Purple haze

Empis digramma having a feast

Starting out

Juvenile Redstart. One of three feeding up the bridleway last night. It was only a couple of weeks since I was watching a youngster coming to the edge of its nest to receive food from the parent and now they're fully fledged and making their own way. Splendid

Third time lucky

Regular readers of this blog will know of the two previous breeding attempts by my Collared Dove pair both being predated. Well this time the birds were much more secretive and on Sunday two youngsters had 'semi fledged' (I've been dying to do a Michaela) in the tree next to my back window. By Monday afternoon they were chasing Mum for a feed in my neighbours garden.

Then all pegged out and settling down for a snooze

Brood

Crumbs I'm hungry. Where's mum?

Here she comes. Open wide...

Now that's fast food

Hot and calm

As we enter the birding doldrums of summer attention turns to other fliers so up to Banks yesterday in strong sun a few Four spotted chasers preferred the meadow to open water where battles with rivals could ensue. This morning my first Emperor of the year held sway at the east end of the pond.

Many Common Blue and Large Red Damselfly all the way up the bridle track and taking to basking on rocks put out to prevent trespassing cars.

Day flying moths included Brown China Mark along with Shaded Broad Bar which are common to this location along with Lattice Heath and the ubiquitous Silver Ground Carpet.

A large emergence of Meadow Browns numbering 25 + along with 10 + Ringlet and Small Skipper, a handful of male Common Blue and my first Speckled Wood for the patch year list.

Rookie

Mum brought a noisy begging junior onto the back roof this morning but studiously ignored it's pleas to be fed and filled her crop before flying off with the youngster hanging onto her tail feathers.

Its no fun when mum ignores you and your beak isn't white yet.

Local species

Yellowhammer in un-typical habitat

 Young Reed Bunting

and a Meadow Pipit at the hover

A ton of owls

The weekend started well as whilst doing some half arsed mothing on Friday night a Little Owl flew past the back of the house calling. Then tonight, based on a tip off for a Barn Owl nest I approached the area where I had been told it hunted and straight away the familiar white ghost drifted up the path in front of me. I tracked it back to the nest and it flew to an adjacent tree as young could be heard calling from the nest site. Ton up. Splendid but more was to come. I was attracted by a Whitethroat alarm tacking in a tree nearby and as I moved closer a dark form glided to another tree than back to the original where it became No 101 on the PC 2014 list Tawny Owl. Now that's a hat trick

Degeerella dancing

Lots of these Nemophora degeerella moth about up the bridle track this morning. Males with their antenna four times longer than their wings apparently dance up and down to attract females.

Not a female in sight which is pretty much par for the course in my locality

Warmer days

and in the absence of new birds plenty of other fliers to keep the interest. Gold Swift is a new moth for me.

Cardinal Beetle is not hard to miss although my ID book indicates they shouldn't be this far north

and some old on young butterfly action. 

Pipit and Wagtail

Meadow Pipit singing from a tree last evening

and one of two juvenile Pied Wagtails out on the bumpy road with Dad. Also yesterday plenty of Speckled Wood butterflies flying at Blyth Community Hospital.

Air traffic control needed

The air was busy over Banks Pond at the weekend so took some daft shots of the action

It all became a bit of a blur as did the photos but no collisions took place.

Out of sorts

I know just how you feel. Out before your time and parents not showing the slightest interest. This is the second of the Jackdaw brood in my front tree to leave the nest prematurely. Unable to fly and not particularly good at walking it was shooed away from the road four times yesterday morning with parents watching but when I left at lunchtime having placed it away from the road under a bush I feared for it's good health and unfortunately that fear was fulfilled.

Then this morning when I left the house for my Saturday wander all the Jackdaws around circled overhead berating my. Obviously I was deemed responsible for the demise of their youngster. Can't seem to come second never mind win at the moment.

For the Sedgy Wobbler

Reds on hawthorn

Title says it all