my local patch and wildlife - Ian McDonald

[Robert]

Ian,

The words Shingle and Sett were new for me. One can always learn something new. 

Your photographs are outstanding as always. Jasmin and I have birds in our home. Bird behavior is very familiar.

[ian mcdonald]

I had a look for the female Black Redstart at the coast the other day. The weather was very windy and cold. I did not see it but it has been seen since. I did see a few Eider Ducks and a Long Tailed Duck.





There are signs that Spring is almost here, with Hazel catkins and Snowdrops in flower along the river.

[ian mcdonald]

A friend sent me a message about a rare Stonefly. They appear in February and March. They are called Northern February Red, Brachyptera putata. They are endemic to the UK. Most of the records are from Scotland. I looked at an internet site by Buglife and it said a good place to look for the Stoneflies during February and March is on fence posts along rivers. As it was a calm, mild day yesterday I went down to the river and started looking at fence posts. I had not gone far when I noticed a Stonefly sitting on top of a fence post. I took a few photos. bearing in mind a feature of the rare one was its antennae and wing pattern, so a good quality close up was needed. I saw another Stonefly on the next fence post, which looked similar. I sent the photos. to Craig Macadam, who specialises in Stoneflies and he has said that the ones I saw were a Male and Female Northern February Red. So, if you live near a river, keep a look-out for Stoneflies. The body length is between 7-10mm. Take a good close up photo. and send it to Buglife. You may have found a rare one. The first photo. is of the Male and the second, the Female. There are only 375 records of the species in the world.

[ashley]

That's a great find Ian; well done  
It's all the more significant as an indicator of good water quality, increasingly under threat unfortunately.

[ian mcdonald]

Ashley, what,s more surprising to me is that there are 10 villages up-river from us.

[ian mcdonald]

7th? time lucky. Just a light breeze at home. I was told by the man who delivers our fish that the weather was alright at the coast this morning. When I got there just after dinner time it was the usual howling gale. I met a couple in the car park who were also looking for the female Black Redstart. After a fruitless walk around they went back to the car park. It was then that the bird, which had been out of site on the shingle, flew up on to the sea wall. I managed a couple of photos. and shouted to the couple that the bird was there. They joined me and we all got some decent pictures. The bird was fairly obliging and perched on the wall despite the strong wind. In the photo. the feathers can be seen lifting in the wind.



Almost in the waves were 27? Turnstone. They kept flying up as the waves crashed on shore.



With the Turnstones was a Purple Sandpiper.

[ian mcdonald]

Another trip to the coast today. The first time I,ve been and the tide was out. I did not see the Redstart but there were some Grey Seals resting on the beach. The darker ones blend in with the rocks.



There were two pairs of Eiders calling and displaying.



A Curlew was probing for food.



Two Greater Black Backed gulls were surveying the scene.



The weather was cold and dull and there is snow forecast for next week.

[ian mcdonald]

Last night I heard Pink Footed Geese calling. I went outside to try to discover which direction they were flying in. They seemed to be heading North, back to their Summer grounds? After being in the house for days due to the rain and cold I ventured down to the river this afternoon. There were Oyster Catchers and a Redshank on the opposite bank. At this time of year there seems to be many yellow flowers in bloom. One patch of Yellow Star of Bethlehem, Gagea lutea was seen.



Lesser Celendine is just coming into flower.



Coltsfoot was seen in several places.

 

One of the few wild plants with green flowers is Dogs Mercury, still in bud.



A Pussy Willow bush, Salix caprea, was full of flowers which are a good food source for insects at this time of year.



Two groups of Siskin were seen feeding on Alders. About 200 Pink footed Geese were flying North as I returned home.

[ian mcdonald]

Another walk by the river yesterday. I found four Stoneflies on a fence post. These have been identified by Craig Macadam as Perlodes mortoni, Orange-striped Stonefly. The females are larger than the males and have longer wings.



Female Orange-striped Stonefly.



Male Orange-striped Stonefly.

[LoisRichter]

Hello, Ian!

I enjoyed your bird photos.  Thanks for sharing.

I've been a birder for a long time and last year started a new video show called "Birding With Lois" and I hope to someday include birders from around the world.
For now, you can see my existing shows at   
https://BirdingWithLois.global

[ian mcdonald]

A group of botanists came to the river this afternoon to see the Gagea lutea. One of the group found a new site for the species.



A small patch of wood anemone, A. nemorosa was seen in flower under some bushes.



Alternate-leaved Golden Saxifrage is in flower.



Also seen was Whitlow Grass, a tiny plant of bare areas.

[ian mcdonald]

I had a walk up the local Burn (stream) this morning. The weather was sunny and mild. I noticed that some of the Larch were coming into flower. The Burn is almost in constant shade due to hills and conifers, (planted). Among the birds seen were two Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a Treecreeper.

[ian mcdonald]

The weather here has been mixed. Some days are cold and dull while on the other hand we get an occasional sunny warm day. A couple of days ago we had some sun. I went for a walk at the coast, along a disused railway track. The track used to be a grassy path with many wild flowers. Now it has been covered with tarmac and the flora is mainly dense gorse. Closer to the shore I saw plants of Scurvey-grass.



Also there were many plants of Spring Beauty, another alien introduced from America.



A first for me was Cypress Spurge, another introduction.





A study by the BSBI has found that there are now more alien plant species in the UK and Ireland than native species.

[ian mcdonald]

A field trip to the coast yesterday took place in sunny weather. We went to look for Early Forget-me-Not, M. ramosissima. It was last recorded on a golf course in the 1950s. We did not find any but recorded around 130 different species. One was a tiny vetch, Spring Vetch, Vicia lathyroides. This was only about 1" high.



In the car park our leader spotted Mossy Stonecrop, Crassula tillaea, a plant so small it looked like a red smudge to me.



This afternoon I went down to the river and was rewarded by three sightings of an Osprey.

[MarcR]

Ian,

You have a really beautiful location.