Prestwick Carr

Today and another stroll along the length of the bumpy road and back.
All the regular sightings were visible with Buzzard, Kestrel, Roe Deer and huge numbers of Fieldfare, Redwing and Blackbirds.
One or two are becoming a little less timid

Prestwick Carr

Just a few pics as a result of a recent wander or two along the 'bumpy road'

Probably four Kestrel in the area

 Saw three male and one female Bullfinch

Countless Fieldfare and Redwing

and two of these little fellas

Didnt manage to get a shot of the Redpoll 

Earlier this week I drove to Rothbury then over to Otterburn with a detour to Harwood.
In the river next to Rothbury car park was this Goosander.

The next stop was Rothbury Family Butchers whose steak and kidney pies are simply the best together with their fresh baked pastries.

Further up the valley was a large thrush flock taking advantage of the berry harvest.

At Harwood I was pleased to watch two Red Squirrel by the roadside

In a field just south of the forest was a very large flock of what I believe to be thrushes but they were quite distant

A buzzard dropped out of the forest into the roadside hedge and out of sight as if by magic.

Yorkshire Visitors

Last week had me visiting Ilkley.
Not having been onto the famous moor before, I stumbled upon the road sign pointing the way upward so took the car about two thirds of the way up and upon parking noticed a large flock of birds directly ahead of me.
They were a mixed flock of Fieldfare and Redwing.

The steep sides of the moor were dotted with Rowan and Holly

 which provided the attraction, although it was apparent that most of the Rowan were already stripped bare of berries. The birds were constantly on the move between a stand of nearby conifers  and the target bushes

but I reckon 300-400 birds were in the flock. A lot of the birds were down on the ground under the bracken where I guess they were feeding on bilberry, although it seemed a bit late in the year for that.

Earlier Red Kite, Buzzard and Sparrowhawk were seen in the air

It was only afterwards that I enquired about the famous line

On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at   .....................    and what it meant

I have read that it is ........       On Ilkley Moor without a hat   

which turned out to be appropriate

Bully

One of the most consistent sightings when walking along the bumpy road recently, at Prestwick Carr, has been of a Bullfinch. A good number of first year birds will hopefully produce more views next year.

Shibdon Pond

This afternoon's visit to Shibdon Pond proved worthwhile where Bar-tailed Godwit

Greenshank and Ruff showed well

There is a large area of mud showing at the moment resulting in plenty of birds present including

Plover, Redshank, Snipe, Teal

Banks Pond

Early Thursday afternoon, and it was really warm, had me wandering up to Banks Pond after a stroll back along the bumpy road.
I was surprised at the number of dragonflies and damsels still active.
Loads of Common Darters and a few Hawkers, but I was pleased to spot a couple of Black Darters also -

The Damselfly were not giving up just yet

although the wings were starting to fray

and on a small patch of Birds-foot trefoil were eight or nine Common Blue

I had spotted a couple of these Southern Hawkers down at the bumpy road, which now has a great harvest of Hawthorn berries waiting for the migrants to appear

                            

Loads of Colour

First time I'd been for a wander up the bridleway at Prestwick Carr for some time, but it was well worth it.
It was not long before a pair of coupled Southern Hawkers were seen perched in the verge. That was the first of around eight or nine hawker sightings, never seen quite so many in such a short space of time. Common Darters were also on the move.
Butterflies were abundant. With Peacocks, Large white, Green veined white, Small Copper, Skippers, Speckled Wood, and loads of Wall Brown making the best of the wild flowers already well past their best

However the highlight had to be the male Redstart which was spotted both on the outward and return walk. 

A buzzard soared so high it was only visible as a dot with the bins and 

a Whitethroat gave out plenty of alarm calls from a safe distance.

The Hawthorn bushes are totally laden with berries and a few are already pink.

It makes you wonder

Our tiny back garden pond was set up to see if we could attract Dragonfly and Damselfly.
The latter logged our first sighting less than a couple of weeks ago and which fascinated Sylvia for over an hour.
However as a result of prolonged ill health, sadly, Sylvia passed away earlier this week and what should decide to come and visit me? -
this beauty

Initially it was  totally unexpected sighting but then left me wondering 'maybe not'

Just brilliant!

Having  been unable to get out and chase sightings of  this summer's Damselfly, I was bowled over this morning  when this Large Red Damselfly secured its place in history as the first seen to visit our second summer garden pond  - champion!

It will end in tears

The latest spell of better weather seems to have convinced the garden bird population to get cracking
This Blue Tit was gathering strands of garden twine whilst imitating a 'blue owl'

and the Dunnock stripped the stone frog of its mossy covering.

A pair of Blackbirds have chosen a small privet which is roughly no more than a two feet diameter sphere as their secret spot only it was secret for no more than four hours from when they started to build.

A pity that the one uncovering the secret was this guy

 who has its own  nest no more than fifty yards away. I watched it on top of the privet with its head inside to see what was going on, so no doubt it will return.
Its all going to end in tears.          AND IT DID

Tawny Mining bee

A full month later than last year provides our first garden sighting of a Tawny Mining bee

New visitor

We are still getting good numbers of birds visiting our garden feeders and we were particularly pleased to see a male and female Siskin.

Regular visits by Goldfinch and Greenfinch brighten up the garden.
Although this is the time of year when we  would reduce the amount of feed available I have decided to keep it going a little longer since there seems little more available naturally now than there was in January.