Wet weather

It's rained, almost constantly, since Friday and I'm bored of being stuck at home.

It's a good excuse to catch up with sorting through some photos though. Here are a few macro shots from last Sunday afternoon when the weather was somewhat nicer.

Eristalis tenax - a male looking a bit tatty. If you zoom in you can see his 'hairy eyes'  - one of the ID clinchers for this species

One of the Sphaerophoria species of hoverfly - can't get the to species level with photos alone.

A male Common Field Grasshopper - Chorthippus brunneus

A female Common Field Grasshopper Chorthippus brunneus

Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina

Speckled Wood butterfly - Pararge aegeria

Common Green Capsid - Lygocoris pabulinus

Wet WeBS

Today has been mostly wet.

Once the rain eased after lunch, I popped down to the patch to do the monthly WeBS count. Nothing startling on the count, six black-tailed godwits, 20 dunlin dropped in and there were three snipe on the Budge fields.

On the big pool it was nice to see the great-crested grebe with its youngster, still sporting some stripes looking less like a humbug, there were also two pochard. Moorhen seem to have had a good year, there were 26 on the patch today.

I had been talking to a couple of visiting birders up here on holiday from Warwickshire, as I was about to leave the hide, the lady says "Is this a bird in the tree or just a branch sticking out? I got it in the bins, then the scope  - it was a bird. It was stunning juvenile cuckoo sitting out on some branches. I am presuming it was locally reared but could've been a passage bird I suppose.

I managed a quick look on the sea before the fret rolled in - three red-throated divers, about 80 common scoter and four roseate terns were the highlights. An amazing sight though, was flocks of cormorants heading north. I counted 54 in ten minutes or so, with one group numbering 24 birds. Where have they all come from?

There were a few warblers flitting through the bushes, mostly willow warblers with chiffchaffs, blackcaps and sedge.

No photos today because of the poor light and rain so here are some macro shots from last weekend.

seven-spot ladybird Coccinella septempunctata on nettle

22-spot ladybird  Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata

The Heineken hoverfly Rhingia campestris

The most distinguishing feature of the Heineken hoverfly is the long snout.  Heineken used to advertise their beer by saying it could reach the parts other beers couldn't reach.  With it's long snout the Heineken hoverfly can reach the nectar which other hoverflies can't reach - hence the name.

Eupeodes Sp

Turnip Sawfly - Athalia rosae

Not sure what this one is

Eupeodes sp

Tree wasp Dolichovespula sylvestris

Smoky Wainscot Mythimna impura

Scaeva pyrastri

Scaeva pyrastri

 These Scaeva pyrastri hoverflies seem to be quite common at the moment.

Small copper butterfly Lycaena phlaeas on sorrel

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