A lunchtime wander through the dunes

I took a longer lunch break today to have a wander through the dunes whilst the sun shone between the days of rain. The dunes really are at their best right now, carpeted in bloody cranesbill, common restharrow, lady's bedstraw and cats ears.

Dune flora

Bloody cranesbill Geranium sanguineum

Common restharrow Ononis repens

My target was to photograph dark green fritillaries - they were on the wing now but rarely rest and when they do they're easily spooked. I think that the 400mm lens is better for this species. I managed a single distant shot.

Dark green fritillary Argynnis aglaja

My other plan was to look for hoverflies, hoping that there would be something different to the species that I find along the track and in the bushes. There wasn't much variety but some nice hovers and better photos of some species I've seen before.

Cheilosia illustrata

I saw Cheilosia illustrata for the first time last week so it was nice to get a better pic.

Sphaerophoria sp (female)

Sphaerophoria scripta (male)

Eupeodes corollea (male)

Eupeodes corollea (female)

I also found this groovy blue beetle. It's one of the Altica species of metallic flea beetle, probably Altica lythri.

Altica - probably A. lythri

As well as the dark green fritillaries, there were ringlets, common blue, meadow brown, small tortoiseshell and small heath on the wing in the dunes.

A worn-looking ringlet

Common blue (female)

I only found one cinnabar moth but plenty of their caterpillars on ragwort. Narrow-bordered five-spot burnet moths were everywhere and I found more Pammene aurana on cow parsley - the species I found last week.

Cinnabar moth Tyria jacobaeae and caterpillar

Narrow-bordered Five-spot burnet moth Zygaena lonicerae

Pammene aurana

I only walked about 150m in an hour and a half but there was plenty to see - all very enjoyable.

Field grasshopper Chorthippus brunneus

Blue-tailed damselfly Ischnura elegans

More Macro

It's usually the case at this time of year - the thoughts of bored birders, waiting for autumn migration to start, turn to butterflies, dragonflies, moths and bugs.

The local Whatsapp grapevine provides more information on banded demoiselles, fritillaries and moths than it does birds. But I'm not complaining, especially now I have the new Macro lens.

I've not strayed far from Druridge with it yet, other than a work trip to Bamburgh dunes where I photographed this Pirri Pirri flower - thankfully there's no sign of Pirri Pirri at Druridge, but I am sure it will be just a matter of time.

Pirri Pirri in Bamburgh Dunes

Back to Druridge, I was down there at before 5am for ringing session on Saturday but was packed up by 11. I was on my own so only had four nest up and caught 17 new birds - which isn't bad for a bright July morning. I'm starting to catch a few juvenile warblers now - blackcaps, sedge and willow. I've caught very few whitethroats this year, there seemed to be a lot singing when they first came in and they're usually the most abundant warbler at Druridge but not this year.

A long-eared owl was hunting through the bushes and barn owl in the dunes when I arrived. Gaps between checking the nets were taken up with more macro photography.

Silver Y moth

Dark Green Fritillary - There seems to be a lot of these at Druridge this year

Bonking Beetles - Common Red Soldier Beetle. There were thousands of these in the dunes at the weekend.

On Sunday I spent much of my two visits to the patch staring, willfully out to sea, with the slimmest of slim hopes that the Sooty tern that roosted on the Farne Islands might just pass by. After all, the bridled tern which was the Farnes almost five years to the day did pass by and Dave Elliott saw it.

On the Budge fields, there was a peak of over 100 black-tailed godwits over the weekend and the smart pectoral sandpiper was present throughout, joined briefly by a wood sandpiper.

Autumn migration has begun and thoughts of bugs and butterflies will be banished in favour of birds again.

New Macro Lens

I've splashed out on a new macro lens - the Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG to be precise. So after a quick play around in the garden yesterday I thought I test it for real at Druridge this morning. As a result very little birding was done in the limited time I had!

It's taking a bit a of getting used to, the depth of field is tiny, even at higher F stops. You only have to move a tiny bit and the subject is out of focus... I do like it though and I'm impressed by the results so far... The only problem now is identifying some of these critters!

Here are today's efforts - click to enlarge.

Not from Druridge but in my garden - Common green bottle fly Lucilia sericata

Marbled Bell moth Eucosma campoliliana - I think it should be called bird shit moth as that what it looks like at first glance - great camouflage 

Bloody cranesbill Geranium sanguineum

Common blue butterfly Polyommatus icarus

Seed head of one of the hawkbit/hawkweed type things - I though it looked nice!

Blue-tailed damselfly Iscnura elegans

Common blue damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum - male

Narrow-bordered five spot burnet moths Zygaena lonicerae emerging from their chrysalis 

Narrow-bordered five spot burnet moth Zygaena lonicerae

Common Restharrow Ononis repens

Cinnabar moth caterpillars 

Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus

Black and red froghopper Cercopis vulnerata - this species seems to be colonising the north-east of England

Small Heath Coenonympha pamphilus

Dark green fritillary Argynnis aglaja - there were at least two on the wing today at Druridge

Wader clear-out

I was down on the patch a couple of times today having only managed one visit during the week, on Thursday. There were 18 black-tailed godwits and a ruff of note on the Budge fields.

Today however there weren't many waders at all, just a few curlew and lapwing. There were lots of butterflies out in the sunshine this morning, but trying to photograph them was very difficult due to the strong westerly wind. 

There were as many dark-green fritillaries as I have ever seen, well into double-figures. This one was in the dunes, a crap photo, but I liked the detail of its eyes.

worn dark-green fritillary on thistle - open for detail

ringlet on yarrow

Also on the wing were lots of ringlets, meadow brown, common blue, small copper, wall, red admiral, speckled wood, small tortoiseshell and small skipper...

There were also lots of burnet moths on the newly-in-flower ragwort. All of the burnets I photographed were narrow-bordered five-spot burnet moths. 

narrow-bordered five-spot burnet moth on ragwort

Whilst photographing butterflies in the dunes, I heard such a commotion - high-pitched squawking followed by people shouting. I looked up to see a springer spaniel, off the lead, scattering a family party of grey partridge left, right and centre. The owners were obviously concerned at the noise the young partridges were making and desperately tried to get the offending dog back. They had absolutely no control over it whatsoever.

The offenders with the dog back on the lead

They turned around when they saw me taking their photo.  I caught up with them later and the springer was still off the lead. I pointed out the error of their ways and signs asking people to keep their dogs on a lead during the breeding season and gave them a leaflet about taking dogs to the coast. Shortly after, two different women appeared with another springer doing exactly the same thing. 

These soldier beetles were clearly enjoying the summer sunshine!

Soldier beetles

This evening I had a look on the sea, the tide was out but the light was nice. The scoter flock has now built up to about 600 birds and they were really close inshore. I went through them a couple of times, but could only see common scoters - July is a good month for surfies! Five juvenile type goosanders flew north.

Westerly Woes

A settled high pressure with westerly winds has meant that this weekend has been a lot more sedate than last weekend was.

Sedate = boring. Bring back the easterlies please.

It felt like summer at Druridge yesterday morning. There were lots of butterflies out, mostly red admirals and speckled woods with a single dark-green fritillary which must have been off a second hatching?

Red admiral on whitebeam berries

Speckled wood

These drake gadwall thought it was spring - chasing a duck around for five minutes or more.

Birding was very quiet, robins, wrens, dunnocks and chiffs most notable in the bushes. Overhead, skylarks were moving south throughout the morning with a sprinkling of meadow pipits and swallows.

There was a hint of winter though, pink-footed geese are back.

Pink-foots, headed south

Today was even warmer, but more cloudy. I could only manage some evening birding, by which time, the wind had dropped to almost nothing. It was high tide, so I had a look on the sea, hoping for some fly-by waders, pushed off the rocks.

There was an incredible 71 divers in the bay, but all I could pick out was red-throats. In amongst them were five red-breasted mergansers and a great-crested grebe.

In common with elsewhere, Druridge has had an influx of little gulls, not an impressive count in comparison with other sites, but there were about 12-15 which is good for Druridge. Most of them were distant, with a feeding frenzy of bigger gulls, well offshore.

I had a really frustrating episode with a gull, when I picked it up in my scope, it was heading south and it didn't deviate from it's course, it didn't bank or turn once, just kept on going. What I saw, and its jizz, was good for a juvenile sabines, but I will never know.

At dusk, the two juvenile kestrels that have been hanging about were joined by a third. I got a couple of pics before it go too dark, after I abandoned photography due to bad light, they put on a great display over the dunes in front of me, tussling with each other.

juvenile kestrels at dusk

Waders

Autumn is here, at least in the ornithological calender, as return wader passage has begun. The mud on the Budge fields is looking really good, although frustratingly obscured by tall vegetation,  it is attracting birds.

Over the least three days there has been up to three wood sandpipers, three little ringed  plovers, 35 black-tailed godwits, 33 snipe, three ringed plovers, 15 dunlin, eight redshank and two common sandpipers. It will certainly be worth checking over the next few weeks.

Two spoonbills and a little egret continue to hang around on the Budge fields.

Hare on the Budge fields

Elsewhere on the patch, swallows are fledging from the hides and concrete blockhouses and second brood are underway. Stonechats have fledged second broods of young, they will probably triple-brood this year if the weather holds.

Stonechats - having a good year!

Heavy rain for much of last night and this morning must have kept one of the local barn owls indoors overnight, so it was making up for lost time, hunting the dunes at lunchtime today.

Barn owl hunting at 1.30pm

Offshore, the scoter flock remains at about 700. A pair of velvet scoter was with them on Thursday, but they are frustratingly far-out at the moment to pick anything else out.

Lots of butterflies are on the wing now including small skipper, ringlet, dark green fritillary, meadow browns and small tortoiseshells.

Tatty ringlet

Dark green fritillary

small tortoiseshell

Burnet moths are also abundant in the dunes with about five to each thistle head.

narrow-bordered five-spot burnet moths

138 little ringed plover
139 common sandpiper

PWC score 182