The Northumberland Naturalist

Widdrington Tip

2011-07-14T19:00:00.010+01:00

I paid a visit to this interesting area this week and must thank Stewart Sexton for sending a map and directions which proved most useful. I hoped to see butterflies and wasn't disappointed; Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Common Blue and a great number of Small Skippers were on the wing. And, for the first time in, let me think ... it must be thirty years, I saw and photographed a Six-spot Burnet moth.

Six-spot Burnet (Zyganena filipendulae)
Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)

Common Blue (Polyomatus icarus)
I also came upon this Mallow growing in the track-side verge. I thought it was a Musk Mallow but it is not so hairy and the upper leaves were deeply cut so I take it to be a Cut-leaved Mallow (Malva alcea) ...

Kinloch Hourn

2011-06-03T08:44:00.020+01:00

I wonder how many times we pass the end of a road without giving a second thought to where it might lead or what delights we might find were we to follow it? The road to Kinloch Hourn proved to be such a road during my recent Scottish trip.

Turning off the Skye road beyond Invergarry, the road to Kinloch Hourn begins in a wooded lane which hugs the northern shore of Loch Garry for five or so miles to the hamlet of Tomdoun with its delightful little church. Five miles on, when you come to the tiny settlement of Kingie at the head of Loch Garry you are already in the wilderness and amongst the high hills of Glenquoich.

Glenquoich, the River Garry above Kingie and the Knoydart hills beyond
The views in all directions and the barren remoteness of Glenquoich revived long-unvisited memories of backpacking days in the Western Highlands more than twenty years ago. On this day, however, as I dawdled on along the single track road, taking in the splendour of it all, I could happily acknowledge that the road was more easily travelled from behind the steering wheel.

A Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) on the northern bank of the River Gary
In the 1950's, the glen was dammed beyond Kingie raising the waters of the existing Loch Quoich by one hundred feet: sadly, it suffers today from the same unnatural shape and scarred, low-water shore line of many other man-made lakes. On rocky rain-washed outcrops near the dam, I found many Common Butterwort (Pinguicala vulagaris). It was the first time I had seen these stickily hairy carnivorous perennials ...

Common Butterwort (Pinguicala vulagaris)
Other plants seen included these Lousewort (Pedicularis sylvatica) ...

... these Thyme-leaved Milkwort (Polygala serpyllifolia)

... and these fungi

The Red Deer, featured in my last piece, were found near the head of Loch Quoich. Further on still, the steep descent to the road end at Kinloch Hourn begins (the link to the Undiscovered Scotland pages provides further information and pictures). The settlement comprises one or two houses and a farm, the latter offering food and basic accommodation for hill walkers, climbers, cyclists and exploring motorists! A path along the southern shore of Loch Hourn takes walkers to Barrisdale and on into the Knoydart peninsula while another path along the northern shore, takes walkers to Arnisdale and Glen Elg.

Near the end of my journey and before the steep descent into Kinloch Hourn, at the foot of the dark hill to the left of centre in this picture, this view over Loch Coire Shubh opened up

Red Deer at Loch Quoich

2011-05-26T07:55:00.002+01:00

Loch Quoich with the Knoydart hills beyond
At the western end of Loch Quoich, where the single track road rounds a headland near a burn called the Alt Nighean Eobhain, I came upon a small group of grazing Red Deer (Cervus elaphus).

I was struck at first that all of the deer in the group were stags until I read that for much of the year the stags and hinds lead separate lives, forming separate-sex herds. Male calves live with their mothers for a couple of years, but with the onset of maturity they leave to join male herds. This group were quite nervous of me but with care I was lucky enough to get close views and take the following pictures ...

A young stag with the steep slopes of Sgurr Mor, on the south side of Loch Quoich, in the background
Another of the group with Loch Quoich in the background

Common Seals at Loch Carron

2011-05-22T10:00:00.001+01:00

This second piece describing my recent wildlife cruise on Loch Carron looks at Common Seals (Phoca vitulina).

Shortly after leaving Plockton on the Sula Mhor, we passed a small rocky island where a group of Common Seals were basking.

The Common Seal, referred to as the Harbour Seal in other parts of the world, is associated with sheltered seas and is widespread on the east coast of England and the coasts generally around Scotland and Ireland. They have a rather friendly-looking face and are little more than half the size of the Grey Seals (Halichoerus grypus) I more commonly see on the Farne Islands and at other locations along the Northumberland coast. They tend to be rather nervous and wary animals and in most circumstances are less inquisitive than their Grey cousins.

There are believed to be over 350 Common Seals resident in the Plockton area. You can see more picture pictures of Common Seals at Loch Carron on Callum Mackenzie's website

Common Dolphins at Loch Carron

2011-05-18T19:22:00.011+01:00

After spending the first three months of 2011 decorating almost all of my house, and taking the time since to recover, I took myself off to Scotland for a short break last week to stay with my Invergarry friend at her home on the shores of Loch Oich. Sadly, as she is moving to the south of England in June, this was to be the last holiday I would spend with her in her Highland home.

On Wednesday we travelled to Plockton, to the north of the Kyle of Lochalsh, meeting another friend for lunch before taking a wildlife cruise on Loch Carron. The cruise turned out to be one of those never-to-be-forgotten moments.

A rather cold and damp Loch Carron seen from the departure point (cruise boat not shown in this picture)
Our cruise boat, the Sula Mhor, followed a course up Loch Carron towards a fish farm where Calum the captain told us we were almost certain to see the dolphins. We didn't but kept on cruising further up the loch towards Strome Ferry and beyond to Lochcarron village, hopeful but still without a view of them. The return trip, however, proved successful and the Loch's resident pair of female Common Dolphins (Delphinus delphis), known locally as Gin and Tonic, put on a great show for us.

Above and below: the Dolphins coming to the surface

And here, in this short video, the dolphins can be seen swimming at the bow of the Sula Mhor ...

If you are travelling in the Plockton area, do take one of Culum's cruises ...

See more here at Calum's Seal and Dolphin Trips website.

More of my Scotland trip in forthcoming posts.

Life in a Cow-Pat

2010-12-17T20:37:00.001Z

It was bitterly cold today so I thought, for this short piece, I would transport myself back to a sunny day in late July when ...

... returning home from another rewarding afternoon at Sidwood, crossing the high moor below Padon Hill, I paused to take-in this view north, to the remote steading of Dargues Hope, standing in splendid isolation at the foot of Blakehope Fell, and beyond, across the Rede valley towards the Cheviot hills and the border with Scotland.

As I turned away from the view to continue homewards, I glimpsed a number of fungi growing on cow-pats in a field to my right. The fungi were Egghead Mottlegills (Panaeolus semiovatus). This Mottlegill has distinctively shaped, cream-coloured caps and a short-lived, white-fading-to-yellow ring on the stipe.

Deep and Crisp and Even

2010-12-07T18:07:00.003Z

Redesdale enjoyed something of a thaw last Saturday but the days since have seen the winter's grip on the valley re-tightened. Thankfully, there's been no more snow but today, having to travel five miles outside the village to the nearest Post Office, I thought the roads quite unpleasant to drive along. I was glad just to buy stamps for my Christmas cards and, once back in the village, some vegetables and a woolly Peruvian-style hat at the mill shop before returning home for my lunch-time soup and a sandwich and an afternoon with Patrick Barkham's enchanting The Butterfly Isles, which I am very much enjoying and can thoroughly recommend.

When leaving the mill, this view of sheep feeding in an adjacent field caught my eye ...

And in the garden, the birds return again and again to the food I put out for them at their temporary feeding station on top of the wall at my front door. Here's another of the Brambling pictures I took from my living room window last week ...

Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla)
And a Christmas-card Robin ...

Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

Bramblings in the Snow

2010-12-04T16:52:00.007Z

The snow in my garden on Thursday morning was three feet deep and the most convenient way for me to feed the birds was to place small portions of their favourite foods along the top of the wall at my front door.

From my living room window I watched three male Bramblings, a large mixed flock of Chaffinch, four Greenfinch, a female House Sparrow, three male and two female Blackbirds, individual Blue, Coal and Great Tits and a Robin visit the food. As might be imagined, I was particularly pleased to see the Bramblings. I think this is a first winter male ...

Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla)

Hard Times

2010-12-01T09:30:00.004Z

Since the weekend, the winter weather, which was at least picturesque in my last my last piece, has continued to tighten it's grip on Redesdale. The accumulation now is certainly as deep as last winter and clearing it has meant a lot of hard work for me and my new plastic snow shovel. The car-wide track down to the road, created on Saturday when I dug out the six inches of snow lying on my drive, has filled and been cleared twice again; on Monday the snow was twelve inches deep and there was another six inches yesterday. And if I felt up to the task this morning, five inches more has fallen overnight. It's still snowing heavily as I write so I've voted for a lazy day. Sadly, the garden birds will not be able to relax.

Winter

2010-11-28T17:55:00.005Z

We've had quite a lot of snow in Redesdale this week. Not as much, perhaps, as other parts of Northumberland, and certainly not as much, yet, as we had in the last week of the old year and the first two weeks of 2010 when I was snowed-in for three weeks. But worryingly, the large scar, marking a car-wide track down to the road that I dug out of the six inches of snow lying on my drive yesterday, was almost entirely filled by the overnight snow.

For all of this, the countryside around me is looking picturesque as I discovered this afternoon on a short walk up onto the village trail.

A view west across Redesdale to Padon Hill
On the village trail looking north
Looking east from the village trail to Fawdon Hill

Longhorn Beetle at Sidwood

2010-11-22T17:08:00.007Z

In July, on the same day that I found the Scorpionfly at Sidwood, I came across another interesting insect, a Longhorn Beetle (Pachytodes cerambyciformis) feeding on what I thought was Feverfew (Chrysanthemum parthenium) but I am grateful to Stewart Sexton who tells me is Sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica), described below.

The best habitats for finding longhorn beetles are flowery woodland rides or edges, flower-rich meadows or roadsides near woodland, such as here at Sidwood, or marshy areas. Only a few species are common in very built up areas, gardens, coastal habitats and heath land.

Regarding Sneezewort, its leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. They are cardiac, diaphoretic, digestive, emmenagogue, odontalgic, sternutatory and styptic. The leaf is chewed to relieve toothache and can be used as an insect repellent. The dried, powdered leaves are used as a sneezing powder. The plant yields an essential oil that is used medicinally.

Indoor Wildlife

2010-11-18T18:30:00.001Z

You can imagine my surprise recently, when I discovered a small Common Frog (Rana temporaria) swimming in my toilet pan. I have thought very hard about how it could have got there and have concluded that it must have come through the open window and then found its way into the pan through a gap at the back of the seat. It seemed unable to scale the inside of the pan and make its escape. It was not a fully grown adult, being about 60mm long. I didn't take its picture while it was swimming about in the pan but this picture was taken after I released it in my garden ...

Common Frog (Rana temporaria)
This is the second time I have found an unexpected creature inside my house. In August, 2007, I found this male Common Lizard (Zootoca vivapara) in my porch. Again, I have little idea how it arrived there as I don't often use my front door. It had lost its tail but this had regrown shorter and darker, which I understand is not uncommon. I placed in the sun on the wall at my front door and took the following picture before it made its escape ...

Common Lizard (Zootoca vivapara)
It would be interesting to hear from others who might have had similar experiences.

Holystone North Wood

2010-11-13T18:24:00.003Z

Holystone North Wood, a semi-natural, acid sessile oakwood, more typical perhaps of the Lake District, is a little way to the north of the Holystone Burn. It is thought to have survived since at least 1700. Many of the trees have multiple stems suggestive of copicing in the past, although records show that the wood was last worked in this manner over sixty years ago.

The Forestry Commission plans to increase the oak woodland in Holystone to over one hundred hectares. Many of the surrounding conifer plantations are now being felled and will be replaced with oaks grown from local seed.

The wood is approached by an up-hill walk through, and then along the edge of one of the conifer plantations. The first view of the wood, across a small pasture when leaving the conifers, is most inviting ...

Some of the wood is fenced off to allow natural regeneration, but there is still plenty to see from the public paths ...

During my visit this week, I had good views of small groups of feeding Redpolls and Long-tailed Tits. Jays and a Red Squirrel were also active. I also found this Bonnet Mycena (Mycena galericulata) growing on a decaying deciduous tree ...

The return walk to the car park offered good views south towards the Holystone Burn, in the valley beyond the pasture, and Holystone Common ...

Hill Born

2010-11-11T15:39:00.011Z

On Remembrance Day, I thought it would be appropriate to share another of the poems by the Hexham-born poet, Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, this time entitled Hill Born.

The poem is from Gibson's First World War collection Battle. Due to his ill health, the army would not accept him for service abroad and he spent some months as an Army clerk in England. His poems in Battle are written from a soldier's point of view, portraying the horrors of war and the terrible effects on the young men who went to fight in the trenches.

In Hill Born, the thoughts of a Northumberland man fighting in France turn to happier times spent in the Cheviot Hills ...

I sometimes wonder if it’s really true
I ever new
Another life
Than this unending strife
With unseen enemies in lowland mud,
And wonder if my blood
Thrilled ever to the tune
Of clean winds blowing through an April noon
Mile after sunny mile
In the green ridges of Windy Gile
Today, our thoughts turn to those who went to war and had no homecoming to the green ridges of their native hills.

Windy Gyle, on the Cheviot Ridge, from Shillhope Law

Holystone Burn

2010-11-05T18:17:00.000Z

The area surrounding the Holystone Burn is one I return to regularly, not least because the panoramas across the upland moorland are beautiful at almost any time of year, and certainly enhance my drive to the shops in Rothbury. Here we see the view towards Simonside in July, looking across the semi-natural woodland alongside the burn ...

And here in late August, when the air is thick with the smell of honey from the fine sweep of heather, left ungrazed for many years ...

And finally here, during my visit last week, when the autumn colour in both the trees and the decaying bracken was at its best and the distant Simonside was obscured by driving rain ...

The land, which is owned by Forest Enterprises, is managed jointly with the Northumberland Wildlife Trust as a reserve and I hoped to find some interesting fungi in the woods. Sadly, there were not as many to be found as I might have liked ...

Brown Birch Bolete (Leccinum scabrum)
Jelly Rot (Plebia tremellosa)
Stag's Horn or Candle-snuff Fungus (Xylaria hypoxylon)
The Pixie Cup Lichen (Cladonia pyxidata)
And during the walk, the Holystone Burn, glimpsed here through the trees, ripples along in the background ...

The Colours of Autumn

2010-10-31T16:21:00.002Z

Is it just me, or has this been a particularly colourful autumn? In Redesdale, and in the surrounding countryside too, a palette of yellow, red, gold and bronze fills the woods as autumn gives way to winter.

At Sidwood this week, the autumn colour has been at its very best, such as here, alongside the lane which runs through the woodland ...

In places, the woodland floor is carpeted in cones and leaves ...

Nearer to home, at High Green, larch and some deciduous trees add colour to what could otherwise be a dull conifer plantation.

Sidwood Fungi

2010-10-29T09:24:00.003+01:00

The first of the fungi found at Sidwood on a recent visit, the Horsehair Parachute (Marasmius androsaceus), is common and widespread but was easily overlooked amongst the debris on the woodland floor where, before a little 'gardening', only the caps were visible ...

Collins Complete Guide to British Mushrooms and Toadstools describes the Horsehair Parachute as "small but conspicuous parachute with a very long, horsehair-like black stipe. The cap is up to 1cm across, convex, becoming flatter and usually with a depressed centre; strongly radially grooved, furrowed and wrinkled; pinkish-brown but sometimes paler towards the margin. The gills are concolorous with the cap. The stipe is up to 5cm long, cylindrical, thin, tough and wiry and black. Its habitat is usually on plant debris, often heather and conifers, and is less often associated with deciduous trees". The examples in my picture were 20mm tall.

I think that this is The Deceiver (Laccaria laccata) ...

And this is Root Rot (Heterobasidian annosum), seen here growing on the roots of a connifer ...

... and its underside ...

Butterflies and Buddleia

2010-10-25T21:39:00.002+01:00

Winter in Redesdale last year started earlier, lasted longer and was more severe than most in recent memory. So when spring eventually stirred, I couldn't help but feel just a little relief.

Happily, the four buddleia bushes in my garden had survived the winter and were starting to produce new shoots. They were little more than rooted twigs, throw-aways from a neighbour's garden, when I had planted them five years before. But as time passed they matured, flowered beautifully in purple or white and, just as well-behaved buddleias should, attracted lots of butterflies (as described here in one of two pieces published in August, 2009)

Then one night, when the new growth was coming along nicely, the temperature plummeted to -12 and shrivelled it all. At first I thought the frost had killed the bushes entirely, but as spring moved on, they recovered and new growth returned, mainly from the base of each bush.

This said, they certainly flowered later than in previous years, and as a result were still attracting butterflies during the few mild days we enjoyed at the start of October. Here are two of those late visitors ...

Red Admiral (Vanessa atlanta)
Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)

Making Autumn Chutney

2010-10-21T19:00:00.002+01:00

Having bought more Bramley apples than I needed for my recent blackberry and apple jam making, I thought it would be a good idea to use the left-overs in a chutney. In Good Old-Fashioned Jams, Preserves and Chutneys by Sara Paston-Williams, published by the National Trust, there's a very simple recipe for Autumn Chutney; if you have any windfall apples or pears, this a great way to use them up.

The ingredients are ...

2 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped
1lb of cooking pears, peeled, cored and diced
1lb of cooking apples, peeled, cored and diced
Grated rind and juice on one lemon
Half a pint of malt vinegar
Half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Large pinch of ground ginger
Large pinch of ground cloves
8oz of soft brown sugar

... and the method is: Cook the onions in boiling water for five minutes to soften them, then drain. Put the pears, apples, onions, lemon rind, vinegar and spices into a large pan, then cook them over a low heat for about twenty minutes.

Stir in the sugar and lemon juice and continue to cook over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved, stirring frequently, then bring to the boil and simmer uncovered for about an hour until the mixture thickens. To tell when the chutney is cooked, make a channel right across the surface with a wooden spoon; if this does not fill with vinegar, then it is ready.

Spoon into warm, sterilized jars, filling them up to the rim, and seal. Store for at least one month to mature before using.

Top left & right: The left-over Bramley apples; The apples diced; Bottom left & right: The pears peeled and ready to dice; The finished chutney waiting to be spooned into jars.
The finished chutney filled five, 7oz, jars ...

I've not yet opened a jar of the chutney but I can say that it tasted fine before it was put into its jars.

I find making jams, jellies, marmalades, and now chutney, particularly satisfying and it's a great diversion on a miserable autumn day. My friends also seem happy to receive and enjoy the gift of a jar of something homemade and some of my production this autumn will be used as stocking fillers at Christmas.

I recycle a lot of jars, and friends and neighbours keep me going with jar donations, but I do buy new tops and other jars from the Jam Jar Shop. The friendly and helpful people there have a great selection of glass ware, equipment, accessories and even ingredients; I particularly like their 7oz jars, used here for the Autumn Chutney. It's easy to order on line and orders are fulfilled and delivered quickly and in tact.

Scorpionfly at Sidwood

2010-10-18T10:44:00.001+01:00

I happened upon an insect I’d not seen before while walking at Sidwood in July. I thought it was rather unusual so I took some pictures to help identify it when I returned home. The insect turned out to be a female Scorpionfly, an insect with a long and interesting family history.

Scorpionflies are the only UK representatives of the insect order Mecoptera, derived from the Greek mekos, long, and pteron, wing, and referring to the shape of both the front and hind wings in most species.

In evolutionary terms, the Mecoptera is an old group; fossil specimens have been found from the Permian period, 300-250million years ago. However, the group was far more diverse in prehistory, when there were nine families, than now when only three remain. The Mecoptera are also one of oldest known homometabolous groups, having complete metamorphosis (egg, larva, pupa and adult stages), and as such may be the forerunner of other insects that have complete metamorphosis such as butterflies, moths and caddis flies. To see pictures of fossil Scorpionflies click here

The three present-day families of Scorpionflies are Common (Panorpidae), Snow (Boreidae) and Hanging (Bittacidae). There are some three-hundred species of Mecoptera world-wide of which thirty species can be found in Europe. The Common Scorpionflies, the Panorpidae, are the largest family but only three Panorpa are found in the UK. These are Panorpa germanica, Panorpa communis and Panorpa cognate; they are all so similar that it is impossible to tell them apart without examining their genitalia under a microscope. To read more about Snow and Hanging Scorpionflies click here

It is only the Common Scorpionflies that have the upturned scorpion-like genitalia or 'tail' that gives the order its name. They are brownish yellow and black insects with mottled wings and are found amongst shaded vegetation, such as the one I found at Sidwood, and in hedgerows. To see pictures of other Scorpionflies, including males, click here

The adult Scorpionfly is about 15mm long. Its head is shaped like a beak, as in my picture above; it is this feature that is useful in distinguishing them from other insects and which first attracted my attention. And while the adults look a little scary, they are in fact quite harmless. They feed on dead or dying insects, including any they might spot in a spider's web, and on pollen and flowers. They are also partial to ripe fruit and, when it's available, to human sweat.

Panorpid males attract females by vibrating their wings. When it's time to mate, the males find a good source of food and attract females with pheromones from their enlarged genital segment. When the female approaches, the male exudes a mass of brown saliva, which serves as a nuptial gift. The female chooses a male based on this gift and in response to this, the males have evolved saliva glands so large that they take up most of their body cavity.

After mating the eggs are laid in soil, expanding greatly just before hatching. The larva are caterpillar-like with conical legs. They have compound eyes, which is unlike the larva of most of the other homometabolous insects (for example, caterpillars and beetle larva do not have compound eyes). They can pupate quickly, sometimes in a week and hatch as adults. An illustration of a Common Scorpionfly larva can be found here

Fungi at Rupert's Wood

2010-10-16T12:04:00.030+01:00

Rupert's Wood, a mixed woodland including some ancient trees, is little more than four miles to the north of my home in Redesdale. The wood is owned by Lord Redesdale and occupies some thirty-one hectares enclosed by a dry-stone wall.

A view of Rupert's Wood, taken on an earlier visit
The wood is home to a stone-lined pond dating from the mid-nineteenth century, reputedly used in the past for swimming. Its best use today is as a mirror, providing some wonderful autumn reflections and reminding me of Escher's Three Worlds lithograph ...

Rupert's Wood is an excellent site for fungi and several pictured during an earlier visit can be found here. During my visit this week I found others, including two new to me comprising this Stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus) ...

... and this cluster of Sheathed Woodtuft (Kuehneromyces mutabilis), growing on the decaying wood of a deciduous tree ...

Despite it being a sunny autumn day, there was not enough light to take pictures amongst the undergrowth in the deeper parts of the wood, at least not without using my camera's flash ...

Yellow Staghorn (Calocera viscosa)
The Sickener (Russula emetica)
Coral Spot (Nectria cinnabarina) : The soft cushion-like pustules of the conidial (pre sexual) stage
I also found this Birch Polypore or Razorstrop Fungus (Piptoporus betulinus), a more mature example than that found at Sutton Hoo and shown in my previous piece ...

Finally, this view showing upland Northumberland at its best, looking north from Rupert's Wood, across Upper Redesdale towards the hills of the Scottish border ...

Surfacing

2010-10-14T22:40:00.016+01:00

It's almost three months since I wrote something for these pages. Now autumn has arrived and I'm nagged with the mixed feelings of regret, for opportunities missed during the lost months, and concern for what I'll find to fill these pages during the winter.

I'm not long returned from a short trip to Suffolk where I enjoyed visits to Constable Country and Sutton Hoo, so these might be good places to start.

Willy Lott's house and the 'flat ford' crossing
Flatford Cottage
Valley Farm
My first Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
At Sutton Hoo, the exhibition at the National Trust visitor centre was fascinating, not least the remarkable reproduction of the Saxon helmet unearthed at the site in 1939 ...

Following the woodland walk to the burial grounds, I found this perfect Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) ...

And this equally perfect Birch polypore (Piptoporus betulinus) ...

And in the hedgerows surrounding the beautiful farmhouse home of my young friends Kerry and Paul Baker, I found sufficient blackberries to make, on my return to Redesdale, a winter-long supply of blackberry and apple jam ...

Common Blue at Sidwood

2010-07-21T20:19:00.009+01:00

There's been strong wind and quite a lot of rain in the valley recently so, taking advantage of the first fine day to dawn in the last two weeks, I had a drive to Sidwood this afternoon and added a new butterfly to my list, a Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus).

Ringlets, Meadow Browns and Small Skippers were also flying.

Ringlet (Aphanotopus hyperantus)
Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)
Sidwood - a peaceful place for a saunter

The Moth Lady

2010-07-10T14:41:00.005+01:00

My recent after-dark activities in the garden seem to be attracting quite a lot of interest from my neighbours and village friends so it's probably just as well I've been doing nothing more unusual than trapping moths.

Several of my neighbours have popped in to see the moths I've trapped and one village friend actually came and sat with me in the garden for two hours on the only balmy, breezeless night there's been in the valley in the last two weeks. The morning after, I had a call from an acquaintance in a nearby village to tell me she had found a moth in her garden: "Do you want me to keep it for you?" she asked. Her description suggested it was a female Garden Tiger (Arctia caja) so I happily agreed. It was certainly worth the ride ...

Amongst the last catch were ten new species; of these, only one was caught in the trap. I am still trying to understand why some go into the trap while others cling to it or settle on the surrounding grass, the fence or the door of the garden shed. With care, I was able to pot and later observe these 'reluctants' although photographing most of them proved more difficult that I would have preferred.

I was pleased with this Light Emerald (Campaea mararitata) ...

... and this attractive little Foxglove Pug (Eupithecia pulchellata pulchellata) ...

The eight other new species were a micro moth, Udea olivalis, a Small Angled Shades (Euplexia lucipara), a Pale-shouldered Brocade (Lacanobia thalassina), a Garden Carpet (Xanthorhoe fluctuata), a Mottled Beauty (Alcis repandata), a Middle-barred Minor (Oligia fasciuncula), a Marbled Minor (Oligia strigilis), and a Clouded Silver (Lomographa temerata). I am grateful to Tom Tams, our County moth recorder, for identifying the last three of these.

At 11.45pm the following evening, while I was releasing the moths, I photographed this Silver Y (Autographa gamma) feeding on a patch of Crane's Bill in the garden ...

The following afternoon, as I was cutting the grass, this male Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba) flew up from the cover of the same plant and settled on the wall of the house ...

Four Northumberland Gardens

2010-06-29T21:32:00.020+01:00

On Sunday there was a rare opportunity to see four secret gardens in Northumberland, all open to the public in aid of five local churches.

Each of the gardens was uniquely different; the most modern was at Stanton Fence, north of Morpeth. It was designed by Arabella Weir who won the award for Best Garden in Show at Chelsea in 1996. Between 1998 and 2005 she created a three-acre garden at Stanton Fence which is both beautiful in itself, such as here in the cottage garden ...

... and intimately in keeping with its rural setting such as here, where a path from the formal garden leads to surrounding meadows ...

Whalton Manor dates from the 17th century but was substantially altered by the architect Sir Edward Lutyens in 1908.

The south front of Whalton Manor
Lutyens, helped by Gertrude Jekyll, also created a beautiful three acre garden in the old walled garden which includes summer houses and herbaceous borders ...

Meldon Park, built by the Newcastle architect John Dobson in 1832, has superb views of the Wansbeck valley and is surrounded by parkland and woods. In the kitchen garden there was a wide range of fruit, vegetables, salad crops and many fine roses, all originally grown in the garden during the 1800's ...

The final garden at Garden Cottage, Bolam, was modern, artistic and filled with unusual plants ...

Garden Moths (2)

2010-06-21T23:11:00.016+01:00

There was another interesting selection of moths in my garden last night. They included a Spectacle (Abrostola tripartita), a Clouded Bordered Brindle (Apamea crenata), a Coxcomb Prominent (Ptilodon capucina), a Knot Grass (Acronicta rumicis), a Small Magpie (Eurrhypara hortulata) and three Brimstone (Opisthograptis luteolata), all pictured in earlier garden moth pieces.

Moths new to the garden, or at least new to the trap, were ...

Swallow Prominent (Pheosia temula)
Peppered Moth (Biston betularia)
Clouded Border (Lomaspilis Marginata)
Bordered White (Bupalus piniaria)
Flame Shoulder (Ochropleura plecta)
Dusky Brocade (Apamea remissa)
Brown Rustic (Rusina ferruginea)
There was also this slightly damaged Silver Ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata) and two others, Pugs I think, which I've yet to identify ...

A Visitor in Ermine

2010-06-11T22:57:00.014+01:00

Moth trapping and the weather this week seemed not to mix, so I was pleased yesterday that the forecast promised a dry night. Dry yes, but it was also surprisingly cold and the moths were in short supply, with only three visitors in the three hours the trap was active. I was particularly delighted with one, a White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda), which was one of my wish-list species ...

This Scalloped Hazel (Odontopera bidentata), pictured below in its holding pot, was quite a challenge to identify. At first sight it seems rather plain but when examined more closely, its subdued colouring disguises some interesting highlights ...

The third moth was another dark-form Coxcomb Prominent (Ptilodon capucina) ...

On reflection, at a time when my study of moths is new and my confidence in handling them is still growing, it was good to have a quiet evening with the trap.

Garden Moths (1)

2010-06-06T15:32:00.040+01:00

Here are some of the other moths collected during my first night's trapping. Firstly two Daggers ...

Grey Dagger (Acronicta psi)
Knot Grass (Acronicta rumicis)
This little beauty, a Small Magpie (Euprhypara hortulata), flew away as soon as it was released but, after a very short flight, settled conveniently on the wall beside my front door, allowing me a brief opportunity to take its picture ...

One of two Luna Thorns (Selenia lunularia) found in the trap, resting here in a typical posture, wings open and half raised with the forewings slightly curved ...

Next, two Prominants, the first a Coxcomb Prominent (Ptilodon capucina), a dark form I think, the second a Pebble Prominent (Notodonta ziczac), annoyingly tucking its forehead under the leaf just before it was pictured ...

This tiny Sallow Kitten (Furcula furcula) had a lot of attitude but managed to stay still for a moment in this wings-open pose. I understand this species is scarce in Northumberland.

Finally, an unidentified moth which I hope someone will be able to name. It was longer than the two daggers above. Thanks are due to Stewart Sexton who has identified this as a Clouded-bordered Brindle (Apamea crenata) ...

Moth Trapping in my Redesdale Garden

2010-06-05T22:26:00.021+01:00

It's a great pleasure to report on my first night's moth trapping in my garden here at Curlew Corner in Redesdale.

I've thought long and hard about buying a moth trap and, in the end, the decision was taken entirely out of my hands thanks to the limitless generosity of my dear friend Harold Dobson who, when he read about the trap, offered to buy it for me as a joint birthday and Christmas present this year. It's certainly a precious and much appreciated gift.

The trap is a Gladiator made by Paul Batty of Sheffield (whose contact details are included in the link). I can thoroughly recommend Paul to you if you are thinking of buying a trap. His advice and customer support is second to none and the Gladiator is a small miracle of simplicity and inventive design. Here it is working in my garden last night, complete with its rain guard ...

And before I move on to the moths, one other person needs to be thanked. Stewart Sexton, the Boulmer Birder, has received and responded to all of my questions and concerns about moth trapping with great patience and his excellent advice and encouragement helped me decide to go ahead with this new interest.

The slogan for moth trappers could well be build it and they will come (with apologies to the writers of Field of Dreams for substituting 'He' with 'they'). That's all I had to do: plug the trap into a timer and leave it to switch itself off at 3.30am while I was asleep and dreaming about moths ... at least I should have been asleep but the child-like excitement of having already captured an Elephant Hawkmoth before I went to bed rather kept me awake. This was one of my wish-list species so you might imagine how excited I was ...

Elephant Hawkmoth (Deilephila elpenor)
Altogether I trapped about thirty different species, many of which were micro moths, or certainly very small macro moths, which I've not been able to identify. Here are three more of the macro moths trapped; more in the next post ...

Buff Ermine (Spilosoma luteum)
Brimstone (Opisthograptis luteolaria)
Spectacle (Abrostola tripartita)

Black Middens Flowers

2010-06-01T21:35:00.018+01:00

I wandered up and down the quiet lane at Black Middens yesterday afternoon, between the Tarset Burn and Comb, looking for flowers and butterflies. Sadly the Orange Tip avoided me again, but only just; I did get very near to photographing one.

The flowers were more obliging even though it was rather breezy. This Yellow Archangel (Lamiastrum galobdolon) was a new-for-me species ...

And these are the best of the rest:

Water Avens (Geum rivale)
Cuckooflower or Lady's Smock (Cardamine pratensis)
Greater Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea)
Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris)
Crosswort (Cruciata laevipes)
A this past-its-best Bugle (Adjuga pertans)

As ever, if I have identified any of the flowers incorrectly, please do let me know.

The Wych Elm

2010-05-29T21:29:00.012+01:00

For some time, I've been interested to learn more about our native trees and I've set myself a little challenge to find individual examples and photograph them at different times of the year.

At the beginning of May I observed this tree in the wooded land just over my garden fence. It was still in bud then but has developed nicely during the month (readers should keep in mind that Spring comes later and nature makes a slower start in upland Redesdale). Using Collins Complete Guide to British Trees and Roger Phillips' Trees in Britain as my reference sources, it is clear that this is an Elm tree, I think a Wych Elm (Ulmus glabra).

The tree coming to life in early May
The leaves have a rough upper surface, a smoother under surface and a long tapering point at the tip
The fruits are papery and presently enclose a small green seed about 2mm in diameter
The bark of one of the main branches
If my identification is incorrect, please do let me know.

Green Hairstreaks at Sidwood

2010-05-22T19:49:00.015+01:00

I had a wonderful walk at Sidwood today, looking for wild flowers and hoping to photograph an Orange Tip (Anthocharis cardamines), one of my target butterfly species this spring. I'm increasingly perplexed as to how I am going to achieve this aim because they never seem to settle long enough to have their picture taken and I'm certainly not athletic enough to keep up with them as they flit about one way and another.

The woodland was certainly at its best as here, amongst the beech trees ...

And here, walking back along the road to the car park ...

Just beyond this stand of trees, the verges on either side of the road open up into wide stretches of rough grass dotted with young birch trees. It was here that I first noticed a number of tiny, dark-coloured butterflies and I stopped to take a closer look. They were flying and settling on the birch leaves, making them almost invisible. With a wingspan of only 25-30mm, I felt privileged to observe them let alone take this picture.

Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi)
If I had gone out intending to look for Green Hairstreaks, and they were a delightful if unexpected surprise today, I might have had better luck with the Orange Tips.

The Wall at Rushend (2)

2010-05-19T16:16:00.021+01:00

Here are some more of the lichens observed growing on the wall at Rushend in North Tynedale. Identification of some has proven very difficult, not least from photographs which is probably the least reliable method. I have referred to my recently acquired Lichens: An illustrated guide to British and Irish species by Frank Dobson and have also found Alan Silverdale's website very useful.

I begin with my favourite in this batch, Orthioparma subfestiva, looking rather ordinary in this general view of a young example, 7cm in diameter ...

The guide says: "There is only one British species of Orthioparma which means snake-like shield from the serpentine undulations of the margins of the apothecia, which have blood-red to dried blood coloured discs up to 4mm wide. There are two forms, ventosa (yellow-grey thallus containing usnic acid) and subfestiva (grey thallus without usnic acid). It is common in upland areas where both chemical forms may occur together." Here it is in close-up, looking anything but ordinary ...

Others whose identification I am confident about are ...

Rhizocarpan geographicum - a general view
Rhizocarpan geographicum - a close-up view
Rhizocarpon oederi
Ochrolechia parellaAnd finally ...

Xanthoria parietina with an unidentified Lecanorine-type above right
As ever, if anyone out there has a better idea of their identification, please do let me know.

The Wall at Rushend (1)

2010-05-15T22:30:00.031+01:00

Many is the time I have driven along the gated lane from Falstone to Lanehead, following the line of the long-since redundant Border Counties Railway. The lane follows a contour along the valley side; the River North Tyne is below you to your right, the overgrown old trackbed alternately to one or the other side as bridges are crossed. In places the lane is separated from the occasional field, but more often from rough upland grassland, by post and wire fences. In other places, old field walls remain, some holding on, the majority decaying, tumbling and in places breached. At Thorneyburn, the level crossing gates are always open now but if your imagination ran away with you, you might still hear a distant train, whistling for them to be closed against you, or see a whiff of smoke rising from the brick chimney of the still-surviving plate-layer's hut.

Between Thorneyburn and Rushend the field wall is home to numerous species of lichen, and it was seeing Cladonias growing there on the moss which caused me to stop and take a closer look.

Looking westwards along the wall towards Thorneyburn station, beside the greening trees
The gaps between the coping stones were like miniature canyons, in places filled with forests of tiny Cladonia (and moss as in this first picture) ...

Using a penny to give scale to the Cladonia
All of them I think are Cladonia diversa

Looking down on a large group of Cladonia
A closer view of a smaller group
Here, the red apothecia have become confluent, covering the whole of the top of the cup
In following parts I will describe other lichens found living on the wall at Rushend.

Ben Lawers NNR

2010-05-13T12:55:00.014+01:00

My journey home from my recent Scottish trip took me through Glen Coe and to the Ben Lawers NNR for a lunch break. Some years ago, I read about the alpine flora at Ben Lawers and I was interested to familiarise myself with the area with a view to possibly having a break there in the future.

The visitor centre was closed, which was disappointing, and I travelled on, up the mountain road beyond the centre to a damn where, to avoid the horizontal rain, I had my picnic lunch in the car. Near to where I was parked was this small clump of Purple Saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolio) ...

Later I parked near the visitor centre and had a short walk into part of the Reserve where I observed the following two species of lichen on a sapling. The first two pictures are of Physcia aipolia, the first 20mm in diameter, the second 20mm x 40mm. Both are young examples but have typical apothecia with their dark brown to black discs developing.

On the same tree, the following and again young, Toad lichen (Melanohalea exasperata), 20mm in diameter, well named in one sense, because I have been totally exasperated in trying to identify it and in another, because mature examples look like the skin of a toad. After posting my photographs to a Scottish Lichen group, experts have given me advice and positive identifications.

I have read recently that a tree might host as many as twenty different lichens. The picture confirms this to some extent, including the tiny crustose lichen Rinodina sophodes (top, and bottom left immediately under the M. exasperata), Xanthoria polycarpa (centre bottom under the M. exasperata), as well as a few immature lobes of a Physcia species, possibly the Physcia aipolia, as presented above.

Glenelg Lichens

2010-05-06T10:43:00.029+01:00

When I visited Glenelg last November I was interested to observe the large number of lichens growing on the stones and amongst the mosses which cover the boundary walls surrounding the ancient brochs. I decided that when I returned, I would like to study these in greater detail.

I have to say that learning even a little about lichens has been an interesting experience. There was such an assortment at Glenelg that I probably missed many more than I photographed. I don't believe that any I've included are particularly rare and my attempts to indentify them were neither sophisticated nor very scientific; I tried my best to navigate a way through a key and compared my photographs with those in books or on the websites of experienced lichenologists. As ever, I am happy to hear from anyone who might identify them differently.

Throughout the region, trees were found covered in these Unsea filipendula, often hanging in lengths of up to five feet as in the right-hand picture:

The following is Peltigera membranacea, olive green above (top) with cream undersides (below) ...

These are two more of the Cladonia family, both no more than 20mm tall, the first Cladonia coniocraea, the second Cladonia squamosa ...

... while the following are two Ochrolechias, the first Ochrolechia parella, the second Ochrolechia tartarea ...

This last lichen has been the hardest to identify. The Scottish Lichen Group have told me that it is Lecidea lapicida ...

Finally, this fern. I should probably have been more rigorous, conducting an intimate examination, and I'm sorry I didn't. From my limited reference sources describing ferns I would say that it looks like a spleenwort, but I can't be sure so hopefully someone will tell me ...

... My thanks to Phil Gates, who has kindly suggested Polypodium, which is common throughout Britain on wall tops, as in this case, trees and rocks. The fronds are 10-40cm long, flat and oblong, with lobes more or less equal in size. Because of the location, this example would, I think, be Common Polypody (Polypodium vulgare)

Invergarry

2010-05-01T12:28:00.025+01:00

The native pinewood at Invergarry is part of the larger Glengarry Forest and has been officially designated for protection and restoration. During my recent stay in the village, I enjoyed a short, late-afternoon walk which followed the riverside path through pleasant mixed woodland.

The River Garry, unseen to the right through the trees, is your constant companion when walking this woodland path
The walk begins at the Ciste dubh car park, situated on a narrow shelf of land just above the River Garry at a spot where it tumbles through a gorge en route to its meeting with nearby Loch Oich.

There was little bird life to be seen and I satisfied myself with looking for lichens on the path-side rocks and fallen trees. They included this tiny Cladonia floerkeana, 10-20mm tall ...

... this Cup Lichen (Cladonia chlorophaea)

... and this coral-like Sphaerophorus globosus

I also found this faded Turkey Tail fungus (Trametes versicolor) ...

Finally, I thought these lingering autumn-coloured beech leaves (Fagus sylvatica) deserved a mention ...

I await a new fifth edition of Lichens: An Illustrated Guide to the British and Irish Species by Frank Dobson. In the meantime I used Roger Phillips' Grasses, Ferns, Mosses and Lichens of Great Britain and Ireland for my lichen identifications. If any reader wishes to make a correction, please do so.

The Pictures to 'A Perfect Highland Day'

2010-04-28T19:16:00.014+01:00

The first set of pictures from my recent trip to the west coast of Scotland highlights the splendid highland scenery seen during my day in Glenelg.

The view across Loch Loyne towards the snow-capped Beinn Loinne (right, behind the spur) and the long ridge of Druim nan Cnamh to the south of Loch Cluanie
Looking across Loch Hourn, near Arnisdale, towards Barrisdale Bay and the Knoydart mountains
An atmospheric view of Eigg at the entrance to the Sound of Sleat
A Feral Goat kid (Capra hircus) seen in road-side undergrowth in Glen Shiel
A Red Deer hind (Cervus elaphus) seen near the road in Glen Shiel

A Perfect Highland Day

2010-04-22T09:39:00.011+01:00

Last night I stood on the shore of Loch Oich and watched the ripples reflect the golden shades of the hillside opposite. It was the end to a perfect highland day.

Staying with a friend in Invergarry, we had travelled through Glen Shiel and over the Mamratagan Pass into Glenelg. It was one of those highland days that stick in your mind; sleet and mist at the start and, by the time we had crossed the pass, sunny with patches of blue sky promising a day-long improvement.

With snow-capped mountains all around us, the views of Skye, across the Sound of Sleat, were stunning. We made our way to the Glenelg brochs where I wanted to look again at the lichens and mosses which cover the boundary walls.

After lunch we followed the shore road along Loch Hourn to Arnisdale. The afternoon light was a perfect accompaniment to the triptych that opened before us: the mass of Knoydart across the loch to the left; Eigg, at the entrance of the Sound of Sleat, in the centre; and the Black Cuillin ridge on Skye to the right. 'Breathtaking' seemed hardly sufficient.

Returning through Glen Shiel we had close views of a small herd of feral goats, with kids following, and a hundred or more red deer. Birds during the day included buzzard, loch-side grey herons, a pair of goosander and hooded crow.

More to follow, including pictures, when I return home to Redesdale.

An Upland Wood

2010-04-16T19:51:00.023+01:00

I took a drive this afternoon, following the route of last September's Sunday Drive.

It started well: a buzzard was being mobbed by a Kestrel above Hopefoot and just before High Carrick farm, a stoat ran across my path and under the road-side bushes. Later, in sight of the ruins of High Shaw bastle, I spent a gentle two hours walking in a small mixed wood I've not visited before. Here I heard my first Willow Warbler of the year, watched six Redpolls feeding in a dense thicket, noted a number of Peacock butterflies and watched bees feeding on Pussy Willow catkins.

Pussy Willow (Salix caprea)
A female Bombus lucorum feeding on the female pussy willow catkins
I am grateful to both Harold Dobson and Phil Gates for making suggestions as to the identity of the following catkins. Harold thought they were Alder (Alnus glutinosa) and Phil suggested Hazel (Corylus avellana)(see Phil's comment below)

On a nearby tree I found this common lichen, Yellow Scales (Xanthoria parietina) ...

... and on the upstanding roots of a wind-blown pine, this moss which I think is Ceratodon purpureus

Of the birds seen, this male Chaffinch was the most obliging ...

Kirkwhelpington

2010-04-12T20:38:00.017+01:00

Kirkwhelpington is thought to be a settlement of Anglo-Saxon origin. The parish church dates from 1210 and is dedicated to St. Bartholomew; it's graveyard is the resting place of Sir Charles Parsons, the celebrated Tyneside engineer and shipbuilder.

The source of the River Wansbeck is found near Sweethope Lough, in the midst of the wild Wannies moorland to the west of the village, but it is still hardly more than a tumbling stream as it meanders though the peaceful farmland to the south of the village.

A gated lane leaves the village to the east and a walk there, alongside the Wansbeck, is always productive.

The lane beside the Wansbeck
Chiffchaffs were calling from high in the road-side trees, making them difficult to photograph:

Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)
Fortunately, the flowers on the verges and amongst the trees were more obliging:

Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria)
Wood Anemone (Anemone nemorosa)
Butterbur (Patasites hybridus)
Dog's Mercury (Mercurialis perennis)
My journey home took me along the old enclosure road beside Harwood Forest where this Brown Hare crossed my path and settled long enough to have its picture taken:

Brown Hare (Lepus capensis)

A Redwing in my Redesdale Garden

2010-01-03T16:44:00.011Z

It's been snowing off-and-on in Redesdale since mid-December. The last week has seen the heaviest falls and there is as much as a foot of snow in parts of my garden today. Naturally, the birds welcome any opportunity for an easy meal and the four feeders are being filled daily.

The list today included a pair of Brambling, the first of the winter in the garden, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Robin, Coal, Blue and Great Tits, Rook and Starling. A heron flew over at lunch time. But the greatest surprise of all the visitors today was a single Redwing (Turdus iliacus).

I had cleared the snow from the steps at my front door this morning and put out handfulls of a bird table seed mixture I was given at Christmas and some peanuts, chopped finely in the food processor. It was here, on the steps and just under my living room window, that the Redwing appeared. It's the first I've seen in the garden since moving into the valley more than six years ago.

I took the following pictures through my living room window; I didn't want to open the window for fear of frightening it away.

Wallington West Woods

2009-11-28T11:28:00.021Z

I enjoyed a very pleasant afternoon at the observation hide in Wallington's West Woods yesterday. The weather was fine, if suddenly very much colder after the recent mild spell.

Activity at the two feeders was frenetic: Chaffinch, Nuthatch, Robin and Blue, Great and Coal Tits were all regular visitors. Happily, the ground-feeding chaffinches were joined by a group of four Brambling; I was particularly pleased to these as they are still to return to my Redesdale garden this year. Two male Great Spotted Woodpecker's were present and a Jay put in an occasional appearance. A single Red Squirrel popped in and out to feed from nuts it found on the ground.

A male Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla)
A male Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major)
Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
I include a picture of the Jay (Garrulus glandarius), only because I am pleased to have photographed one for the first time (it's certainly no prize winner).

Fungi

2009-11-25T10:17:00.010Z

A small selection of Fungi pictures taken in Coquetdale and Redesdale.

Hypholoma capnoides
Stag's Horn
Granny's Bonnet
Sulphur Tip
Below, Dr. Gordon Beakes, of Newcastle University, describing Granny's Bonnet fungi on a decaying branch in Rupert's Wood, Redesdale, during a visit to the wood by members of the Redesdale Society. Rupert's Wood is a large ancient woodland which forms part of Lord Redesdale's estate.

Glen Elg

2009-11-19T13:12:00.020Z

In the second of two pieces about my recent trip to Scotland, I have a little of the highland countryside to share with you.

The day following the visit to Chanonry Point was devoted to a drive into Glen Elg. The weather was much less reliable than it had been the day before and the first stop of the day, to take in the Map of Scotland view at the western end of Loch Garry, was rather overcast ...

I saw a post-sitting Hooded Crow and a small group of distant Red Deer while passing Loch Cluanie. A pair of Golden Eagle, a Peregrine and numerous Buzzards were also seen. Shortly afterwards we began our climb of the Ratagan Pass where we stopped to view the Five Sisters of Kintail ...

and the view across Loch Duich to Sgurr an Airgid ...

A short stop at the Kylerhea ferry landing, opposite the Isle of Skye, in the hope of glimpsing sea otter, left us otterlessly car-bound in driving rain.

If views of wildlife were few and far between and the landscapes were not all that was hoped for because of the weather, the after-lunch visit to the Glen Elg brochs certainly provided ample compensation. The two brochs, at Dun Telve and a short distance away at Dun Troddan, are the best preserved in mainland Scotland and date from between 2,300 and 1,900 years ago.

Above: The remains of the Dun Telve broch; Below: the Dun Troddan broch

Both the brochs are twin-walled circular structures with a single doorway; off to the side of the doorway is a short passage between the walls which may have housed a guard or watchdog. Once within the inner enclosure, there is also an inner entrance leading to other passages between the curtain walls, and parts of the stairways still survive which gave access to upper levels.

Top left & right: The entrance and the 'guard-room'; Bottom left & right: An inner passage and stairs between the curtain walls and a selection of mosses and lichens growing on the walls surrounding the site.
The brochs stood around 10 metres high and both approach this height today in places. There are remains of wooden post holes at various points in the structure, and it is thought that the inner circular courtyard may have been roofed, giving comfortable living accommodation during times of attack.

It is believed that the Dun Telve broch survived almost complete until the eighteenth century when it was partly demolished for buildings nearby. The site was excavated and poorly recorded in 1914 when coarse pottery, stone tools and several lamps were found.

Chanonry Point

2009-11-16T18:13:00.015Z

I visited Chanonry Point on the Black Isle last week during a short trip to Scotland. The main purpose of my visit was to look for the pod of bottlenose dolphins which live in the Moray Firth. I positioned myself on the south-eastern tip of the point with the lighthouse behind me, traditionally the best place to see the dolphins. The conditions were perfect; the Firth was quite calm and the late afternoon light was ideal for photography. Sadly, both time and the absence of an incoming tide were against me and the dolphins didn't make an appearance.

Looking towards Rosemarkie
A pair of long-tailed duck flew up the Firth towards the Kessock Bridge and a lazy common seal surfaced occasionally and glanced about. Gulls and oystercatchers were also feeding at the waters edge.

A passing Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)
Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus)
Great Black-backed gull (Larus marinus)

Otterburn

2009-11-07T17:07:00.006Z

On Remembrance Day, I thought it would be appropriate to offer another of the poems by the Hexham-born poet, Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, this time entitled Otterburn.

Gibson was very good at telling a story in verse, and some will be familiar with his fine narrative poem Flannan Isle which was published in 1912. In that year, at the age of 34, he took a train to London where he met Rupert Brooke and, at about the same time, Geraldine Townshend who was to become his wife. The couple moved to Gloucestershire where they set up home in a cottage called The Old Nailshop in Dymock. There, they walked and drank cider with Brooke and other poets, among them the American, Robert Frost, whose first visit to England was prompted by his wanting to meet Gibson.

The start of the Great War, when Gibson already had half-a-dozen books of poems in print, brought an abrupt end to this rural idyll. From the beginning, he was concerned about the fates of ordinary soldiers and was publishing poems depicting their sufferings as early as October, 1914, long before any other writer. Although he served as an Army clerk in England, his ill health prevented him from being accepted to serve abroad; this makes the poems published in Battle, portraying the horrors of war and the terrible effects on the young men who went to fight in the trenches, all the more remarkable.

A carved sandstone lintel over the entrance to Otterburn Memorial Hall records the names of the nine local men who died in the Great War. Two carved stones on either side of the door name fifty seven others who served in the conflict. Whether Gibson had in mind any of these men when he wrote the poem Otterburn is unknown but it prompts us to remember them all, and others, on Remembrance Day.

OTTERBURN

The lad who went to Flanders -
Otterburn, Otterburn -
The lad who went to Flanders,
And never will return -

Though low he lies in Flanders,
Beneath the Flemish mud,
He hears through all his dreaming
The Otterburn in flood.

And though there be in Flanders
No clear and singing streams,
The Otterburn runs singing
Of summer through his dreams.

And when peace comes to Flanders,
Because it comes too late,
He'll still lie there, and listen
To the Otterburn in spate -

The lad who went to Flanders -
Otterburn, Otterburn,
The lad who went to Flanders,
And never will return.
W. W. Gibson's poem Otterburn is included in a collection of his work entitled Homecoming, published by the Wagtail Press in 2003 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of his birth in Hexham. It is included here with the publisher's permission.

The Rose-hip (2)

2009-11-03T18:41:00.003Z

In the second of this two-part piece about the Rose-hip I describe making Rose-hip and Apple Jelly.

From the same recipe book that provided the recipe for Rowanberry Jelly, one first published by the Agricultural Press Ltd in 1935, comprising the favourite recipes of country housewives living in every corner of Britain, I used the following simple recipe:

"Take 4lbs of windfall apples, after any bruised or damaged parts are removed and 2lbs of firm, just ripe, rose-hips.

Cut the apples and put into a preserving pan with enough water to cover and one pint extra for the rose-hips. While the apples are cooking, put the rose-hips through the coarsest cutter of a mincer.

Add the minced rose-hips when the apples are cooked and simmer for ten minutes. Move away to stop it simmering and leave for another ten minutes before straining through a thick jelly bag. Leave to drip over night.

Next day, measure the juice and allow 14oz of sugar to each pint of juice. Measure the sugar and put it in the oven to heat through thoroughly. Bring the juice to the boil and add the warmed sugar. Boil until it reaches the setting point and pour into warmed jars.

This jelly has a most attractive rose colour and has a delicious flavour".

I picked two pounds of road-side rose-hips I found near Greenhaugh and used four pounds of the windfall apples I had been given. As I don’t possess a mincer, I used my food processor to gently chop the cleaned and washed rose-hips.

Top: The cleaned and washed rose-hips; the rose-hips after being chopped in the food processor; Bottom: Four pounds of windfall apples; The cooked apple pulp and the chopped rose-hips 'infusing' before straining in a jelly bag.
The seeds of the rose-hips are covered with stiff, sharply pointed hairs, and these can become a dangerous internal irritant, especially for children. It is for this reason that the minced rose-hips are added to and strained with the apple pulp. The picture shows that plenty of colour is released from the flesh during the ten minutes the rose-hips are simmering with the apple pulp; the further ten minutes when the pulp is off the heat allows additional colour and lots of flavour to infuse the pulp.

Next day I followed the recipe. When the setting point was reached I poured the jelly into the warmed jars and sealed and labelled them.
The jelly is delightful spread on a home-made fruit scone and served with tea.

The Rose-hip (1)

2009-11-01T14:32:00.008Z

Rose-hips (Rosa canina)
“The fruit of the wild rose, the hip, is the star of one of the great success stories of wild food use.” So begins, Richard Mabey in Food for Free, his classic guide to the edible wild plants of Britain, first published in 1972.

The fruit of the wild rose, Rosa canina, is an orange-red, oblong, berry, sometimes as much as an inch long, and is found on bushes between late August and November. It is the only completely wild fruit which once supported a national commercial enterprise - the production of rose-hip syrup

It was in 1934 that the fruits of the wild rose were discovered to contain more Vitamin C than any other fruit or vegetable - four times as much a blackcurrants and twenty times as much as oranges - but it was not until the Second World War, when imports of citrus fruits were virtually cut off, that the potential of rose-hips as a source of Vitamin C, was first taken seriously.

In 1941, the Ministry of Health proposed a collection scheme resulting in 120 tons of wild rose-hips being harvested by voluntary helpers. In the following year, the responsibility was transferred to the Vegetable Drugs Committee of the Ministry of Supply and 344 tons were harvested. The Ministry of Health established a crash programme in identification and gathering techniques and for three years from 1943, voluntary pickers working under County Herb Committees harvested an average of 450 tons each year.

The story continued after the war years and the BBC website has two interesting film clips from 1956, one showing school children collecting rose-hips, the other showing the manufacture of rose-hip syrup at the Delrosa factory in Newcsstle upon Tyne.

Some weeks ago I gathered two pounds of rose-hips and I was given a very large supply of windfall cooking apples. In the second part of this two-part piece, I will describe making Rose-hip and Apple Jelly … from road-side bush to plate.

The Lonely Tree

2009-10-13T16:30:00.010+01:00

How often do we stand and look in amazement at a tree, standing entirely alone on a remote hill-side, and wonder at it being there? The Tynedale poet Wilfrid Wilson Gibson was moved sufficiently by such a sight to write:

A twisted ash, a ragged fir,
A silver birch with leaves astir.

Men talk of forests broad and deep,
Where summer-long the shadows sleep.

Though I love forests deep and wide,
The lone tree on the bare hill-side,

The brave, wind-beaten, lonely tree,
Is rooted in the heart of me.

A twisted ash, a ragged fir,
A silver birch with leaves astir.

W. W. Gibson's poem The Lonely Tree is included in a collection of his work entitled Homecoming, published by the Wagtail Press in 2003 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of his birth in Hexham. It is included here with the publisher's permission.

Shallon

2009-10-13T13:41:00.009+01:00

During a recent walk in the woodland surrounding Cragside, the Northumberland home of the Victorian industrialist, Lord Armstrong, I could not help but observe the vast stands of Shallon (Gaultheria shallon), a leathery-leaved shrub native to western North America.

Shallon flower
Both its dark blue berries, which are actually swollen sepals, and its young leaves are edible and have a unique flavor. In North America, the berries were a significant food resource for the native people, who ate them fresh or dried into cakes and also used them as a sweetener or as a flavouring in fish soup. More recently, shallon berries have been used in jams, preserves and pies and as an efficient appetite suppressant.

Shallon fruit: the calyx (above) and enlarged and fleshy (below)

The medicinal uses of this plant are not widely known or used. However, the leaves have an astringent effect, making shallon an effective anti-inflammatory and anti-cramping herb. By preparing the leaves in a tea or tincture, the herb can be taken safely to decrease internal inflammation, heartburn, indigestion and other illnesses. A poultice of the leaf can be used externally to ease discomfort from insect bites and stings.

Shallon was introduced to Britain in 1828 by David Douglas, the Scottish botanist who introduced some 240 species of plants to Britain including the Douglas fir. Douglas initially intended the plant for ornamental use but it also came to be planted as cover for pheasants on shooting estates.

This may account for its presence at Cragside because it readily colonises heathland and acidic woodland habitats. Such colonies often form very tall and dense evergreen stands which smother other vegetation, causing it to be widely regarded as a problem weed on unmanaged heathland. It is, however, browsed by cattle, especially in winter, and where traditional grazing management has been restored, the dense stands become broken up and the plant becomes a more scattered element of the heathland vegetation.

A Sunday Drive

2009-09-21T23:10:00.029+01:00

One of the great pleasures of living in Redesdale is that, within a very short drive of my home, whether it be to the north, west or east, I am sure to find myself in the midst of some of the best upland country in Northumberland.

I have one particularly favourite drive, a circular journey of little more than twenty-five miles, which encompasses Trevelyan's wide horizons, remote settlements such Craig and Yardhope comprising a shepherds cottage, some simple outbuildings and little else, and remoter locations still, such as the pedlars stone, where in days past I fancy that shepherds wives would congregate to meet an itinerant tradesmen and exchange their eggs and rabbits for flour and other household essentials. At the half-way point is the hamlet of Holystone and, as the circle closes near to home again, I always stop to take in my favourite view, looking down the Grasslees Burn and over Billsmoor where the stone wall of the deer park encloses a herd of gentle fallow deer.

A view across the woodland surrounding The Raw to the wooded Beacon Hill with Simonside in the far distance on the right
Craig, left of centre, nestling amongst the trees. The Pedlar's Stone is just beyond the walled wood on the hill and the long flat back of The Cheviot can be seen in the far distance. The land to the left of the road includes the MOD's Otterburn Training Area.
After taking the picture above, I just missed standing on this solitary Shaggy Ink Cap (Comprinus comatus)
Standing amongst outcrops of fell sandstone at Black Hill looking towards the ford which crosses the Holystone Burn at Yardhope, the woodland at Cats Law and Lanternside Edge beyond.
The heather (Calluna vulgaris) in Northumberland was probably at its best during all of the August rain; some clumps are still in flower but there was none of the heady, warm-day honey smell on Sunday.
The delightful, and tiny, church at Holystone, dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin. Nearby, at Holystone Grange, I saw two Curlew in a road-side field, probably the last of the summer.
My favourite view of all, looking down the Grasslees Burn with the deer park at Billsmoor filling the open land and hillside to the right of the farmhouse.

The Rowan Tree (2)

2009-09-16T10:39:00.002+01:00

In the second of this two-part piece about the Rowan Tree I describe making Rowanberry Jelly.

I have an old recipe book, first published by the Agricultural Press Ltd in 1935, comprising the favourite recipes of country housewives living in every corner of Britain; the recipes were collected over many years by Farmers Weekly magazine. It includes the following simple recipe:

"Take 3lbs of ripe rowan berries; pick the berries over, wash them, place in a preserving pan with just enough water to prevent them burning. Cook slowly until the berries are reduced to a pulp. Strain through a jelly bag.

Next take 3lbs of crab apples, wash and quarter. Barely cover with water, then boil gently until soft and pulpy. Strain. Mix both juices, weigh, and to every pound of juice add 1lb of sugar. Boil rapidly for 20 to 30 minutes or until the jelly 'sets' on a cool plate.

This is a firm, bright pink jelly, with a delightful piquant flavour. To those who think that equal quantities of fruits produce too acid a preserve, this jelly may be made with 2lbs of rowans and 4lbs of apples".

Top left & right: The collected berries cleaned, washed and ready to cook; The juice from the strained berries after cooking; Bottom left & right: The apples ready to cook; The apple pulp straining
The Redesdale Rowans are covered in berries at present, but I knew of only one crab apple tree locally, one I had seen in fruit last year; unfortunately, when I went to look for it again I couldn't find it. As result I used cooking apples in the suggested alternative ratio of 2lbs of berries to 4lbs of apples.

Some of the 15 small jars of jelly I made; I bottled the jelly purposely in small jars so that it would be used more quickly once opened. The picture shows how clear the jelly is; I was particularly careful during the cooking process to do nothing that would leave the finished jelly looking cloudy.
According to Good Old-fashioned Jams, Preserves and Chutneys by Sara Paston-Williams (published in a revised edition by the National Trust in 1999) "the orange-red jelly ... is a traditional and best accompaniment for venison, grouse and hare". The writer adds: "I also like to serve it with mutton, lamb and goose". As a vegetarian, you would not expect me to discuss these uses with meat (a neighbour also tells me it is good with pork), but as a simple semi-sweet jelly, it is truly scrumptious spread on fruit scones for afternoon tea.

What's next? The Rowanberry Jelly is sharing a store shelf with my homemade lime marmalade and my made-from-a-tin orange and lemon marmalades. I found some bushes laden with rose-hips last week so I hope to gather some of these and make rose-hip & apple jelly. And if I find suitable elder berries this autumn, they too will find that I've arranged an appointment for them with the preserving pan.

The Rowan Tree (1)

2009-09-13T09:24:00.014+01:00

The Rowan, or Mountain Ash as it is also known (even though it is a member of the Rose and not the Ash family), is a deciduous tree with a slender crown, ascending branches and smooth greyish bark. It can grow as tall as twenty metres, flowering between May and June and bearing clutches of small red fruits between July and September. The picture shows that its leaves are pinnate, with oblong leaflets all of the same size and shape and in five to seven pairs. The leaflets have toothed edges and are dark green above and bluish-green below.

Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia)
The Rowan is found in a wide range of habitats including open woodland, scrub-land, rocky mountain outcrops, river banks and on acid soils. Because its seeds are often bird-sown, rowans are also common around the ruins of ancient settlements and stone circles. And in the event that such droppings land in a fork or hole on a larger tree, such as an oak, where old leaves have accumulated, they may result in a rowan growing as an epiphyte on the larger tree. Such a rowan is called a flying rowan and was thought to be especially potent against witches and their magic.

Such beliefs may give rise to the tree's many names in mythology and folklore, including quickbane, roan, rune tree, sorb apple, Thor's helper, whispering tree and witchbane, and to uses including being carried on vessels to avoid storms or kept in houses to guard against lightning or even being planted on graves to keep the deceased from haunting. While the density of its wood makes it suitable for walking sticks, druid staffs have traditionally been made from rowan wood and its branches have been used as dowsing rods.

And probably because the Rowan, in its different phases during the year, evokes memories of country days and gentler times, it has found a place in literature, poetry and traditional music such as here in the words of this old Scottish song:

Thy leaves were aye the first o' spring, thy flowr's the simmer's pride
There was nae sic a bonnie tree, in all the country side ...
How fair wert thou in simmer time, wi' all thy clusters white.
Now rich and gay thy autumn dress, wi' berries red and bright.
The Rowan has both medicinal and edible uses: infusions can be made from either its flowers or its fruit and taken for a number of ailments including rheumatic pain and as an aid in the treatment of kidney disorders; contrary to common belief the fruits are not poisonous. They are however rather bitter but this does not prevent them being used to make wine, syrups, soup and jam.

It is this latter use that has engaged me this week and in the next part of this two-part piece, I will describe the process of creating Rowanberry Jelly ... from tree to plate.

Fifty Posts

2009-09-08T17:30:00.004+01:00

When I started writing these regular pieces I had two aims: the first was to focus afresh on a life-long interest in natural history; the second was to broaden my interests, or at least resurrect old interests beyond ornithology. To achieve both aims I certainly needed to get out more, not because I had been house-bound but because I had become destination-bound; I needed to find new places to visit, new habitats and most of all, new wildlife.

It got off to a good start at Kirkwhelpington in May when, for the first time in a long time, I looked seriously again at wild flowers. That in turn led me to the hay meadows at Barrowburn; seeing the Chimney Sweeper moths there fed a renewed interest in butterflies (and moths) and later, an entirely new one in dragon and damselflies. And all along, I have remained alert to the birds and animals around me.

New field guides joined those filling my already sagging book shelves. Three in particular, the Butterflies of Great Britain & Ireland and the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Great Britain & Ireland, both published by the excellent British Wildlife Publishing, and Marjorie Blamey's Wild Flowers by Colour have been at my side on every recent trip. My new-found enthusiasm certainly outstripped my ability when I bought Francis Rose's Wild Flower Key but the arrival at the end of July, in the form of a generous birthday present, of Collins Flower Guide and a hand lens has started to restore my confidence that the mystery of wild flower identification, but probably not all 1,600 of them in Great Britain and Ireland, is something I will master in time.

And it's funny how one thing leads to another when you walk around with your eyes open. Butterflies and dragon and damselflies are, I've decided, rather like buses: you wait for one and two or three, or more, arrive at the same time. I have frequently been surprised by one species when looking for another. Check lists are filling: at Sidwood, Ringlets became Meadow Browns and then Small Skippers; at Sidwood again, then at Falstone Moss and more recently at Bank's Pond, it has been dragon and damselflies that are filling the list. What's next? Well, there's a nice mixed wood just up the road that should be bursting with fungi very soon, while finding and photographing moths is also high on the list of things to do.

Thanks to all of you who have read this and the preceding 49 pieces and join me, vicariously at least, on my wildlife wanderings around Northumberland. Thanks too for the helpful commentary and advice, all of which is much appreciated.

Exmoor Ponies in Redesdale

2009-09-04T09:07:00.010+01:00

The ancestors of all our native pony breeds came overland from Alaska approximately 130,000 years ago and became widely distributed throughout what is now the British Isles. Dramatic changes in our climate some ten thousand years ago restricted the amount of open grazing available to mainly the mountain and moorland areas of Britain. The herds became isolated in these upland areas and the British hill pony developed as a result.

First domesticated by the Celts, these herds of ponies can trace their history largely through their first contact with man. Although there is little early written evidence of the Exmoor pony, records from the sixteenth century onwards show that there have been as many as a thousand as few as fifty living on the moor at different times. In the early part of the last century, for example, due almost entirely to the popularity of the Moorland Mousie children’s stories of Muriel Wallace, the breed enjoyed something of a revival. Their numbers then declined for several reasons, not least because of changes in farming practice and the choice of other, more fashionable breeds, for pleasure riding. More recently, thanks to the dedication of a number of hill farmers, their number has again grown steadily and the worldwide population is now more than a thousand. Put into context, this still makes the Exmoor pony rarer than the Giant Panda and the breed is classified as critically endangered by the WWF-UK.

Exmoor ponies are stocky and strong, with deep chests and large girths. They are bay, brown or dun in colour, with black points and no white markings; this allows them to blend in well with their native background of heather, grass and bracken. The large capacity of the digestive system is important in winter as they consume large quantities of rough material which provides them with internal warmth. And because their teeth are well adapted to a coarse diet, the ponies do not damage plants as readily as other breeds. Instead they graze neatly around them, allowing the plants to flourish and increase in number. Because of this, small groups of Exmoor ponies are being pressed into ecological service all around the country, grazing open spaces and helping maintain the natural balance of the indigenous flora.

There are a number of sites in Northumberland where Exmoor ponies are helping in this conservation work. The ponies shown here, living on the moor below Padon Hill, a little more than three miles west of my Redesdale home, are mostly yearlings and are expected to spend the next three years grazing this site. They will be gelded in the autumn and will return to spend the winter on the moor. These attractive ponies would previously have had a very uncertain future; now with the help of the Moorland Mousie Trust they will go on to make lovely family ponies in time.

Common and Ruddy Darters

2009-08-29T10:48:00.010+01:00

I was looking through the dragonfly pictures I took when I last visited Bank's Pond. You will recall that I spent quite a lot of my time there looking for Blue-tailed damselflies but I also took pictures of the Common and Ruddy Darters that were about. The first is of a male Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) ...

The following two pictures show female Common Darters, the first perching amongst Soft Rush (Juncus effusus) at the margin of the larger of the two ponds, the second perched in Hawthorn on the bridleway leading to the site ...

This final picture shows a male Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) ...

Butterflies and Buddleia (2)

2009-08-26T09:28:00.002+01:00

Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock feature in the second piece recording the butterflies in my garden last Saturday. If you would like to share details of a favourite butterfly habitat in Northumberland, and what might be seen there, I would very much like to hear from you.

Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)

Peacock (Inachis io)

Both together on one flower

Butterflies and Buddleia (1)

2009-08-23T12:36:00.017+01:00

It was warm and sunny in Redesdale on Saturday. I had intended to go out for the day to look for butterflies but they were visiting me in such large numbers that I couldn't resist the temptation and ventured no further than the garden.

Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and both Large and Small White butterflies were all in attendance and feeding on the buddleia bushes. The Red Admirals were not as frequent but I was delighted to photograph them for the first time.

Painted Ladies and Red Admiral feature here, with the Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell in the next of this two-part piece.

Both together on one flower
Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
Red Admiral underside
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)
Painted Lady underside

Short-tailed Vole

2009-08-21T14:32:00.010+01:00

One of the seed feeders at the observation hide at Wallington Hall hangs beside a twiggy pyramid erected by the wardens to provide cover for the visiting birds. When I visited the hide last weekend, a tiny creature popped its head out of a hole in the earth under this structure and looked around. The ground surrounding the hole was covered in wasted sunflower seeds, some of which had germinated. The creature, a short-tailed vole, emerged from the hole and fed briefly from the seeds before returning underground down an adjacent hole.

Short-tailed Vole (Microtis argretis)
Because of the poor available light, it was quite hard to process a record picture from the deeply shadowed original. I hope the following will serve to confirm identification.

Short-tailed Vole (Microtis argretis)

Red Squirrels

2009-08-18T13:52:00.019+01:00

A population of red squirrels is clinging on in the woodland surrounding Wallington Hall, a National Trust property in mid-Northumberland. If you are lucky, you can see them almost anywhere in the woodland but the best views are from the observation hide in the West Woods. Here they come to glean the sunflower seeds and peanuts dropped by birds visiting the feeders.

Today, there are only three seed feeders at the observation hide; the bird table and all the other feeders, including some very large peanut feeders fastened to the trees, have been removed. Recent thinking suggests that if feeders are used by both red and grey squirrels they can be responsible for spreading the squirrel-pox virus which is fatal to the reds.

The two red squirrels I watched on Sunday were finding easy pickings amongst the wasted bird food under one of the feeders. My friend Harold took this beautiful picture of one of the reds sitting amongst the grass to the side of the feeders, and I would like to thank him for sharing it here ...

Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
Red squirrels survive in woodlands throughout Northumberland. You can read more about their protection here.

Blue-tailed Damselfly

2009-08-15T07:20:00.014+01:00

I parked on the piece of rough road-side land near the entrance to Bank's Pond and reached for my dragon and damselfly field guide. Thumbing through its pages, I found the section describing the Blue-tailed damselfly, one of my targets for the day, and read it again to refresh my memory. "So that's clear: Smaller than an Emerald, glossy black abdomen with a bright blue section eight, top of thorax striped blue and black". My mind was focused ... or so I thought.

Helpfully, ST had left a message following my first visit to the Pond: "I have only found the Blue-tails around the larger pond, on the road-side edge", he had written, so that was where I headed first. After a short time, I came across one, was very excited, took lots of pictures, moved on, found another and took more pictures. Later, while having my picnic lunch back at the car, I opened the field guide to check the points against my pictures. I had taken many very nice pictures. Unfortunately, the Blue-tailed damselfly in every one of them was an Emerald!

How could I have been so confused? Who can tell? I was reminded of an incident many years ago when a very loud lady in a small bird-watching party shouted big white seagull coming towards us and everyone looked away from the rare-ish winter visitor we had been watching to see a Mute Swan flying westwards. I hoped things couldn't be that bad.

Despite this set-back, I started the afternoon in a positive frame of mind. Returning to the Pond, I followed my morning route and was soon rewarded with a male Blue-tail; an actual Blue-tail this time (I checked all the points). It was almost hidden amongst the pond-side vegetation and in tandem with a mature infuscans female. Stepping daintily upwards through the undergrowth, the two eventually perched on a rush and as I watched, they joined in a copulation wheel. The picture records the scene ... and this new tick on my D&D list.

Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)

Butterflies at Bank's Pond

2009-08-14T16:08:00.022+01:00

Banks pond has been a source of great pleasure, providing exceptional views of dragon and damselflies. Yesterday I found and photographed the Blue-tailed damsel fly I had been looking for and was more successful in my efforts to photograph the Common and Ruddy Darter dragonflies (more of both in forthcoming pieces).

I also kept an open-eye for butterflies and was not disappointed. Unfortunately, a fresh-looking Peacock escaped the camera but I did find a pair of Large White feeding on Common Knapweed. I think this is the male ...

Large White (Pieris brassicae)
And I photographed a Painted Lady for the first time ...

Painted Lady (Venessa cardui)
These Wall butterflies were a real bonus and a lifetime tick. The male (upper) was typically hyper-active, patrolling his territory, settling frequently if briefly on sunnier parts of the path we shared, before eventually coming upon his mate, if mate she was, in the path-side grass. He then head-butted her half a dozen times before pausing just long enough for them to have their picture taken.

Phil Gates has a fascinating piece on his Cabinet of Curiosities blog about Wall butterfly behaviour including the head-butting I observed.

Wall butterflies (Lasiommata megera)

Common Darter Dragonfly

2009-08-12T08:51:00.014+01:00

There were large numbers of Common and Ruddy Darter dragonflies at Bank's Pond during my visit last week. Many were flying in tandem and dipping repeatedly allowing the female to oviposit. Except for short periods perched on the ground or on vegetation, they were hardly ever still and spent most of their time darting off here and there no matter how carefully I approached. This behaviour might explain why they came to be called darters but it made them very difficult to photograph! My tactic, I think, during my next visit will be to sit still and let them come to me.

Obligingly, the pair below were joined in their copulation wheel for some minutes ...

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum)
While I was photographing a male Emerald damselfly I noticed a dragonfly larvae on an adjacent rush. It was perfectly still and it was only when I viewed an enlarged image on my camera screen that I realised it was an empty shell, its back split at the point where the adult had emerged. As identification is notoriously difficult, it is probably best not to speculate on which dragonfly larvae this is; none-the-less it was interesting to observe. If the picture points a reader in any particular direction regarding identification I would be pleased to hear from you.

(Thanks to ST for his suggestion that the exuvia is that of a Common Darter. My field guide suggested this also but I felt unable to comfirm.)

Bank's Pond

2009-08-10T18:36:00.015+01:00

I had read about Bank's Pond on The Darter and visited the site last week. Bank's Pond is actually two ponds, one large and one small, set in rough pasture land near to Dinnington, a village on the northern fringe of Newcastle upon Tyne. The ponds appear man-made as opposed to being formed by colliery subsidence which is common in South East Northumberland.

I had read that Emerald, Common Blue and Blue-tailed damselflies and Emperor, Common Darter and Ruddy Darter dragonflies were present. I did not find Blue-tailed damselflies but Emerald damselflies and the two darters were present in very large numbers. There were lesser numbers of the Common Blues present and I saw only two individual male Emperors and a pair flying in tandem.

My recent quest to photograph a male Emerald damselfly was completed almost upon my arrival. The mature male in this first picture is perching with its wings half open, which is common for lestids ...

Emerald Damselfy (Lestes sponsa)
While the mature male in this picture is shown from the side ...

Here a pair are in tandem prior to mating ...

And then a copulation wheel ...

My visit to Bank's Pond involved a lengthy drive, but I made a day of it and the effort was more than rewarded. I hope to make another visit in the very near future.

Emerald Damselfly

2009-08-04T08:58:00.011+01:00

A visit to Sidwood at the weekend failed to produce a male Emerald damselfly, which I would particularly like to see again, but another female was present. It was in the same location as the previous female, amongst the dense vegetation beside a small stream flowing from the former ornamental lake of the old Sidwood estate.

Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa)
It is only when you come to process the picture that the real beauty of this tiny creature is revealed.

The Small Skipper

2009-08-01T08:41:00.014+01:00

The countryside surrounding the Tarset Burn, if measured by memorable wildlife experiences, is now a firm favourite on my list of local places to visit. Last week's badger sighting must top the list but every visit has its own highlights with many first-timers for me or my camera.

A short walk at Sidwood on Thursday afternoon provided a glimpse of a tiny copper-coloured butterfly. Further views followed until, as my awareness of their jizz grew, they appeared be be all around me and I knew I was looking at Small Skippers.

Northumberland is largely coloured-in on their distribution map, although I understand that this northern expansion of their range has only taken place in recent years. Being small and flittish, they were quite a challenge to photograph but their settling on Common Knapweeds to feed made the job a little easier.

Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)
The typical Skipper posture with forewings swept back and hindwings held flat. Here, the proboscis is extended into the flower head.
I think this is a male, showing a more conspicuous sex band on the forewing, and the first two pictures above are of a female.
Other sightings included Painted Lady, Green-veined White, Ringlet and Meadow Brown butterflies.

An Unexpected Meeting

2009-07-28T22:22:00.011+01:00

After my visit to Falstone Moss, I travelled home by Sidwood and Black Middens. I had seen a male Emerald Damselfly at Sidwood on an earlier visit and hoped to find it again and take a better picture. There was no sign of the male but a female put in an appearance and made a very fine study on the grass she settled on ...

Emerald Damselfly (Lestes Sponsa)
Black Middens, as you will know if you have been following my recent pieces, is just across the Tarset Burn from Sidwood. I travelled up the valley towards Comb, at the end of the metalled lane where the forestry tracks begin. Someone had told me I might expect to find dragonflies in one of the lane-side fields. As I approached the field, my attention was distracted by animal activity at the side of the lane ahead of me. And then, after a moment and walking down the lane towards me, was a young badger. It was about five in the afternoon.

I stopped, hardly able to believe what I was seeing. Perhaps I should have just taken its picture through the car windscreen and hoped for the best. I reached for my camera, however, and gently opened the car door. By this time the badger was sitting at the side of the lane, its head raised as if sniffing me out. On putting a first foot outside of the car, it disappeared into the undergrowth and down the bank towards the burn.

There were no dragonflies in the field but the sighting of the badger more than made up for their absence. Later, I stopped to photograph a Small Tortoiseshell, basking in the sun ...

Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)
And this Pied Wagtail, standing on a fence post, finished off a good afternoon.

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba)

Falstone Moss

2009-07-26T22:01:00.011+01:00

Falstone Moss is 825 feet above sea level and receives about forty inches of rain annually. The peat in its centre is about twenty feet deep and began to form about 8,000 years ago.

The Moss is rain-fed and sits in a shallow depression surrounded by forest that has been planted on drier ground. It is one of nearly sixty Border Mires in Kielder Forest. Because of their cool, wet climate, the British Isles contain much of the world's blanket bogs and, as a result, the Border Mires are of international importance. The Moss includes plants that can tolerate the combined stresses of a cool climate, a high water table, high acidity and low fertility.

The small lake at the centre of the Moss
The Moss is reached by following a wet and overgrown up-hill moorland path and a lengthy board walk which ends at, and surrounds, the lake shown above. I hoped that my visit would provide views of dragon and damselflies.

There were a number of common blue damselflies about; unfortunately none were near enough to photograph. I had a fleeting glimpse of one unidentified darter dragonfly, a pale brown species, but happily, Common Hawkers were about in good numbers; I counted ten together at one point, flying over the water or the Moss, either individually or paired in tandem mating.

I had not watched dragonflies in this setting or in these numbers before and it was an experience I very much enjoyed. I sat on the board walk for a good hour taking-in all of the views. At one point, a pair of meadow pipits flew in, settling amongst the rushes on the lake-side. Although it seemed unlikely, I wondered if they might regard the dragon or damselflies as a handy food source. However, their interest in the place was only as somewhere to bathe and they each spent a minute or two, splashing about in the shallows at the lake edge before flying off across the Moss.

I was particularly interested in the noise made when the dragonflies flew near to the vegetation on the banks of the lake and surprised they did not seem to damage their wings when doing so; I can only liken it to the annoying sound of someone rustling a crisp packet in a cinema. A pair of Common Hawkers did settle in the undergrowth near to me at one point, mating in a wheel.

Common Hawker (Aeshna juncea)
On my way off the Moss I stopped to photograph some of the flowers including cotton grass, cross-leaved heath and the heather which was starting to flower. I was also interested to see Bilberries in fruit.

Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus)
I returned home via Sidwood and Black Middens of which more next time.

Tachina grossa

2009-07-24T21:47:00.006+01:00

The Tachinidae are parasitic flies, the female laying her eggs on other living insect larva. The fly larvae then develops inside the living host, devouring it and eventually killing it. Its main hosts are the large hairy Lepidopteran caterpillars, particularly the Oak eggar moth (Lasiocampa quercus).

Tachina grossa below, now identified from my previous piece, resembles a bumble bee in flight. At 15 - 19mm it is one of the largest species of fly throughout much of its range and is the largest Tachinid in Europe. It is very distinctive, being hairy and having a black thorax and abdomen and a bright yellow head. It is found in woods and on heathland.

More of Sidwood

2009-07-23T10:33:00.026+01:00

Here are some more of the pictures from my walk at Sidwood. The first is a female of one of the common bumble bees (Bombus lucorum).

Bumble Bee (Bombus lucorum)
Of the following two, one I think is a bee and the other a hover fly. Both are yet to be identified, so if there is a reader able to help I would be pleased to hear from you.

The insects here, and the butterflies pictured in my previous piece, seemed to be making the most of the flowers and the warm, sunny afternoon. The Ragwort was especially popular ...

Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea)
But the other plants, amongst them this Common Knapweed, also had many visitors.

Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra)

Sidwood

2009-07-21T19:32:00.017+01:00

Sidwood is a large area of open-access woodland managed by the Forestry Commission and is part of the larger Kielder Forest. It is on the western side of the Tarset Burn, just over the water from the bastle at Black Middens, and can be reached by a walk through fields and a footbridge crossing the burn. Alternatively, a narrow lane from Redheugh, north of Greenhaugh, leads you directly to a small car park at Sidwood itself from where the whole area can be explored.

One of the attractions at Sidwood is a fine piece of mixed woodland running along-side the Tarset Burn which includes some ancient trees and ornamental species that remain from the old Sidwood estate.

The path through the burn-side woodland at Sidwood
Immediately beside the car park there was grassy a path leading away to what must have once been the ornamental pond on the old Sidwood estate. Here I watched Southern Hawker dragonflies beside a small stream and pictured one of them when it rested on a stinging nettle.

Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea)
The woodland walk was delightful, particularly the burn-side stretches, but it was finding large numbers of ringlets and meadow browns amongst the flowers on the verges of the lane leading back to the car park, that really made the day. After all the wet weather during the last week, they were taking full advantage of the bright, warm sunshine.

Ringlet (Aphantopus hypercantus)
Ringlet (Aphantopus hypercantus)
Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)

The Curlew

2009-07-19T23:31:00.012+01:00

There can be few sounds more evocative of an upland spring than the haunting, falling call of the curlew. For many, it is the first sign of the season's arrival; a hopeful moving-on from winter.

Here in Redesdale, curlews are all around during their breeding season and at all times of day. Often, on a still night, I have the midnight chime at St. John's in the village on one side and a curlew calling from the moors on the other.

The Tynedale poet Wilfrid Wilson Gibson was moved sufficiently by the curlew's call to write:

That note - that note!
Comes there so clear a call from any throat,
So clear a call to me
Back to the hills, the hills of memory?

The curlew's call
Is April sunshine on cold fells, and all
Rapture of youth to me,
Calling me to the hills, the hills of memory.
Curlew (Numenius arquata)
W. W. Gibson's poem Curlew is included in a collection of his work entitled Homecoming, published by the Wagtail Press in 2003 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of his birth in Hexham. It is included here with the publisher's permission.

Garden Butterflies

2009-07-18T14:16:00.008+01:00

I have not seen many butterflies in my Redesdale garden this year. Not yet, at least. I expect that when the buddleia bushes flower there will be more. The garden list includes both Large and Small Whites, Orange Tip, Peacock, Comma, Small Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral. All of the pictures here were taken in 2008.

Large White (Pieris brassicae)
Comma (Polygonia c-album)
Peacock (Inachis io)

Orb-web Spiders

2009-07-16T20:09:00.008+01:00

I gathered some roses from a bush in my garden yesterday to put in a vase indoors. Afterwards I noticed something creeping about on the roses and went to investigate. It was this tiny spider which must have been transported into the house with the roses. It is an orb-web spider (Araniella cucurbitina). This is one of the smallest orb-web spiders, often spinning its web across a single leaf. It is only ten millimetres in length including its legs and has a bright red spot under the tip its abdomen. It is abundant in a wide range of trees and bushes.

Although the family name Araneidae is now preferred, these spiders are called Argiopidae in much of the older literature. Orb-web spiders spin more or less circular webs. The orb is built in a framework whose shape depends on the available supports. Most of the webs are slung in bushes, but walls and fences are equally acceptable. A description of the web-making process can be found here. Further information in the Araneidae can be found here.

Araniella cucurbitina

Soldier Beetles

2009-07-13T00:34:00.008+01:00

So called because of their bright colours, which are reminiscent of military uniforms, soldier beetles are predatory, often hunting on the flowers found in grassland, hedgerows and woodland margins. Their wings are covered by a soft elytra, with a straight join down the middle of their back and they fly well in sunshine. These Rhagonycha fulva were seen at Allen Banks and appear to be mating. They are a very common species and, although they are harmless, are often called the bloodsucker because of their colour. Their bodies are little more than ten millimetres long. I am grateful to Joe Botting of British Bugs for his help with identification (even though they are beetles and not bugs).

Rhagonycha fulva

Golden-rod

2009-07-10T11:03:00.012+01:00

Golden-rod (Solidago virgaurea) is a perennial herb up to 85cm tall with erect, simple or branched stems. This plant was pictured in open woodland at Allen Banks and I am grateful to both Phil Gates and Roy Norris for their guidance in identifying it.

Historically, the plant has been used in folk medicine; the flowering heads are collected before they are fully developed and dried in shade. The drug contained has been used in numerous brands of proprietary medicine prescribed for kidney and bladder disorders, arthritis and rheumatism. In homoeopathy an essence, based on fresh material, is given for the same ailments. A weak infusion can be taken as a diuretic or used externally as a stronger infusion to bathe slow-healing cuts, burns and eczema. There are no known harmful side effects.

Golden-rod (Solidago virgaurea)

Allen Banks

2009-07-09T07:49:00.014+01:00

The historic woodland at Allen Banks was given to the National Trust in 1942 by the Bowes-Lyon family and has a long and varied history. The 'Wilderness Walks' were created between 1830 and 1860 to provide a wild contrast to the formal parkland and gardens surrounding Ridley Hall; they include bridges across the River Allen, flights of stone stairs from the river bank to the higher parts of the woods, an artificial pond, seats and several scenic viewpoints along the valley. Today, the woodland remains a peaceful place to walk and observe the natural world.

The River Allen near Raven Crag
My interest focused again on some the plant life:

Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum)
Common Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii)
Enchanter's Nightshade (Circaea lutetiana)
Beech nuts (Fagus sylvatica)
Despite my best endeavours, I am unable to positively identify the following but I think this plant is Common St. John's Wort (Hypercium perforatum) ...

And this is the seed head of a Rough Hawkbit (Leontondon hispidus) ...

Further information about Allen Banks can be found here

Cross-Pollination

2009-07-07T10:23:00.011+01:00

I am grateful to Phil Gates, who in his own delightful blog entitled Cabinet of Curiosities, cross-references his excellent picture of the seed capsule of a Common Mouse-ear with this picture of the plant in flower from my previous piece. Thanks to Phil also for helping identify the plant.

Cottonshope Burn

2009-07-05T15:48:00.019+01:00

The sykes and springs which feed the Cottonshope Burn are on the high ground near to the Roman road known as Dere Street and not far from the Roman fort at Chew Green, itself just on the English side of the border with Scotland and very near to the source of the River Coquet. A narrow road, starting at Cottonshopeburnfoot and climbing steadily, leads the traveller north, through part of the Forestry Commission's Byrness plantation and into a wide-valley wilderness grazed by Cheviot and Black-faced sheep.

I recently bought a revised edition of Francis Rose's The Wild Flower Key, and have been trying to master the mysteries of wild flower identification. I took some pictures in the valley of flowers I've not previously photographed: Self-heal I already knew and I used the keys in the book to identify two others. If I am wrong, please do let me know. All of the flower pictures were taken using my Nikkor 18-55mm lens and a 6 dioptre close-up lens.

Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris)
Lousewort (Pedicularis sylvatica)
Common Mouse-ear (Cerastium fontanum)
I found a male Ringlet amongst the long grass on the plantation edge ...

Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
... And this Foxlove.

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)

Addendum, 6 July, 2009: Thanks to Phil Gates, a botanist at Durham University, who redirected my initial identification of a supposed Lesser Stitchwort to that of a Common Mose-ear (see above).

The Chimney Sweeper Moth

2009-07-03T17:25:00.007+01:00

In my 1933 edition of Moths of the British Isles, the author Richard South says that the Chimney Sweeper moth is "very constant except that some specimens, after being on the wing for a day or two, become sooty brown. It is the fringe at the tip of the forewings rather than the tip itself that is white, and this sometimes extends for a short distance along the fringe of the outer margin. The moth is also known as The Looping Chimney Sweeper, in reference to its caterpillar, or The Chimney Sweeper's Boy. The caterpillar feeds in spring on flowers of the earth-nut (Conopodium denudatum). The moth is a sun lover and flits about flowers growing among or near its food plant in June and July. The species is widely distributed and frequents moist fields, borders of woods and even waysides".

The picture was taken during a third visit to the hay meadows at Barrowburn, Upper Coquetdale. It was a breezy day again with lots of movement in the grasses and flowers.

Chimney Sweeper Moth (Odezia atrata)

A Hare on the Hill

2009-06-30T23:03:00.010+01:00

The road in highest parts of Upper Coquetdale is very narrow, sometimes barely a car-width, and in places where the valley side is at its steepest, the road seems to look for the best contour and cling on by its finger tips. Occasionally, on the sharpest bends, there is an old post and rail fence on the down-side edge of the road. These are a blessing to passing itchy sheep but I doubt they would stop an errant motorist from crashing over the edge and down into the river.

It was on just such a bend last week that I came upon a carefree Brown Hare sitting in the middle of the road. The hare sat perfectly still, seemingly unstartled by my arrival. I reached for my camera and it was only when I lifted it to my eye that the hare reacted. Two quick steps took it across the road and up onto the grassy valley side. I thought I'd seen the last of it, but no. As I drove slowly forward, I saw that it was just above me in the grass, ears erect, eyes alert, crouched and ready to spring off in a flash.

Watching hares is always rewarding but this was a rather special encounter.

Brown Hare (Lepus capensis)

Views of Upper Coquetdale

2009-06-29T09:58:00.008+01:00

The visitor to Upper Coquetdale, whatever their interest, will be seldom disappointed. My two visits during the last week included views of a fine-looking Grey Heron, flying up from the river bank onto a nearby grassy slope ...

Grey Heron (Ardea cinera)
A Common Sandpiper calling from its perch on a fence ...

Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)
And lots of young Wheatears.

Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe); a juvenille
Along the Coquet there were clumps of Blotched Monkey Flower, garden escapees relocated now in splashes of mustard and blood-red cheerfulness on the river bank ...

Blotched Monkey Flower (Mimulus luteus)
River Water Crowfoot, and their reflections, in the river itself ...

River Water Crowfoot (Ranunculus fluitans)
And Wild Thyme clinging to a sunny, bank-side rock.

Wild Thyme (Thymus polytrichus)

Barrowburn Hay Meadows (3)

2009-06-27T10:13:00.033+01:00

Although it was hot and sunny during my second visit to the hay meadows at Barrowburn, it was also quite breezy. I had travelled in hope of photographing some of the insects that visit the meadows, particularly the Chimney Sweeper moth pictured below, and the bumble bees. And from reading the SSSI description, I had tagged the grasses present on site in my field guide and planned to try photographing them too. However, as there were not as many of the moths and bees about and the steady breeze kept the grasses on the move, both these objectives were made difficult if not impossible to fulfil. So, as well as having a very nice lunch at the Barrowburn Farm tea room, I spent the afternoon happily sauntering the hay meadow paths and photographing the flowers again.

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) on the meadow edge
Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)
Meadow Vetchling (Lathyrus pratensis)
Wood Crane's Bill (Geranium sylvaticum)
Chimney Sweeper Moth (Odezia atrata)

Barrowburn Hay Meadows (2)

2009-06-24T08:00:00.031+01:00

In part one of my description of the Barrowburn Hay Meadows I said that I was quite unprepared for the experience that awaited me. The meadows were filled with such an overwhelming variety of plants that they provided a feast for all the senses. I fully intend to spend more days amongst them while they continue to flower.

As might be expected, there were many insects about. One which particularly caught my attention was the Chimney Sweeper moth (Odezia atrata), a small, day-flying white-tipped but otherwise plain black moth which I had not seen before. Apparently the Chimney Sweeper relies on the Pignut flower for its existence, it being the only food plant of the moth's caterpillar. I hope the next part of this series will include pictures of some of the insects visiting the hay meadows.

Now to the flowers: They were all photographed using my standard Nikkor 18-55mm lens and a 6 dioptre close-up lens. This is only a selection of the flowers on display. If a reader finds that I have wrongly identified any of the flowers, I am more than happy to be corrected (I am not entirely confident about the Bitter Vetch, although the SSSI description suggests it is found on site).

Pignut (Conopodium majus)
Wood Crane's Bill (Geranium sylvaticum)
Eyebright (Euphrasia memocosa)
Rough Hawkbit (Leontodon taraxacoides)
Bird's Foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)
Bitter Vetch (Lathyrus montanus)
Hay or Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor)
Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaeodrys)
Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata)

Barrowburn Hay Meadows (1)

2009-06-22T17:47:00.010+01:00

For almost a week, I had looked forward to visiting the hay meadows at Barrowburn in Upper Coquetdale but was quite unprepared for the experience that awaited me. Upland hay meadows are internationally rare and at Barrowburn, where the grazing land is managed in such a way as to encourage these lovely reminders of a slower way of life, the meadows are filled with an overwhelming variety of plants.

The greater part of the afternoon was spent in just one meadow, taking a slow what’s-this-what’s-that walk, firstly along a boundary path and then on a steep diagonal path crossing the meadow at the start of a well-trodden route to the Border Ridge at Windy Gyle. Although I already knew some of the flowers, I still needed to stop every two or three paces to take a closer look at one I didn’t recognise and thumb through my field guide in an effort to identify it. And all of the time, plant identification was competing with photography and vice-versa.

The meadows at Barrowburn support many plants typically found in northern hay meadows. These include wood crane’s bill, pignut, bitter vetch, rough and autumn hawkbit, cat’s ear, selfheal, common bird’s foot trefoil, yellow rattle and oxeye daisy.

In an earlier piece I owned that for some time I had not given sufficient attention to wild flowers in my wanderings. The hay meadows at Barrowburn served only to reinforce this feeling and, with my new set of close-up lenses at the ready and another hay meadow nearer to home at Greenhaugh, I can see it won’t be too long before more wild flower items appear on these pages.

To begin, the pictures show Barrowburn and views of the meadows. In the next part, I will introduce the flowers themselves.

A view from one of the meadows towards Barrowburn Farm and Upper Coquetdale
Looking towards Barrow Law
In the midst of the meadow

Redstarts at Black Middens

2009-06-20T23:58:00.016+01:00

Without any particular plan, I ventured today into the remote and beautiful country surrounding the Tarset Burn and the ruined bastle house at Black Middens. The Tarset Burn is a tributary of the North Tyne and because there is only a single-track road into and out of the valley, people seem to pass it by.

In the woodland at Black Middens I watched a pair of Redstarts feeding at least four young. These were the best views I have had of Redstarts in many years. There was also a very active family of Treecreepers in the wood, which added to the pleasure.

A short way down the road, a finger post directed me through a gate and across a field to a path through more old woodland on the burn side. I watched a pair of Grey Wagtails on the burn and was eaten alive by midges while standing still for half-an-hour trying to photograph a Wren.

Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus)
Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus): the female I think
The Tarset Burn
Grey Wagtail (Montacilla cinerea)
It may be of interest to know that bastle houses are numerous along the border between England and Scotland. They are defensible farmhouses, defensible that is against raids by reivers between the thirteenth and sixteenth century. Bastle houses are characterised by stone walls often a metre thick, a generally vaulted ground floor where livestock was housed for safe keeping and family accommodation on the first floor accessed by a ladder which was pulled up from the inside at night (the ground floor entrance and external staircase shown in the picture below were probably additions after peace came to the Borders in the early seventeenth century). The windows were usually narrow slits and the roof would be made of stone slates. Today, most bastle houses are in complete ruin, some like Black Middens have only their walls standing, others in better repair are still used as store houses on farms and some are converted into comfortable homes.

Black Middens bastle house

The Early Bird

2009-06-12T08:51:00.009+01:00

I have all the windows open to the fresh air this morning and the sounds of birdlife are all around. Somewhere amongst the buttercup-filled pastures to the west, curlews are calling; their haunting, falling call one of the great pleasures of an upland spring. And occasionally too, I hear the faint piping of an oystercatcher in the opposite direction towards the River Rede. Earlier, a linnet sat on the sunny ridge of a neighbour’s roof; its breast so puffed up in song that it looked exactly as if it were wearing a Pickwickian-red waistcoat, two or three sizes too small. In the garden, coal and blue tits, siskins and a solitary female redpoll, a nuthatch and a great spotted woodpecker, chaffinches and goldfinches are visiting the feeders and bird table, flitting hurriedly in and out again with food for young which I think I can sometimes hear nearby but can never see through the mass of leaves which now cover the poplars. And then, into the midst of this harmony, a jackdaw elbows in, frightening away all the small birds to tension-filled waiting areas in the surrounding trees before casually stepping onto the peanut feeder and breakfasting on the nuts.

I don’t suppose this behaviour is based on anything other than opportunism; the jackdaw sees the chance of an easy meal and takes it. And for all their strutting style, I still prefer jackdaws to starlings; I just wish they would go and feed somewhere else!

The Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) on the peanut feeder

Beginnings

2009-06-06T18:52:00.015+01:00

In 1957, Brooke Bond and Company began giving away a colourful series of fifty collector’s cards with their tea products. The series was entitled British Bird Portraits and, in recruiting me as an enthusiastic collector, the company set me off on a path of discovery I am still following today (which was probably their aim).

I remember the excitement, and it was exciting for a 1950’s ten-year-old, of opening each new packet of tea and looking for the card between the outer and inner wrapping; would it be a new one for my collection or one I already had? I remember too that there was a grocers shop on a nearby corner where I could take duplicates to swap for precious and yet uncollected cards and, if all else failed and the series ended, Brook Bond kindly sold the cards you needed at a halfpenny each.

The British Bird Portraits cards were illustrated and described by C.F. Tunnicliffe, RA, regarded by the late Sir Peter Scott as possibly the greatest wildlife artist of the twentieth century, and were similar in format to the cards given away in cigarette packets and collected by countless youngsters between the two World Wars. One difference however was that Brooke Bond also sold a collector’s album for sixpence; every card in the series had a place of its own with an accompanying description and as each new card was collected, I carefully stuck it into its place with flour and water paste.

When the series ended I still needed five or six cards to complete my collection, one of which described the Great Crested Grebe. I sent away a thrupenny postal order to Brooke Bond and eagerly awaited the postman’s delivery. The cards duly arrived and my first view of the Great Crested Grebe left me spell-bound and set me off on another journey, one which took some years to complete.

Today, the Great Crested Grebe remains one of my most favourite birds and subsequent series of Brooke Bond cards, such as British Wild Life and collections describing trees, freshwater fish, wild flowers, and more British bird species, served only to reinforce my interest in natural history.

The Great Crested Grebe which started the Journey
A page from the album showing a Grey Wagtail,
Green Woodpecker & Nuthatch
The album cover
The subsequent British Wild Life collection, another full set I collected, and two collector's cards from the series, one of Fallow Deer, the other of the Chillingham Wild White Cattle, again illustrated by C. F. Tunnicliffe, RA:

Wallington West Woods

2009-06-04T20:38:00.014+01:00

I enjoyed a walk in the West Woods at Wallington Hall this afternoon. All the common woodland species were about but the highlight was a group of six Stock Doves. They were gleaning an area near the visitor hide, filling their crops with the sunflower seeds dropped by the finches, tits and nuthatches visiting the feeders. There was also a fine Robin and a male Great Spotted Woodpecker. The latter was particularly active, moving from tree to tree and calling all the time. A group of noisy Rooks also put in an appearance; not very exciting perhaps but I've not photographed any of the corvids before so the picture below is one for the collection.

Stock Dove (Columba oenas)
Robin (Erithacus rubecula)
Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major)
Rook (Corvus fruilegus)

Cheviot Seasons

2009-06-03T10:26:00.015+01:00

The historian G. M. Trevelyan, a native of Wallington, wrote: "in Northumberland alone, both heaven and earth are seen. We walk all day on long ridges, high enough to give far views of moor and valley and the sense of solitude far below. It is the land of far horizons. Up above here on the moor, the silent sheep browse all day long, filling the mind with thoughts of peace and safety. Northumberland throws over us, not a melancholy, but a meditative spell."

It is this feeling of peace and safety, and no doubt a measure of Trevelyan's meditative spell, which draws the walker, naturalist and visitor alike, again and again to the Cheviot Hills. Once neighbours of mine, now living in Australia, sit on their Sydney veranda and remember days spent in the hills; many people have favourite places amongst the hills which draw them back, always satisfying, never disappointing. And if you stand on any point along the Simonside ridge and cast your view northwards, the horizon is filled with the Cheviot Hills, rising in green waves to the Cheviot ridge, where the English and Scots made a boundary they fought over for eight centuries.

The Cheviot Hills seen from Carter Bar
The Cheviot in snow
The River Coquet in spate after the thaw
'Green waves rising to the Cheviot ridge'
A ewe and her lamb on Yardhope Moor

Goose's Nest

2009-06-01T08:36:00.014+01:00

The pleasure of a spring-time walk in woodland is always enhanced by the sight of bluebells and although it's not possible to walk amongst the bluebells at Goose's Nest, the view of the annual spectacle from the roadside can be breathtaking.

A bank of Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) at Goose's Nest
Anne Bronte, in her poem The Bluebell, writes:

"A fine and subtle spirit dwells
In every little flower,
Each one its own sweet feeling breathes
With more or less of power.
There is a silent eloquence
In every wild bluebell
That fills my softened heart with bliss
That words could never tell."
The woodland and bluebell banks at Goose's Nest are in the care of the Northumberland Wildlife Trust.

Bakethin

2009-05-29T23:48:00.020+01:00

I have been in a different direction again today, following the North Tyne to Kielder Water and beyond to Bakethin, a conservation area on the edge of Kielder village.

Bakethin was created in 1979 with the construction of a dam across the North Tyne which flooded part of the valley up stream; the dam is near to the now submerged Bakethin farm. From the start, Bakethin was developed as a special conservation area within the larger Kielder Water scheme.

The site offers a range of habitats including grassland, coniferous and broad-leafed woodland, heathland and marsh. Much is promised in the available literature but, despite hearing the yaffle of a green woodpecker at the car park just after I arrived, a good sign I thought, it turned out to be a rather lean day for observations.

A short walk through mixed woodland, where I watched a Robin feeding a single fledging, brings you to a hide which conveniently overlooks three islands that have been constructed in a bay on the southern edge of the lake. One island is topped with a shingle mound, ideal for breeding wading species including the pair of Oystercatchers seen today. On another island, a holt was built to encourage otters which have bred at the site.

A view of the three islands from the Bakethin hide
Apart from a small number of Sandmartins and a Heron flying over, the only birds seen at the lake were Mallard. I had a fleeting glimpse of a Great Spotted Woodpecker when retracing my steps to the car park.

The path to the hide
I won't give up on Bakethin; I think it is well worth follow-up visits at different times of the year and certainly an earlier visit next year. And today, a long sit in the hide provided a perfect shelter from the worst of the afternoon sun and allowed time to practice my digiscoping skills with my Nikon ED50 fieldscope (see my earlier article entitled An Introduction to Digiscoping):

Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)
Oystercatcher with Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)