Isn't it typical

The nicest day for a week, a Greenish Warbler at Whitley Bay and a Bonaparte's Gull at Whitburn but I have to go to work for an all day meeting! 
A quick check before work showed an increase to 76 Greenfinch in the stubble field and 2 species within 30 metres of the house, neither which have actually been in the garden yet but both must soon get on my garden list - they were a Grey Squirrel on the farmhouse wall again and a Speckled Wood on the path nearby both early morning.
Last night I decided to leave putting the trap out until tonight but I still saw one moth this morning - a Setaceous Hebrew Character which was on the front windowsill.

Setaceous Hebrew Character on my windowsill

Why the name Setaceous Hebrew Character you may ask? - well maybe not but I'll ask on your behalf. Apparently setaceous means bristly and refers to the bristly ridge behind the head. The hebrew character refers to the black mark on the wing which resembles the Hebrew 12th character of the alphabet, 'Lamed'  - so there you go. The Victorians knew how to give species proper names.

A nice Kite day

The wind has dropped but its cold and overcast, surprising its not raining considering its a Bank holiday.  A short walk through the woods, doing a circular loop  over the fell was very quiet. For a change I dropped down and over the overgrown bridge near Brass Castle and through the conifers.

 

Bridge over the South Burn

There was quite a scent from the Honeysuckle all along the path with most plants still with flowers and a good berry crop.

Honeysuckle flowers and berries

Many of them attracted Red-tailed and Carder Bumble Bees and several species of hoverfly including Eristalis horticola. 

The Hoverfly Eristalis horticola

A good flock of 60 Greenfinch were in the stubble field but were very flighty, presumably this flock has already been found by the local Sparrowhawks. I saw one of the latter over the fell a little later but that one was content to be gently soaring off at height to Sacriston. Single Blackcap and Chiffchaff were also in the hedge, both feeding on the numerous flies along it, despite the lack of sun. The rather cool conditions meant the only butterfly I saw was a single Green-veined White that was perched up on a Creeping Thistle and presumably in a stupor because of the temperature. It certainly wasn't feeding

Green-veined White

35 Linnet were counted on the telegraph wires and a few Meadow Pipit were flushed out of the Heather. Whilst scanning the skies for any movement of birds, I saw the Sparrowhawk and a little later a much larger bird of prey over the small plantations near Daisy Hill. It turned out to be a Red Kite, presumably one of Gateshead's birds. It was an adult bird (or sub-adult) but I couldn't see any wing-tags and the first I've had over the Fell for a couple of years.

More wind, lots of it

A Strong wind, from the north together with heavy rain showers did nothing do tempt me outdoors but after a couple of hours of feeling guilty I bravely left the house. Wasn't out  long of course before one of the heaviest showers of the day sent me scurrying back. I got as far as the entrance to the woods via the hedgerow at the top field but most things had better sense and remained hidden.  A young Rabbit running out from under the hedge got my attention more because instead of running away from me actually made a bee-line for me. The reason became obvious as a Weasel, a male by the size of it,  came charging after it. A quick right turn, back into the hedge by both of them, neither to be seen again and that was it. A Wood Pigeon was seen flying a little further on, carrying twigs up into one of the oak trees. This species often has  three broods a year so it's not too late to start nesting, in fact I've seen young in the nest in mid-winter. A couple of butterflies, single Green-veined White and Speckled Wood, trying to soak that up the little bit of sunshine were the only other things I managed to see before I gave up for the day.

High winds, low Counts

Put the moth trap out as usual on a Friday night and the result this morning was the lowest count for many weeks with only 42 moths of 16 species. Not surprising as the temperature had dropped to a chilly 7 degrees C. and the wind was quite blustery, so much so that I checked the trap in the shelter of the Greenhouse. 4 Gold Spots was a good count considering the low numbers and there was also a migrant Silver Y. Even though there is a strong North-westerly wind, things are on the move for as well as the Silver Y, there was a Red Admiral with a few Peacocks on the Buddlesjas. Also  I counted 12 Meadow Pipits fly over in half an hour. There was not one Swallow, House Martin or Swift over the house this morning, the first time there hasn't been any, probably since early April,  apart from during very heavy rain. Autumn's here alright.

Gold Spot - 1 of 4 last night

Silver Y - A close relative but a migrant

Reasons not to cut the lawn No.26

I hate cutting the lawn, in fact I dislike lawns full stop. However being a good resident I always cut it before I get wrong off my dear wife or the neighbours.  It was only 8 days ago since I last cut it, it wasn't bad but as soon as I started I knew I shouldn't. The thing was lifting with insects, and I ended up going so slow I think people were beginning to think I was sporting an injury. Its only a small lawn 10 x 4 metres which I normally take no more than 5 minutes to cut with the rotary. Today, with me stopping to get my camera and then taking the odd snapshot it was more like 40 minutes.  There were spiders, especially Harvestmen, running for cover  everywhere. Dozens of Grass-moths were flitting about, every one I managed to identify being Agriphila tristella which is a very common species. Normally said to be nocturnal, I find this moth easy to flush from tall vegetation and short vegetation in my lawn's case,   during the day in the summer months. 

Agriphila tristella

What was more surprising was the number of grasshoppers, with about 20 of them jumping out of the way, many leaping vertically and landing on the walls of the house.  They all turned out to be Field Grasshoppers (Chorthippus brunneus), in various states of maturity.

Field Grasshoppers clinging to the walls of the house
after leaping to safety from the lawn

Now grasshoppers are not the easiest to identify and the Field Grasshopper is quite similar to its relative the Meadow Grasshopper  but can be identified by the shape of the plate behind the back of head and the hairiness of the underparts. And the cruncher, Field grasshoppers prefer shorter grass than Meadow Grasshoppers - see I knew I didn't need to cut the lawn.

Trying for waders again

With quite a few waders around in the county at the moment I thought if any are going to turn up at the Tribley farm ponds then its going to be now, though I must be honest I think it past it's best for these now. Never the less, off I set early morning in what was the warmest for a good few days. Optimism  improved at the hedgerow to the north of the woods held several butterflies including 2 Speckled Wood and several Walls and a fine Lesser Whitethroat popped out and performed very well until I reached for my camera when off it flew.

It was obvious not all the Swallows moved though yesterday as I counted 33 on the telegraph wires in the village as I passed through.

33 Swallow were still on the wires

I reached the farm ponds and scanned the edges but knew I was going to be out of luck with anything new. I did count 27 Curlew, 4 Common Snipe, 7 Teal, 2 Grey Heron and a pair of Reed Bunting but there were no passage waders.

One of the Common Snipe leaving the pond

The stubble field which had been Oilseed Rape is now a mass of Field Pansy and a robust specimen of Bugloss (Anchusa arvensis) which is now quite a rare arable plant.

Bugloss - now a rare arable weed

 It was too early in the day for Dragonflies but did find a single resting Common Darter.

Common Darter

I came back through the South Burn Woods and waited a while by the Brass Castle Pond as there were a few birds flitting around. These turned out to be a family party of Chaffinch and 2-3 Chiffchaff, all juveniles but one still managing to do a bit of song. This warbler is named after it call which is not quite right and the Germans have done better as they call it the 'Zilpzalp' which is much closer. As I watched them flit around, the bird of the day appeared. A Spotted Flycatcher, an adult by the looks of it, started to do as it's name suggests, catch flies. It did a few sorties over the Phragmities before deciding to fly off.  Just around the corner there were some more Speckled Woods, sunning themselves in the autumn sun.

Speckled Wood 

Blowing in the wind

After all the rain yesterday,  the sun got out at times today but it was very blustery.  There was a noticeable, if light,  passage of Swallows flying south and 2 single Common Swifts also passed through. Around 40 House Martins, the most over the house for very many weeks seemed to be content to stay and feed and noticeably they all appeared to be juveniles. I could not see one adult amongst them.
In the garden the buddlejas held a good collection of butterflies with Small, Large and Green-veined White, Peacock, Comma and Small Tortoiseshell plus 2 Silver Y moths, They were doing an amazing job hanging onto the flowers in the wind making it impossible to photograph them.

Managed to get round to identifying the hoverfly in the fridge from the other day. It is Platycheirus clypeatus, a common species,  but most abundantly in damp grassland including pond, stream and ditch margins. They also visit a wide range of flowers including sedges and grasses