Tardy - that's what I've been, hence no updates, actually I have been very busy....
Managed a few trips to Dru since my last post, no ringing again at the weekend due to more bright and breezy weather, we did spend some time clearing the net rides on Sunday though - flushing the LEO as we went. There was a dark-green flitilery butterfly by the road on the way to the Oddie hide, my first of the year, ST had seen a speckled wood over the weekend.
A brief visit on Monday didn't produce the sea birds seen elsewhere, only a handful of manxies and an arctic skua to report offshore. There were 21 sanderling on the beach and a barn owl was hunting over the Budge fields.
Last night was bright and breezy with a strong NW wind. In the sheltered areas between the woods and the Budge fields there were 100's of dragonflys, I think they were all common darter, there were also some other thin ones which I couldn't ID cos my dragonfly book is out on loan at the mo, I've put a picture below, so someone will keep me right. On the bird front, a year tick was to summer plumaged grey plover flying south, a pale arctic skua was also offshore. Bizarrely an adult drake common scoter was on the big pool, first one I've seen on the pool.
Scary!!!!!!!
Not sure what this (or these) are...
..........or this..........nice photo though
but this is a common scoter...in a weird place!
Today, I led a guided walk for work (or a guided waark for walk in ashington) from Cresswell to Warkworth, passing through the patch, there was three arctic skua offshore. At Hauxley there were two nice close roseate terns feeding in pools left behind the retreating tide and to end the walk there was a little egret on the weir at Warkworth - not a bad days work!
133 grey plover
4 comments:
The butterfly looks like Large Skipper, and isn't the Common Scoter a Velvet? It looks to have too much yellow on the bill and is there a white patch around the eye (or are they both photographic effects??)
Storm petrels are nice to look at but I remember them as oily minging things in the hand. I see Ian and Mike are as cheerful as ever.
Thanks Ian, The scoter is defo common, the white isn't on the bird....just the photo!
Common Darters new males ( teneral) and the damsels are tricky for me cos they are newly emerged too hence no proper colour yet. They look a bit like Emeralds? Deffo Large Skipper, and I wondered about the Scoter too...oh and its FRITILLARY. Its a gud jerb thu showid wuh hoow ti spell it Eshiton High School... :)
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