Abbey Meadows

Abbey Meadows

Wednesday 29 May 2013

Recent stuff







Taking me a while to catch up with the blog. Spending most of my time in the Ulgham and Stobswod area. The pics above are Speckled wood butterfly at Stobswood, one of nine behind the old pit heap, Lesser Swallow Prominent from my moth trap and the Garden Tiger moth caterpillar and Brackish Water-Crowfoot were from Hadston dunes.



Thursday 23 May 2013

River Lyne







Lack of recent blog activity has been due to Heather doing her dissertation leaving little time to look at the computer. I have still been out and about spending time walking stretches of the River Lyne at Ulgham and Ellington. I have been walking around the former opencasts of Stobswood and Steadsburn. Usual birds on the wetlands here but Red Legged Partridge was the first sighting for a number years with 2 at Ulgham. Old opencast workings seem to throw up odd looking Dandelions but the smoother leaved individual above may be an aberrant or some sub species perhaps. Greater Chickweed was between Ellington and Lynemouth along the riverside path. In the same area the bracket fungi is I believe Willow Bracket.

Saturday 4 May 2013

Raptors and migrants

Over the past few days I've noticed an increase of migrants around. On Thursday morning a Cuckoo was calling from the Mitford road area and yesterday at Ulgham there appears to have been a mini influx of Whitethroats and Blackcaps with birds singing everywhere. On my way home from Widdrington yesterday a male Marsh Harrier was flying south over the pond behind Norwood farm between Widdrington station and Ulgham.
This morning I checked out all the ponds at the former opencast at Stobswood and when I was walking along the track between Ulgham park farm and East Stobswood a Hobby was flying south towards Ulgham park but changed direction and flew east toward Widdrington station. It looked fantastic in the morning light being lit up from beneath. I lost sight of it beyond Norwood farm. That is the third good raptor sighting in this area over the past few weeks with Red Kite a couple of weeks ago. A Garden warbler was singing in a small wood beside Ulgham park farm but it took me a while before I actually saw it sitting low in the cover of Bramble. While I was in the area I called in to East Chevington to see the Purple Heron. Nice bird when in the open but it did spend a lot of time slightly obscured in the Reeds. Grasshopper and Sedge warbler were singing nearby and a couple of Whimbrel flew overhead.