Making a silk purse from a sow's ear...

The plan was quite simple. Get Barry up early and scamper to Seahouses in Northumberland to spend the day cruising the Farne islands, landing on two of the islands to take photographs. There was just one thing I hadn't allowed for. Fog. All day fog wherever we tried to go. We had to abandon the idea of going to the Farnes. We headed north for Holy Island [because the tides were perfect for access all day] but the weather deteriorated even further with the haar now combining with heavy rain.

So we turned back south. A red-backed shrike had been reported at East Chevington NWT. We soon saw the bird but very distantly and, of course, in the mist! I took some other pictures however.

Meadow Pipit This meadow pipit was unperturbed by my presence as was the clicking reed bunting behind me.

Reed Bunting The mist over north pool did reveal some arctic terns visiting from nearby Coquet Island and three mute swans passed overhead in the gloom.

Mute Swan I took photographs of many orchids that day - at 3 different sites. The orchid photos will be added to my 2012 Orchids posting but to give a flavour I'll put one picture from each site in this entry.

Common Spotted Orchid. East Chevington

Common Spotted orchid just opening - with attendant bee.

Next call was just down the road at Hauxley NWT. The reserve is part of the former Radcliffe open cast coal mine, which was landscaped to produce a lake with islands. This is potentially a very good reserve and had reliable sightings of roseate terns on the beach [again from Coquet Island]. We sat in one of the hides for a while and watched common terns in the mist. A young black-headed gull was resting in the grass.

Black-headed gull juv. High Hauxley On our walk towards the beach I snapped a rabbit and a bee on a dog rose flower.

Rabbit Incidentally I've still got the image stabilizer switched off. Also the blade of dark green grass pointing at the rabbit's eye actually passes across his face. Using Photoshop I cloned it away. I think I have learnt to do this most effectively. My hourly training fee comes in scones!!

Dog Rose, High Hauxley White-tailed bumble bee and rosa canina.

All the close-ups taken at East Chevington and Hauxley were taken with my 400mm DO lens which shows what a versatile lens it is. The only problem is the minimum focus distance - sometimes it is tricky to get the 3.8m away needed for focus to be achieved.  The viper's bugloss photo was a good case in point. I was almost falling down a ditch to get far enough away!

Viper's Bugloss echium vulgare High Hauxley Viper's bugloss or Echium vulgare. Great blue! Apparently the seeds resemble a viper's head and the word bugloss is an old word for ox tongue which the leaves resemble. So now you know!

Eventually we climbed up a small dune to reach the beach. We could hear terns distantly. This is what we could see looking along the dunes...

Hauxley NWT fog Outside the hide a pheasant was unsure whether to panic or not. Eventually we left him in peace. I can't resist a close-up of a male pheasant. Quite exotic!

Pheasant Same bird.

Pheasant On the walk back we passed a stand of teasel plants but not the normal one we see locally. This was cut-leaved teasel, dipsacus laciniatus, a european invader which in the USA has become an invasive menace, especially in Illinois. Rarer in UK, it is not even mentioned in my Collins Complete British Wild Flowers. Book therefore has wrong title!

Cut-leaved Teasel dipsacus laciniatus High Hauxley Back at the car park I photographed northern marsh orchid and a nicely obliging common blue butterfly [male].

High Hauxley: common blue

We drove into Amble to see if there were any sailings round Coquet Island [ever optimists] but not until 4pm and then the weather might scupper it. On, then, to Cresswell Pond. Good birds: common terns, adult little gulls, avocets, blackwit, dunlin. But still misty. Final call would be further south at Bishop Middleham Quarry to look for butterflies and orchids. By the time we got there we were definitely into much nicer weather.

All the pictures taken at Bishop Middleham were taken with my Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens, still with IS switched off. Bishop Middleham Quarry is a most wonderful place once you've got your eye in, as Barry says, and start to spot the good plants.

Bishop Middleham Quarry 2012 As for orchids we did wonderfully in the end but you'll have to wait until I update the orchid posting. As we entered the reserve Barry found this special plant.

Heath Spotted Orchid Dactylorhiza maculata v leucantha. BMQ I think this is Heath Spotted Orchid Dactylorhiza  maculata v. leucantha, a rare but widespread form  and a new orchid for me. Plant of the day.

A part of the quarry face had holes that sand martins were using.

You can see a sand martin returning home right of centre.

In the above image you can see the bird returning but you can also see three birds poking their heads out of a hole in the rock in the far right part of the image.

Butterflies were active in the warm sunshine - such a contrast to the weather further north. Northern brown argus butterfly - note white spots on forewing. Closed wing view in the second image. A rare butterfly.

Common Blue Common Blue Perhaps this one had taken a battering in the bad weather.

Common Blue Common blue male.

Common Blue Bordered Sallow (Pyrrhia umbra) This day flying moth was on the quarry floor. It's A Bordered Sallow moth Pyrrhia umbra.

Below is a small heath butterfly, a drab and inconspicuous species usually only seen at rest with its wings closed.

Small Heath Bishop Middleham Finally two more photos of the northern brown argus. Note the white spots on the forewing and, on this occasion, when the wings are closed the black spots are absent from the little white rings. If you see what I mean.

Common Blue The butterfly hasn't moved. It's still on the same dead grass stalk.

Common Blue Barry found a five spot burnet moth resting on a common spotted orchid.

5 spot Burnet moth Arrivederci!