30th June.
Sam and I ended our day in the new Mathew Ridley hide at Gosforth Park
Nature Reserve. This was our first visit
to the hide since it opened and we were very impressed. My first thought was that there can’t be any
better hide in Northumberland, and then my second thought was that there isn’t much in the way of competition really!
Much is owed to the volunteers who built it and of course the donors who
paid for it and the architects who designed it (free of charge I believe). The hide is on two levels and can take forty
people so will be ideal for the likes of school parties, a very forward looking
investment. If you’re a member of the
Natural History Society of Northumbria you may already have visited and if you
haven’t probably will in the near future.
If your not a member I believe there is to be an open day for the public
soon, so go a long and take a look when that chance arises and you may be
tempted to join what is the best local organisation for anyone interested in
natural history, certainly the best in my book anyway. Just pleased that there wasn’t forty folk in
there today as it was stifling in the very high temperatures. I was almost wishing today that it was cold
again!
A hide with a view
We’d begun the day at the Rising Sun Country Park
where we began with an excellent sighting of the local grebes. It wasn’t really a birding day however and we
had set our sights on butterflies, dragonflies and plants. We had little in the way of luck with
dragonflies and although finding plenty of orchids we failed in our search for
Bee Orchids. Plenty of butterflies were
found, but they were so flighty the frustration set in. It was almost impossible to get any images,
although once again the butterfly that did settle just long enough to give me a
chance of macro shots was the Large
Skipper. There was no chance with
the numerous Common Blues and Ringlets so I took my chance with some
other insects. By the time we had walked
around the park we were done in by the heat and much needed refreshment was
sought in the busy café. A drink and a
sit in the shade did the trick and we set off for Gosforth Park Nature Reserve.
Large Skipper
There was more frustration when we found that the Coral Root
Orchids had passed us by. We weren’t the
only ones searching. I did find a couple
of stalks, but it was suggested that because they were greenish that could not
be what we were after. I’m still
inclined to think it was what we had been searching for, as this orchid does
show some green tinge, but there were certainly none in flower anywhere near to
the viewing point. The dragonflies
proved illusive too, as a number of them flew over the pond but too distant to
identify with any confidence. I think
Sam did eventually pick up what appeared to be a Broad-bodied Chaser and we think the others were chasers too.
The butterflies were just as flighty here, but I did
eventually capture an image of a male Common
Blue. We did see lots of butterflies
today and the list was Small White,
Large White, Large Skipper, Small Tortoiseshell, Common Blue, Speckled Wood
(large numbers of them again, especially in the reserve), Meadow Brown and Ringlets (lots of them). Quite a bit of botanical interest today
too. We did a bit of tree watching but
haven’t gone as far as talking to them yet, but if the temperatures rise
anymore you never know what might happen.
Male Common Blue Butterfly on orchid
So not a day for birding really and we weren’t out at the
correct time for photographing insects I know, but quite a few birds seen none
the less including our Grebes and a
few heard including Blackcap, Reed
Warbler, Chiffchaff and Willow
Warbler. A Grey Squirrel was seen as we left the reserve!
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