Best till Last..

Wren production has been noticeably high this year, and it's not slowing down.  This nest has been brought into operation despite having been built back in March. Best till last perhaps?

Tucked away in the gable end of our entrance.

Black-winged Pratincole - 2nd Northumberland Record

Managed a quick twitch to Bothal Pond this morning. The Black-winged Pratincole was showing well on the western shore, and came as close as it was ever likely too, allowing some record shots on a dull rainy morning.

The 'Mother' of Record Shots!

Two new records for the patch at East Holywell yesterday and today.

Yesterday I heard a song I wasn't familiar with - sounded just like this. I was heading out on a bike ride towards Holywell Dene, and just past the cattery the mystery song had me slam on the breaks. I reached for my binoculars and there it was, a Marsh Tit!

And today, a walk down to Holywell Dene was rewarded with two Brambling landing high in the beech trees before flying North. Managed to get the 'mother' of all record shots :)

Not long now.....

The hedges have been layed, planted up, and watered ........

Moths have started to be caught in the trap.......

 

Oak Beauty

The first bumblebee, wasp, and hoverfly have been seen.................................

  

And in just two or three weeks the swallows will return, and there's a new home ready in the shed........

Chainsaw Massacre

A gappy, old and dying hawthorn hedge on one side, and a field maple hedge becoming a row of trees on the other, meant one thing - chainsaw massacre.

After checking out the Hedgelink Website (all about hedges and how to care for them) it was clear that the way forward was to lay the hedges. Hedgelaying is the traditional method of restoring a hedge - and it's great for increasing wildlife value.

Bank Vole - hedge resident

I did consider doing the job myself but the scale, 70 metres, really needed a professional, so I called in the services of Paul Owen who is an accredited hedgelayer based in Northumberland. A list of accredited hedgelayers can be found on the National Hedgelaying Society website.

Paul did a great job, and I can recommend him without hesitation............

Work in progress

Field Maple

Hawthorn nicely finished off with willow bindings,
gaps planted up with whips of local provenance.

On yer bike!

Did a bit of birding by bike today, heading down to Holywell Dene, then onwards to Seaton Delaval Hall for an expensive bowl of national trust soup.

A couple of roe deer ran across the track in the dene, nearly resulting in a fatality - the bike rider not the deer!

A kingfisher flashed blue on it's way down the dene, and two dippers were in full song.

Overhead two jays were seen, an unusual record this near the coast.

In the fields towards the obelisk a single wheatear was spotted on a fence post.

But the highlight of the day had to be the Hummingbird Hawk-Moth that returned to the garden again.

The Wildlife Garden

I find it quite astonishing what will come and live in a garden that is focused on being wildlife friendly. Here's a few of the residents in my garden seen yesterday.

Common Carder Bee

Gold Spot Moth

Migrant Hawker

Honey Bee

Hoverfly - Ceilosiini sp

Leaf-Cutter Bee

Peacock Butterfly

Red Admiral Butterfly

Thick-legged Hoverfly

Tree Sparrow - another 3rd clutcher!

Lesser Yellow Underwing Moths

Wall Butterfly

Solitary Wasp - Ectemnius sp.

Tittivating

My wife Gail reckons I spend too much time 'tittivating the garden'. She's probably right (she normally is) but the local wildlife seems pleased.

The colony of Tree Sparrows in my garden, which was just one pair in a hole in the house wall two years ago, is now, with the addition of a few nest boxes,  seven pairs producing at least sixty young!

Taking a break from raising a third brood!

Another 10 boxes have gone up on my neighbour's stable wall, and another 10 will go here and there ready for next spring. Maybe 20 :)

The right plants in the right places have also brought an abundance of invertebrates, especially in my 'untidy' garden. Gives the Tree Sparrows plenty of food for their young.

Yarrow Plume moth, likes the Yarrow :)

And the butterflies are loving the nectar bar in the front garden.

Small Tortoiseshell

Wall

Time for some more gardening....

Unbridled Terns

Artic Terns

A trip to the Farne Islands is great with or without rarities, and the fact that a Bridled Tern was reported on Inner Farne was coincidental to our trip. Just as well as it had 'gone fishing' when we were there.

Still, plenty of fine feathered friends to provide one of natures great shows.....

Guillemots

Guilletmots with young

Bridled Guillimot

Kittiwake

Puffins

And boat loads of people

Monumental Anteater

A Wryneck at Whitley Bay Cemetery today showed well, hunting for ants amongst the gravestones.