Winter Yellow

After Christmas and a few days of illness I drove the 30 mins or so to Prestwick Carr. The Eastern Yellow Wagtail still present, I'd missed the early rush for this visitor from North East Siberia and daresay didn't deserve to see it.

However..

This lovely little bird was showing nicely, feeding in some rough pasture close to the fence bordering one of the tracks.

Wood Sand

I always feel when I can't quite work out what to do or where to go then a trip to Hedgeley Reserve is always a good idea. It had been a while since I'd experienced the high numbers of Common Darters you can get there along the tracks, hedgerows and lanes later in the summer, there and there had been a Wood Sandpiper reported recently so I could do the proper birder thing too. 

I started by walking anti clockwise around the ponds on the eastern side of the main track, through the fields and returning by following the River Breamish. 

Plenty of birds to be had, Wood Sandpiper was seen well on the first Largest pond, feeding on one of the shingle spits. 

Also of note, 
Greenshank 1
a good count of Gadwall 42+, 
Goldeneye 6+
Little Grebe 27

Redpolls were buzzing overhead, a small group of Crossbills too. A couple of Raven circled, cronking away, headed south then headed back North away from the ponds.

4 Grey Wagtails counted during the walk.

As I walked the main track that separates the new from the old ponds there were countless Common Darters on the wing, exactly what I'd hoped, I went back to the car to change my lens.

Never ever tire of watching these insects, so alert and so beautiful

Hawker

Back in the summer of 2016 our small garden pond was visited by a Southern Hawker Dragonfly

I observed that this visitor must have been a female as she was egg laying, selecting various parts of the pond edge vegetation, stones etc

Fast forward three years. While gazing at the pond one sunny day I noticed an empty larval case on a plant stem little way into the pond over deeper water. This was the interesting enough until I spotted the fully emerged Southern Hawker just above.

This is clearly an offspring of that female that visited in 2016 as the larvae spend two full years under water. Amazing that a small garden pond plays host to such a magnificent insect

The Longdyke Ghost

Staring at an unimpressive attempt at a wildflower meadow on part of my lawn this afternoon and something caught my eye. The area was a patch long grass and clover in the middle of the lawn that I was quite pleased with really, bees were loving it.

What caught my eye though was a silky white shape resembling a small handkerchief that had been discarded by a miniature passing dandy..

It was a superb male Ghost Moth.

That and following evenings I added to this experience by managing to observe these moths display flighting for females over thistles and long vegetation in the sheep pasture adjacent to the garden..

Doesn't take much

There's a cycle path, I think its a cycle path, that runs from the Cricket Club at Hipsburn to the bridge across the River Aln into Alnmouth. 

I like it, it has some good habitat to the north of it, small overgrown ponds and some grazing areas with cattle. 

A Moorhen was feeding a chick, I couldn't resist it in those white aquatic flowers, no idea what they are.

I was getting a little to close to young Lapwings as this adult was demonstrating, didn't push it and turned around

A very short walk, great time of year spring, it doesn't take much

Hearthope Heat

A nice sunny clear morning, cool at first. We were at Hedgeley Gravel Pits first. A wander around the newly created gravel pits was interesting, a nice male Ruff and two Common Sandpiper, the Common Sandpipers were showing off some interesting courtship-display type behavior, calling and fast low flight with those typical stiff wing beats.

Also displaying were a nice pair of Redstart in an area of mature trees, behind us as we were watching the ponds.

Nice though this was, and it was very nice at Hedgeley, the main event of our morning was to unfold further north.

We headed into Harthope Valley.

We parked up and had a short walk, it was really warm now with a light breeze and butterflies were on the wing, it was wonderful..

Green Hairstreak, Small Copper, Orange Tip, Peacock, Small Heath and Whites all on the wing.

Small Coppers

Green Hairstreaks

When I did eventually look up from the insect activity to stretch my legs and straighten my back, a Red Kite was drifting overhead

Red Kite

 Mother Shipton and Purple Bar moths were found and also Mountain Bumblebee

Mother Shipton