A summer of surprises...

Yesterday I was out on my patch carrying out my monthly Wetland Bird Survey on my two sites in and around Hexham. It was clear that winter in closing in, with the first Goosander on the river for months and groups of 'tseep'-ing Redwings streaming over on their southward journey. Most interestingly, 3 Canada Geese flew over heading south-east. However, the last dregs of summer were still clinging on, with a single Chiffchaff in the reeds at Wydon Water.

This made me think back to the past summer. It was a fab season on my patch, with many unexpected finds! Unfortunately I was quite busy focusing on moths to get to grips with them and with my WeBS, and so didn't manage any nest records at all in my local patch. However, I didn't ignore the local breeders. White-throated Dippers didn't breed on my stretch of river - they had been preparing their nests early, and probably had eggs when the Beast from the East hit, and so they may have moved on and bred elsewhere - however they are still about, as I sighted them frequently in July and August while on summer holidays.

I haven't seen much evidence for Common Kingfisher breeding, however I have certainly seen an increased number of them recently, suggesting that juveniles are about. In May I saw a female Goosander with seven young chicks, which hopefully will have grown into adult birds however I haven't had any sighting of them since. But the biggest surprise of the summer bird-wise came on the 24th July while birding with Elliot Montieth on the river. Amongst a large gathering of Grey Wagtails on the rocks near the motorway bridge we spotted a cracking adult male Yellow Wagtail!

Over the next few days I had four sightings of at least 3 individuals, the adult male (seen twice, one of which it was seen carrying food), an adult female and a juvenile - a species that I hadn't previously seen on the patch!! I suspect they bred on the surrounding farmland and come to the river to feed and drink.

However, the best things on my patch this summer probably weren't the birds. This year I began moth trapping as well as recording day-flying moths on my patch. Most surprising was the diversity of day-flying micro moths that I found at Wydon Water. On some days I recorded over 100 moths in the small area! However the most exciting find at Wydon Water was a very small tortrix which the county moth recorder Tom Tams confirmed to be an Endothenia nigricostana, only the second to be recorded in Northumberland! This was a very worn individual, however a few days later I found a second, much fresher E. nigricostana at Wydon Water.

The stretch of river that I count is also far from dead when it comes to moths. Although I have recorded a good diversity of day-flying micros and carpets, my highlight there was a single Hummingbird Hawkmoth! Other surprising lepidoptera that I have recorded on the site include a single Wall, and a large number of Small Coppers.