Scaling Dam

50 species (of bird) at Scaling this morning (excluding the zoo collection - Fulvous Whistling Duck x2 and Swan Goose x2 :-(

Short-eared owl carrying food, a pair of Whinchat, an extra Whitethroat, 5 male Reed Buntings, LRP with chicks and various tufted duck broods amongst the highlights. A Brown Rat in the hide was disconcerting, memo - close the door on entry.

The lovely field at the back was full of Chimney Sweepers (day flying chocolate coloured moth) but i couldn't get close enough to them for a pic. However a confiding Common Bue Damselfly made up for such shyness (this pic repays a click as it's uncropped).

At home Chaffinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Yellowhammer and Goldfinch all have fledged juvs (rubbish pic of Goldfinch brood through kitchen window). The Siskin hoards continue to deplete the Nyger at an alarming (financially) rate and another 14-spot ladybird was in the garden.

Close to the Edge

I've changed both movies. The "short" gives Yellowhammer hunger/juvenile contact call. The main feature is another bit of bird song sampling this time by the wonderful Yes from the stunning Close to the Edge. The piece is too long for one movie so follow the link to YouTube for pt2. It's a rubbish recording that doesn't do the musicianship justice and a bit of an acquired taste to boot - search out the album for a bit of perfection. Common with the Floyd piece is a Nightingale sample and river references.

What's this?

This looks like a ladybird larva but it doesn't match with any on my larvae id chart, any ideas anyone?

The Yellowhammer below was uncropped so click on the image for full value.

Another lazy day

Yesterday's Whitethroat reappeared and sang early a.m. and at midday from the middle of the back garden - I failed to get a pic though. The first Yellowhammers have fledged and one spent the afternoon in the backgarden - new movie -. Blackcap was singing across the road.

There were a stack of Painted Lady again, up to 20 at one time, Red Admiral, Brimstone, Wall, Small Tortoiseshell (2) and the usual whites. Small Copper up on the moor again but not around the garden. 7-spot ladybirds around, 5 or so adults and this larva (above) (click on the image for big).

At the dale head lateish afternoon not much was in evidence except a bunch of juvvy Stonechats, only 1 Whinchat and a single Tree Pipit.

Insects and birds

Whitethroat singing from the garden this morning and two Redpoll sp flew over and into the plantation. The Blue Tits are fledged, Great Tits still feeding young in the box. Coal Tit behaviour still suggests they're feeding young in the nest. Fog early a.m. + musical entertainment and beer last night has led to a decidedly slothful day. Grey Heron in the field below the house. Silage is being cut so Bl-h Gulls are more in evidence - feeding on insects in the cut fields or following the tractors.

Painted Lady appeared the day before yesterday and there were 8 yesterday evening, 18 at lunchtime today - there appears to be movement of insects from the north on the wind. Small Heath in the garden today. Yet again Dingy Skipper eludes me, another possible winged through at high speed earlier on.

The before and after pictures of the roadside verge show how the herbicide has clobbered the Cow Parsley. Leaflets arrived as promised from the park authority today. They are ok but despite the leaflets and the bit on the park website I'm not convinced the park authority sees this issue as very important. Looks like I'm going to have to go along to the parish council if I want to get the current mowing timings changed.

Guardian of our countryside in action

The roadside verges here are lovely at the moment (except where NYCC Highways dept have mown them flat). However, this farmer didn't like the one opposite my house much.

He's spraying using Thistlex which does for the dicots as far as I can see - three days after spraying the Cow parsley is looking very unwell. His excuse was he wants to keep thistles and nettles out of his fields. I can't understand why he won't just spray his side of the wall. The national park don't seem very interested in this activity, I have had a reply to my email but it isn't very wildlife friendly. I was rather hoping they might have quite a strong position on this kind of environmental destruction.

Anyone out there seen much evidence of farmers behaving like this? - I can't recall when I last saw a farmer do this and have seen little evidence of it elsewhere locally.

Nice insect guide

This is a good guide to garden insects.

Must rush want to see the ISS go by

Oops ladybird id wonky

Reidentified the ladybird below and corrected the blog it's 14 spot not 16; correct id Propylea 14-punctata. Rubbish reference I'll blame ....

I've put a link to the Ladybird survey id sheet. But their home page is handy too.

http://www.ladybird-survey.org/default.htm

Why not contribute to the survey? There's some useful maps on the website.

Stroppy Curlew

New Movie (trailer) Curlew agitation display "Bog off, I've got chicks".

Late arrivals

A cycle around the dale brought my first Red Admirals of the year. Pterostichus cupreus (medium/large ground beetle bright green/metallic) is everywhere, in my dry traps mating and running along the road as we cycled.

The girls found Propylea 14-punctata (14-spot Ladybird) on me.

Redstarts were singing where there were none a fortnight ago - three different sites. And an extra Tree Pipit was singing at one of these sites. I always think of Redstart as quite an early arrival so it is interesting that they are continuing to arrive in breeding territory as late as mid/late May. The female Whinchats mentioned yesterday appear to have arrived over the last week, unless they were cunningly hiding of course. A Lapwing was making "I've got chicks" noises by one of the farms, but the chicks were most likely hiding in the Juncus as I couldn't see them.

Breeding birds

Several sessions hunting out breeding birds for BirdTrack sites. Thursday, at the head of the dale brought even more Whinchats with 5 pairs - plenty of females now in. Tree Pipit, Redstart and Stonechat also in evidence.

Scaling Dam yesterday morning found Tufted with 3 chicks and Teal with 5 chicks. Also Spotted Flycacher, Whinchat, Cuckoo and a bundle of waders including possibly breeding Common Sandpiper and Oystercatcher. The Roe buck wandered down the hill.

Last night a third go for Nightjar was finally successful with at least two birds present, one singing. It was cold though and they weren't exactly performing brilliantly. Also 2 Woodcock. The wildlife spectacle I'd promised Louise was rather a disappointment.

A return to the Nightjar area was interesting this morning with lots of waders and Teal on the moor. Heard Merlin (and at one point I was certain I heard Hoopoe !!!) Redstart, Stonechat, Tree Pipit. Lots of Field Tiger Beetle - probably saw 250+.

The fields around the ruined house were beautiful but I always find these places eerie. Something about life's labours come to nought.

In the garden yesterday's suicidal Swallow is still contemplating nesting in the house (Louise took it off one of the cats yesterday after it had flown into the kitchen), Brimstone - first for the year. Pterostichus cupreus in the live traps and a 2 spot ladybird found by Ellen.

Nikon brilliant product support

The rain guard had broken on my 8x32 HG bins. PG suggested some time ago I phone Nikon UK which I did on Wednesday. A new rainguard arrived Thursday morning, no charge. That is excellent product support on an old model (I've had these 5 years I reckon). Manfrotto and Focalpoint please note this is how it should be done.

I strongly advise readers to never purchase Manfrotto tripods because spare parts seem to be unavailable - I've made this mistake twice now, never again. My 190 will be on ebay soon if anyone is interested - maybe you need the spares? I've also got a lot of bits of a very expensive carbon fibre model - offers? I reckon the Slik (Bill's favourite tripod) looks good - any comments?

Other folk claim to have had good service from Focalpoint, they very badly let me down over a (Manfrotto) tripod that was still within one year of purchase. I will not use this company again and suggest some caution.

Pete, thanks for the tip. Nikon, thanks for the brilliant service, reckon my next bins will be Nikon too.

BB Sand - gone

Don't go twitiching it's a waste of time. Ok so I was only 15 mins away, had to go to Middlesbrough today. Ok so the transporter bridge is worth the trip in its own right - another jolly list, tolls on UK roads I have paid (the transporter bridge is £1 each way and worth every penny). Ok so it had been sluicing it down all night and all day so I couldn't have done "proper" birding really. Ok so it had gone. Nice little Stint, nice Little Gulls, nice Knot etc but no BB Sand. It won't be on Scaling Dam, no it won't ...

Click the link for a live webcam of the transporter bridge.

Bird song/call samples

I am very partial to a tune with a bird song sample / recording within it. There have over recent years been quite a few of these with Kate Bush, Beta Band and The Orb offering some exemplary examples (or exsamples even .... groan). Anyway the new Movie - main feature offers one of my oldest and favourite birds rocking and a rollin' (and probably tripping out) tunes - - Pink Floyd - Granchester Meadows from the wonderous UmmaGumma. I never heard the Floyd play this live - maybe they did a bit before my time - I do remember hearing a roaring Astronomy Domine and a terrifying Careful with that Axe Eugene back at the Brighton Dome in maybe 1971. I do recall that the tickets were 60p (decimalisation came in february that year) for close to the front in the stalls - those were the days my friends .....

Beheaded Fox Moth

Something beheaded this Fox Moth found on the moor yesterday.

I've realised that the small day flying "moths" from last weekend were Dingy Skipper (not a moth). This is not a species I am familiar with. I found two on the heather behind the house in the sun last weekend and in the hope of getting an ID didn't look at them but attempted and failed at photoing them :-( Fortunately the Lewington book has sorted me out as I remembered enough to eliminate the confusion species of day flying moths (unless there are others not included there).

The Mighty Kettleness

Weather was grim this a.m. and I suffered from an uncharacteristic lack of enthusiasm. Eventually arrived at Kettleness just after 11:00 a.m. to seawatch on the rising tide. The sea was well rough and with no shelter on the point watching was tricky but loads of Gannets - most of which were subadult - plenty of Kitts, Razorbills and Guillemots. 12 Manxies and 1 Puffin.

At home a Snipe flew low through the front garden mid-afternoon. And there was a good Toad under a rock.

Photos of Kettleness from Runswick yesterday and vice versa (ish) today.

Sunday morning

A visit to the dale head on Sunday morning brought Tree Pipit x2, Redstart x2, Whinchat x1, Stonechat x1, Spotted Flycatcher (in the same place as last year) + Dipper and Buzzard. There were a couple of nice Hares in the fields as we drove up.

Ash are still not in leaf - the one at the back of this excellent field is coming in but some of the trees in the background still look bare, there are still plenty in the dale not in leaf.

A request for further Trepit shots, bit of a cheat this from Scotland last July with a Mepit. Quality is low as I had only just got the camera and not set it up properly.

Movie (trailer)

The new Movie (trailer) is a modernist, action thriller. At 8 seconds it is minimalist (as usual) but turn the volume up for full effect. The plot - grey sky, parachute descent, a jumble of trees.

Round the dale

Saturday started well with a new species for the garden, Oystercatcher, 2 flew north west. House Martin was heard overhead. Garden Warbler was again singing nearby. 2 pairs of Golden Plover were behaving territorially just to the west of the "home" patch but the one in the area was absent. Lapwing are still present and at least two lots of Curlew appear to have young (they're very stroppy). A Snipe sat very tight and was flushed in suitable habitat. In the afternoon the oncoming rain pushed Swifts before it.

A decent Slow Worm was on show to our guests and a live Hedgehog was seen wandering across the lane in the night, most likely the one found squashed this a.m. in the same area :-{ 2 Hares were across the moor and a male Orangtip was in the garden. A Common Shrew was hopefully already deceased when Mollie put her wellie on with "something squashy in it". And in the rapidly decreasing frog pond a million tadpoles are getting concerned - their world is getting smaller (see top pic).

A Nightjar outing was again unsuccessful - too cold perhaps, or maybe they've yet to get here.

Mega moths

On Sunday, sunny Sunday there were some big moths wegging across the moor, fairly erratic flight and looked quite dark. I'm guessing they were Emperor? ... I'll try and have a look this weekend. No sign of the Green Hairstreaks, they seem to be over.

Movie main feature Nick Cave Nature Boy

"You took me back to your place and dressed me up in a deep sea diver's suit"

What more can I say, definitely some kind of a Razorbill moment.

Road deaths

There seems to be a sudden increase in road deaths (birds). The stretch of road I cycle down with the children (about 1 mile) had 4 deaths on Sunday compared with 0 the previous two weeks. 2 of these were adults, Blackbird (m) and Chaffinch (m) 1 was a juv Blackbird and 1 was indeterminate (too little left) Goldcrest. And in the village there was another Chaffinch (age uncheked) this a.m. I wonder if this is the stage of the breeding season (knackered adults, inexperienced juvs, or the high wind on Saturday that might have caused this.

Early morning sortie on Monday located breeding Golden plover near the house, + Snipe displaying. Nice skylarks singing and the frog orgy pond full of a zillion tadpoles.

Home birding

House guests and a growth spurt by everything in the garden - grass and the bramble and bracken - meant a lack of coastal birding. I was also too knackered to be honest. Went to Any Questions on Friday night (listen for the 132nd applauder from the left) and on the way back tried for Nightjar in torrential rain and gale - unsurprisingly failed. However, a new and nearby Tree Pipit, Whitethroat and Cuckoo in the garden, Lesser Black-backed Gull (finally) were all good. Struggling to id the big beggar in the tree though.

Most of the Ash have yet to show leaves, it seems very late to me.

It looks like the sheep was kipping under the horse jump when the supports finally rotted and it collapsed, rather a slow death i would guess.

John Cale, Chrissy Hind and Nick Cave

Still can't embed a music player successfully - so here's the next best thing. Embedded in the Movie (main feature) item in the panel, listen as you browse. This is kind of a Long-tail Skua thing for me ... well I can but hope and now my phone has a decent mp3 player in it it could be done. (Still not the same as a tape player blasting out of an old Fiat 127 but so it goes.) A song from Fear - Ship of Fools.

Swifts and House Martins

These species arrived yesterday in the town as breeders rather than passage migrants - birds were still present today around the houses and across the playground. This seems late to my mind.

Weather in Whitby

Click the title for the weather station link. This link will give you the actual weather in Whitby (refreshed every minute) via our digital weather station. I will put a link in the links section also. We will put a digicam on the roof soon - then you can see if the sea fret is in or not ...

Want to know where that insect is ...

Here's a wonderful toy. Just key in a species name - e.g. Carabus nitens and then zoom in - magic. Click the link in the header.

Movie trailer

My new minimalist masterpiece of art house cinema requires the volume cranked up. Identify the species.

Carabus nitens

Having searched out my trusty and very dog-eared RES key to Carabids I was pleased that the photo was good enough to key out the carabid Mollie found on Sunday. it is indeed Carabus nitens. The North York's Moors is a stronghold for the species but so far all the references indicate it is very local.

Malta murder

Please follow the link and vote Yes in the poll.

Thanks

Up t' dale

An early morning sortie to the dale head was productive. 4 singing Whinchats, 2 singing Tree Pipits, at least 3 Redstart singing. Other songsters included Garden Warbler, Blackcap and Cuckoo. Also present were Wheatear (2), Stonechat, a male, and Jay which is a bird I'm yet to see at our end. Serious scanning and listening failed to locate a Rouzel but more effort is required.

Evening was spent in horizontal easterly rain (but what a nice hide it is) at Scaling Dam. Scant reward for the dedication, 2 Dunlin and a light assortment of Sand Martins, House Martins and Swallows.

RSPB climate change campaign

Click the header to follow the link.

Rare? carabid in garden + Kettleness

Kettleness began with promise with 6 Wheatears by the gardens. An elusive Phyllos? flicked away on the under-cliff. The Stonechats were heard and Sandwich and Artic Terns went by. I didn't go to the point but had a quick look at the sea from the cliff top - loads of Gannets and strangely no auks ....? A few Swallows trickled west with 3 Sand Martins, Swifts trickled west steadily and a further Wheatear was in the cliff top fields but that was it - except for the usual Whitethroats, WWs and Tree Spugs. On the mammal front the usual Roe Deer and Hare (the leveret photo is from last week, distorted through the car screen) put in an appearance, a single Porpoise was briefly glimpsed. Wall Brown with a distorted wing on the x-railway line.

Back home in the garden Siskin is now the commonest and most frequently seen and heard bird - there's even a possible nest in the garden. Garden Warbler is still about. Carefull investigation of a few choice stones found 3 more juvvy Slow Worms. 2 Wall Browns, 1 Peacock, 5ish small/Green-veined Whites and an Orange Tip flittered (is that a word?) round the garden. Mollie found the star of the day Carabus nitens wandering across the shingle back-yard - nice one Molls. Oh yes, and there was a small rat in the compost bin.

100 Years of British Birds Radio 4

Click the title to go to the BBC website to listen online to the programme celebrating BBs 100th birthday.

Turn the volume up

On the Movie (main feature) you should turn the volume up, the garden warbler is at full throttle + Willow warbler and cock Pheasants scrapping in the background.

Kettleness today

A nice bit of vismig today with a steady trickle of Swallows from just before 6:00 a.m. - total over the 2.5 hours probably about 80 or so. Also 4 Yellow Wags, 2 Sand Martins, 2 carrion Crows appeared to come in/off and assorted Mepits, Chaffinch and alba wag.

The sea was dreary with 2 Shelduck, 2 Sandwich Terns and 8 Common Scoter in an hour - auk numbers and Kittiwke numbers had jumped up again, constant streams of Guillemots, Razorbills, and Kits. Very few Gannets today.

A few Willow Warblers were clearly fresh in, Common Whitethroat had increased further but no sound of a Lesser. A pair of Wheatear are now probably resident.

The Stonechats have fledged young as do Dunnock. Tree Sparrow seem to have set up shop in the Ash wood.

By lunchtime at nearby Runswick Bay there was no sign of any vismig most notable was a single Holly Blue in the village.

Slow Worm stuff

Highlight yesterday was finding 3 young slow worms in the garden. Pix a bit rubbish because i had to run to get the camera which was in the house. You can see how small this is by the woodlouse sp to the left of its head. This was in the same area as Louise found an adult in April and I found one last year. The picture doesn't do it justice it was a beautiful metallic pale, golden colour. I should probably put some more cover down here for them, although it is near the road unfortunately.

Scaling Dam produced Cuckoo x2, Garden Warbler x2, LRPs and a Whimbrel. There are still a pair of Wigeon and Teal but the Goldeneye appear to have left.

Garden tick(s)

Nice ticks not blood sucking ones, we get those too. Redstart singing from the Ash tree by the bedroom window was in the garden as opposed just beyond it but Garden Warbler singing in and around the garden was entirely new.

Siskin are up to at definite 4, probable 6 and most likely 8.

Gorse is just going over but is still superb.

In them olden days

Replying to Darrell's post yesterday reminded me of some birding practices as they were back in the 70's and 80's. Seawatching at Dungeness was either from the seawatch hide over The Patch (mostly in spring) or from The Point. In those days the Obs had a huge binocular telescope that we used to wheel down (it had it's own pram) over the concrete roads to the hide. The bin scope was always going out of align because of bumping it down to the hide (even in its special box and on the pram) but at the time it was an awesome tool so well worth the effort. Occasionally I used to set off to the hide straight after the pub and sleep with the bin scope in the seawatch hide so I didn't over-sleep and miss the seawatch. We never played music in the seawatch hide, however the Point was different. The trick was to reverse a hatchback vehicle or van on the boards over the shingle - these were the fishermen's roads but one went right out onto the point. Then sit on the floor of the van / hatchback with the stereo (or more usually a battery powered ghetto blaster) on warp factor nine. These of course were the days of cassette tape so there was no real selecting tracks, it could not easily be fixed to arrange Pretty Vacant to Med Gull or London Calling to Bonxie.