrel was feeding on the rocks in the bay this evening.

On Sunday, the first Whitethroat arrived in the village. JWR and myself headed onto new territory, when we checked out Roddam Dene and Harehope woods. The cold suppressed birds and butterflies, but some flowers were struggling through - Greater Stitchwort, Bluebells, Wood Sorrel, Leopards Bane, Ramsons, Wood Rush, Woodruff, Opposite leaved Golden Saxifrage, Water Avens, Wood Forget-me-not, Violet, Primrose and Red Campion were all noted.

Roddam Dene and footbridge. 

Another cold and windy day with a NNE6 and leaden skies. Fortunately the rain held off until dark.

A wander around the Foxton and Alnmouth area this morning with JWR turned up a few spring migrants.

At Foxton Bends what we assume was a pair of breeding plumaged Green Sandpipers took the 'best of the day' award. A much different bird to the autumn juveniles we are used to, these ones were nicely speckled above in black and white. Nearby a Brambling called then flew west while our first Swift of the year flew north overhead.

From here we walked the golf course at Alnmouth. The pond trees held Whitethroat, a singing male with a beak full of nesting material. How do they do that? A Sedge Warbler was also a year first but was sensible and stayed at the bottom of a thick patch of brambles.Plenty of Chiffchaffs, Willow Warbler and Blackcaps were heard but only s few showed themselves.

A half hour seawatch curtailed due to hypothermia was very slow except for Razorbills and Guillemots with hundred flying north.

Green Alkanet

Spring Beauty carpeted the banks in a bright acidic green.

  

Yes I'm still here....

This is getting pretty dreary isnt it. My posts are very thin on the ground these days so here is something to start with.

Last week I was up there in Scotland. Speyside to be precise. We had a nice house in forest near Dulnain Bridge. The first couple of days were cool but sunny, but the rest of the week was pretty much like the rest of April has been, but colder.

We got out when ever the weather allowed but the landscape was very much still wintry up there with little bird activity. We had a lone Osprey on a nest away from the Garten site, sitting with its back into a blizzard, 4 Crested Tits in Abernethy and thats about it really. Roe Deer and Red Deer plus one or two plants helped the days along....

Holiday House - Craignay.

Siskin

Bearberry - Lochindorb

False Morel - Abernethy

No, none...

Our Blackbirds in the ivy are feeding young now and the outhouse Robins have 2 eggs...

Its been a long winter....

12th April. Still nowt. A pair of Shelduck on the coast path were new for the year but proper migrants - nil. While it has long been known that Northumberland does not have a spring, due the the cooling effect of the north sea coupled with the high ground and northerly latitude, this year is getting ridiculous.

For me I reckon on Wheatear on or about 3rd April, Sand Martin first week in April, Willow Warbler 8th, Blackcap 10th, Sandwich Tern similar,  etc, but so far none of them. Swallows are due in the village on about the 15th. At this rate its going to be summer before I see them!

Oh well the Coot is still on the pond along with the same 2 Teal, 4 Tufted and 1 Goldeneye...

Maybe this weekend will drop some in....

Excuses excuses...

Ground Ivy

What can I say. April 11th and not a single blog post. Why? Well, my computer is at death's door and is very slow indeed. I fear every new photo uploaded will do for it, so I am pondering some expense. In the next few weeks I will be getting a new one, powerful enough to launch satellites, but, til then its back to my seven year old one.

Checking the spec on it is a laugh. My current machine is steam driven - 512mb RAM and 160gb HDD. No wonder its slow. I have my eye on one with 6gb RAM and a TB HDD...That should load sites and pics quicker.

So what else have I not been doing....seeing migrants that what. To date, Chiffy is my lot. Not a Wheatear or Sand Martin has gone this way, yet, but I'm sure they will soon. No Blackcaps or Willow Warblers either, what on earth is going on!

I have had one bird highlight though so brace yourself  - Coot. Oh yes, I can induce envy in the hardest of listers. The other day I was over the moon with a Coot on our pond. Its the first since spring 09, making it rarer than Yellow browed Warbler and Barred Warbler, Marsh Harrier, Peregrine, Pomarine Skua, three diver sp, Purple Sandpipers, Storm Petrel(!) Snow Bunting and Waxwing. Patch watching is great for putting things into context...

None-bird highlights - some nice Ground Ivy flowering in the woods among the daffs, mmmmm, er, ...oh dear. Yes - moths - Oak Nycteoline and Chamomile Shark, both scarce county species graced the garden this month.

Thats about it really. I'm still getting out and about just not seeing much. You'll be the first to hear when I do...


  

A Garden tick and a lifer!

Last year I had a brief glimpse of a bumble bee that I fancied may have been Tree Bee, Bombus hypnorum. By the time I grabbed the camera it had gone.

So, while checking the moth trap this morning I was surprised to see this one cuddled into the bottom of an egg tray. They are quite a new arrival up here but Nigel, Tom and Tim have had them in their gardens at Morpeth, Tynemouth and Whitley Bay respectively, so I kind of expected one soon...

This bee was new to the UK in 2001 around the New Forest area, but in recent years its spread has gone on unabated.

A great little creature.

Melancholia...

Well, long time no see.

I have struggled to get blog motivated in recent weeks, despite some lovely days and a few off work too. I'm not sure what the problem is, but please bear with me. Maybe its because I'm not seeing a great deal, enough to keep me happy, but not many photos or exciting migrants for readers.

Its great just pottering around looking at whatever appears. I'm enjoying it so much, milling about my patch in a zen like state, that I have taken a big step. The pager is on its way out. Contract terminated and after 13 years it will be returned at the end of May. I hope the new bird club info emails will keep me up to date with new county birds!

What have I been seeing? A few butterflies locally with Small Tortoiseshells and Peacocks and my first Small White of the year in the garden on Monday. A Bee Fly evaded the camera as it patrolled our plant pots outside on the same day.

Its nesting time in the garden and locale. A Blackbird has eggs in the ivy on our wall, a Wren is building a 'cock-nest' in an old Swallow's in the outhouse while not three feet away a Robin is filling up a nook with leaves. A pair of Grey Partridges are prospecting along the edge of the field next to our drive too, but I dont suppose I'll find that one.

The moth trapping is coming along fine with last nights highlight being a Pale Pinion, only my fourth. While checking the moths in the morning, some migration has taken place overhead with 5 Lesser Redpolls, 8+ Meadow Pipits and 30+ Linnets this week. A Fieldfare was heard chakking in the fog the other day but remained unseen. I wondered if it was a Ring Ouzel briefly...

Brown Hares have been showing well with three in the back field the other night and, tonight, a bull Grey Seal was loafing offshore.

Further afield, on my way home from work last night a pair of Short eared Owls were squabbling over the road next to Boulmer radar base. they were only feet above the car so I stopped and watched for a while.

I'm sure a Wheatear is just around the corner...

Even more string...

While I'm on about records more dodgy than an MPs expenses I cant help but notice an eerie silence about a reported Alpine Accentor for Bamburgh Golf Course in September last year. Needless to say the description is still outstanding....

Is it a coincidence that the Harlequin and site of Alpine Acc can be seen by standing on the same spot?

Waiting to Tee off...