Fontburn

Today I had a wander up to the head of Fontburn reservoir. I specifically was hoping to spot a Sundew in one of a number of locations where I knew another flycatcher, Butterwort existed.
Quite a few Butterwort were seen

but no Sundews were spotted.
There were however good numbers of flowering Grass of Parnassus

a couple of Painted Lady

and a few Peacock.

Overlooking the head of the reservoir

I was fortunate to be able to watch a Kingfisher hovering over the water before striking. With the water levels really low there were no perches above the water to act as a perch.

Jay and Mistle Thrush were about further up the Fallowlees Burn valley

Druridge Bay

After yesterdays sports 'sitathon' in front of the tele I needed a walk this morning.
So I parked up at Druridge Pools after watching a dozen Little Egrets at Cresswell, and headed toward Hauxley. Nowt out of the ordinary, so it was nice to see three Wheatear at the Hauxley outflow.

This bird spread itself in the sun

A Common Sandpiper was at the edge of the Hauxley tidal pool.

By the time I got back to Druridge Pools I had enjoyed the walk.

Bits and Pieces

A walk up Prestwick Carr bridlepath after lunch today produced some nice colours

and then a visit to Gosforth Park NR for a Purple Hairstreak spotting event by Natural History Society of Northumbria brought at least 10 into view

Honest there is one in here

Its host oak tree was adjacent to this

What a surprise

With this mornings cool NE breeze the last thing we expected to see were butterflies. The Druridge Pools track was amazing with eight species present.
Painted Lady x 4, Small Copper, Peacock, Large White, Wall, Orange Tip, Speckled Wood, Small Heath. A further 7 Painted Lady were seen later at East Chevington.

Dont know what this one below is

Believe this one below is Garden Tiger Moth

Wansbeck

After yesterdays feast of Broad billed Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper and Ruff it seemed only proper to see if I could find the Wansbeck Bonapartes Gull.
This mornings reported sighting was under the A189 bridge so I headed there via Cambois. The were half a dozen Black headed over on the North bank with one possible amongst. So crossed over and despite decent views I could not quite convince myself that I had found it, so returned to the pub for beer and burger.
Then down to Castle Island and a lot of gulls to search.
Then a possible, black bill, and smaller than a BH and similar head marks to recently published. Following a kind confirmation by Andy @leicester_llama , I had myself a Bonapartes Gull.

there were also three Avocets

and three Little Egret, one of which was ringed, but I could not ident rings

Portpatrick and Mull of Galloway

Earlier this week I was able to have a few days ambling around Portpatrick, Mull of Galloway and surrounding area .
A few hours along the Portpatrick clifftops brought some sightings of Ravens, Hooded Crow as well as an abundance of wildflowers. Gannets were struggling to head North against a stiff breeze.
A brief visit to Ballantrae beach provided an unexpected sight of brilliant, summer plumaged Knot and Sanderling. At least that's what I believe them to be, but no doubt someone will correct me otherwise. The summer colouring completely threw me. This beach normally hosts Little and Arctic Terns nesting but none had yet arrived. Gannets were feeding close inshore.
Corsewell Point provided good but distant views of Manx and Sooty Shearwaters heading North. A Short eared Owl was harried by corvids
At the end of the Mull there were good numbers of Guillimot and Razorbill with a few Black Guillimot as well. A Peregrine patrolled the cliff faces.
A few hours spent inland gave me the chance to watch Spotted Flycatchers, Tree Pipits, Sedge Warblers and large numbers of Chiffy, Willow Warbler and Whitethroat. I failed to find a Pied Flycatcher anywhere.Woodland Bluebells were magnificent
I was treated to see Roe deer, Stoat, Adder, Hares and amazingly Painted Lady butterfly.
On the return journey through Galloway Forest a couple of Cuckoo were heard.

New Life

Way back in late October last year I spotted three green caterpillars on a broccolli plant in the garden. Nights were cool so I cut the stem, placed it in water, and took it into the garden shed. Within a couple of days the largest caterpillar disappeared but the other two smaller, underdeveloped, stopped feeding.
Thought no more about them until two days ago when I saw this on the side of a bottle in the shed....

Thinking, if it emerges it might struggle to get out of the shed, so placed the bottle in the garden frame.
Yesterday morning, and hey presto, this.......

Away trip

Am just back from a visit to Daughter in Leeds. We got around some of the nice places such as Rodley NR, Adel NR, Golden Acre, Eccup, North Cave NR, and on the way back,  Nosterfield NR, and Hartlepool Headland .
Little Egret, 2 Little Owls, Red Necked Grebe, Shore Lark, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Red Legged Partridge, Redwings were just a few. There seemed to be Roe deer in most of the fields as we travelled about.
Thought I would jot down a few of the memories.

While down near the river Aire I heard a typical Buzzard call but with a clear sky could not pick it out. Then Linda beckoned along the track to a Jay perched on a tree top, calling like a soaring Buzzard. Upon research there have been a number of reports in the area.

Blank visit

This afternoon's garden visitor left again without any success

Soon I hope

Am looking forward to watching the 'Peeweets' up on the moors again this spring.

Wot no gull

Had a visit to QE2 today in the hope of seeing an Iceland Gull , but it was gone.
So I decided to do a bit of sketching with so many others about,

I seem to have recorded a couple of shapes which dont yet appear in Collins Bird Guide, but never mind I'll keep at it.
A wander around part of the lake provided the opportunity to see Siskin, Goldcrest and Bullfinch.

Killy Smew

Got over to Killingworth this morning to see the Smew on the small lake. I was surprised just how close the bird came to the edge of the lake.

Alert

I like the way the feeding geese flocks always have at least one member on the look out for danger.