Sunday 12 July 2009

busy, busy week

It's been an incredibly busy week since my last post, I've been to Ireland with work which included a trip to the Causeway Coast and Binevenagh AONB in North Antrim, very nice bit of coastline it is too..
Causeway Coast near Giant's Causeway

When I got back we did a farm survey over at Carraw Farm on Hadrian's Wall, on Saturday afternoon I went ringing mute swan cygnets with the Hanmer family, very entertaining.
Him and his younguns, waiting to be ringed at Lee Moor Farm
Is that a swan sticking out of your arse or are you just pleased to see me?
flat-packed swan, Ikea bags make handy swan weighing devices.
And when the pacific golden plover was flying around East Chev, very nearly on my patch I was on my way to theatre in Sunderland. Add to this making jam and cakes, going to a two year olds birthday party, identifying that I have 'onion white-rot' and there is no cure, it didn't leave much time to go to Druridge.


On the short visits to Druridge there wasn't much to report, I spent all of Friday's visit strimming the net rides...


Yesterday we had a dark green fritillary butterfly on the track to the Oddie Hide (still there tonight), this is the first DGF I have seen at Druridge for a few years.

We also saw a barred straw moth by the Budge screen.
In the dunes there are hundreds of six-spot burnett months this year and lots of caterpillars too, there were 8 on this one thistle flower.

To make up for not seeing the pacific golden plover at Chev, I did get two year-ticks today at Druridge, firstly this afternoon, a fly-by little tern offshore.

I went back down to Druridge tonight to finish strimming in front of the hides, so the otter-spotters can see out.

As I had scared everything of the pools, I went to look offshore, scanning a small gull roost on the beach, I picked up a colour-ringed second summer med gull, the cr was red with white text, I thought I could make out a 'P' on it, which would make it polish, sadly I couldn't read the rest.

So, if anyone reading this is an NTBC member waiting for their monthly bulletin, that'll be my fault as my section is still not finished, there's simply not enough hours in the day!

120 little tern
121 Mediterranean gull

1 comment:

Johnson said...
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