Orchid confusion in Northumberland: 7 June

This week I've learned that Dactylorhiza orchids are 'fracking' hard to ID! And I'm not talking Reed/Marsh Warbler hard here, more like Alder/Willow Flycatcher hard! Not only do Dactylorhiza species look incredibly similar, but there is a huge amount of variation within species and hybridisation is very common. Even Kew struggle to put a name to them (see here), so as a notice botanist what chance do I have?

At Lindisfarne on Sunday we found quite a few orchids growing in the sand dunes at The Snook and in the dunes along the north shore of the main island. I identified several as Northern Marsh-orchid Dactylorhiza purpurella but noted a large variation in flower colour and shape. But after a little online reading I started to doubt my identification, so back on Lindisfarne this morning I took a closer look at them.

Dactylorhiza orchids, The Snook, Lindisfarne. Note the variation in size, shape and flower colour.

I think both the pale pink and darker purple orchids we found here are Northern Marsh-orchid Dactylorhiza purpurella. Both have similar shaped flowers with a similar pattern of deeper purple lines and spots on the lip (lower petal) and a whitish throat, as well as unspotted leaves (although apparently some purpurella can have dark spots on the leaves too).

Northern Marsh-orchid Dactylorhiza purpurella, The Snook, Lindisfarne

Northern Marsh-orchid Dactylorhiza purpurella, The Snook, Lindisfarne

Note the similarity in the flower shape and pattern of deeper purple lines and spots in this pic and the pic below

Maybe the flowers become lighter as they age?

Animalia were easier to name but thin on the ground at Lindisfarne today. Lepidoptera were keeping their heads down in the cool easterly wind, with just a single Wall Lasiommata megera butterfly and a few The Cinnabar Tyria jacobaeae moths seen, and still no sign of any Dark Green Fritillaries. 3 Common Swift over north and several Ringed Plover, 5 Dunlin and a few Common Eider were picked out on the estuary were the only birds of note.

Wall Lasiommata megera, The Snook, Lindisfarne. These butterflies have declined severely over the last several decades and are
now found mainly in coastal areas. Northumberland lies at the northern edge of their range.

The Cinnabar Tyria jacobaeae, The Snook, Lindisfarne

A quiet hour or so this afternoon at Newton Pool logged 1m Yellow Wagtail, 2m Common Teal, 4 Ringed Plover, several Pied Wagtail, 1 ad. Kittiwake, 4+ Sand Martin, 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 juv Stonechat, a juv Robin being fed by an adult and a couple of Willow Warbler (H). No sign of yesterday's Barnacle Goose though.

Today was our last day in Northumberland and we're really sad to leave. Northumberland is teaming with wildlife and we've had a great week taking in the seabird spectacle and wild flowers. We're really looking forward to coming back - maybe in the autumn for some east coast migration?

Long Nanny to Newton Pool: 6 June

Rachel and I spent the day walking the St. Oswald's Way along the coast from Long Nanny south along Newton Links to Newton Pool Nature Reserve. Several nesting Little Tern (the wardens told us 10 pairs at least this year), hundreds of nesting Arctic Tern, a few Common Tern, 8 summer plumage Sanderling, 2 Ringed Plover and 2 Shelduck were logged at Long Nanny, and 3 Stonechat (1m, 2 juv), 1 Barnacle Goose, 2m Common Teal, 2 Common Swift S, several Willow Warbler, 3 Sedge Warbler, 2+ Reed Bunting, 2 Shelduck and 2+ Sand Martin at Newton Pool.

Arctic Tern, Long Nanny - never tire of 'em!

Arctic Tern, Long Nanny

The Arctic Tern colony at Long Nanny is the largest on the UK mainland with around 1000 pairs

1 of 2 juvenile Stonechat, Newton Pool

Barnacle Goose, Newton Pool - summering or plastic?

Also, several Wall Lasiommata megera butterflies were noted, as well as a number of Northern Marsh-orchid Dactylorhiza purpurella along with lots of with common wild flowers.

Northern Marsh-orchid Dactylorhiza purpurella, Newton Links

Northumberland National Park: 5 June

Explored a little of Northumberland National Park today. A walk along the Beamish Valley to Linhope Spout produced 1 Common Sandpiper along the river, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 4 Whinchat, several redpolls overhead, lots of Willow Warbler (only 1 actually seen), and a small flock of extremely tame Chaffinches (several males and females) that didn't like our posh M&S raisins one bit. A hike up to Simonside Ridge in the afternoon to look for Emperor Moths Saturnia pavonia drew a blank for the moth in cool windy conditions, but we did find 3-4 Red Grouse, 1+ Curlew, a superb Carabus nitens ground beetle, and some cool plants including mosses Juniper Haircap Polytrichum juniperinum (I think) and Common hair-cap moss Polytrichum commune, and lots of Bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus and Common cotton-grass Eriophorum angustifolium.

Carabus nitens, Simonside Ridge

Male Chaffinch, Linhope Spout (this was as soft as I could get it Jaffa!). Note the fine hair-like feathers on the nape? The
females also had these (click to enlarge).

Juniper Haircap Polytrichum juniperinum?, Simonside Ridge

Common hair-cap moss Polytrichum commune, Simonside Ridge

Bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus

Simonside Ridge, Northumberland National Park

Also witnessed an interesting but tragic piece of animal behaviour. While driving along the B6342 a few miles south of Rothbury, we saw a Skylark pecking vigorously at something in the road. Pulling over, we realised that the 'something' was actually a dead Skylark! Concerned the live bird might also get hit by a car, we moved the still warm corpse (an adult bird) off the road, and took a few pics in the process. Presumably the live bird was trying to encourage the dead one to move? Rachel and I have also seen this behaviour before, with a flock of Redshanks pecking at a dead one in a road in Iceland in 1999.

Skylark foot - check out the length of that hind claw!

Wild flowers - Craster to Howick: 4 June

No birding today but plenty of wild flowers noted on a circular walk from Craster to Howick returning along the Northumberland coast path, including Spring Squill Scilla verna, Northern Marsh-orchid Dactylorhiza purpurella (with some dark spotting on the leaves), Ivy-leaved Toadflax Cymbalaria muralis, Lungwort Pulmonaria officinalis, Common Comfrey Symphytum officinale, Red Campion Silene dioica, Herb-Robert Geranium robertianum, Primrose Primula vulgaris, Bush Vetch Vicia sepium, Greater Periwinkle Vinca major, Lesser Periwinkle Vinca minor and Bush Vetch Vicia sepium.

Spring Squill Scilla verna, coast path south of Craster. This plant is found on grassy cliff tops mainly on the west coast of Britain
and east coast of Ireland.

Lungwort Pulmonaria officinalis, near Howick. A garden escapee now common in the wild across Britain.

2 Wall Lasiommata megera butterflies were the most notable Lepidoptera seen today.

The Farne Islands: 3 June

It's been a very long time coming but today I finally visited the Farne Islands for the first time, and what an absolutely fantastic place! We sailed with Billy Shiel's Boats - shame it was so busy with people and we were crammed into the boat like sardines (the whole experience reminded me of my trip to the Galapagos), but well worth the visit. I feel slightly ashamed it's taken me so long to get here, but I'll definitely be coming back.

Spent two hours on Staple Island in the morning and then two hours on Inner Farne in the afternoon. On Staple Island lots of Atlantic Puffin, Razorbill, Guillemot, Kittiwake, Common Eider, Shag, Lesser Black-backed Gull, and 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Rock Pipit, Herring Gull, 3+ Mallard were noted, and on Inner Farne lots of Arctic Tern, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Atlantic Puffin, Guillemot, Razorbill, Fulmar, Kittiwake, Shag, Black-headed Gull and 1 Rock Pipit and several Barn Swallow. Also seen were small numbers of nesting Great Cormorant on Inner Farne, lots of Great Black-backed Gull, and 1 Sand Martin over north at Seahouses Harbour. Plenty of Grey Seal Halichoerus grypus were seen in the Outer Farnes and lots of Sea Campion Silene uniflora flowering on Staple Island.

Arctic Tern attack, Inner Farne

Arctic Terns nest right next to the boardwalk on Inner Farne. And I mean right next to the boardwalk! The birds were still on eggs...

...and aggressively defending their nests against unwelcome tourists

Incoming!!!

As it says on the Farne Islands blog "our Arctic Terns are now pecking hard - you have been warned!"

It's impossible to beat the views of Arctic Terns that you get on Inner Farne

Atlantic Puffin, Staple Island

Atlantic Puffin, Inner Farne

Atlantic Puffin, Inner Farne

Atlantic Puffins, Inner Farne

Female Common Eider on nest, Staple Island

Northern Fulmar, Staple Island

Common Guillemots, Staple Island

Sea Campion Silene uniflora, Staple Island

Inner Farne

Castle Point and Lindisfarne: 2 June

Our first full day in Northumberland was spent walking the coast path between Embleton and Castle Point (Dunstanburgh Castle) in the morning, and then Lindisfarne (Holy Island) in the afternoon. Good numbers of Kittiwake, Razorbill and Fulmar were noted on the cliffs at Castle Point, along with a single Guillemot, 1+ Rock Pipit, 19 Common Eider and 21 Oystercatcher. 1 Northern Wheatear, 2 Sedge Warbler (1H), 2 Shelduck, 6+ House Martin, lots of Barn Swallows and a Yellowhammer were also logged. Lots of Green-veined White Pieris napi butterflies about and flowering plants noted include Bird's-foot-trefoil Lotus corniculatus,

Lindisfarne was very quiet bird-wise but Rachel and I had an excellent walk around the island as well the dunes at The Snook. Spent a few hours doing macro photography and found plenty of The Cinnabar Tyria jacobaeae moths, several caterpillars and pupae of Six-Spot Burnet Zygaena filipendulae, lots of Garden Tiger Arctia caja caterpillars, and some cool plants including several Northern Marsh-orchid Dactylorhiza purpurella and Common cotton-grass Eriophorum angustifolium.

The Cinnabar Tyria jacobaeae, The Snook, Lindisfarne

Garden Tiger Arctia caja caterpillar, The Snook, Lindisfarne

Northern Marsh-orchid Dactylorhiza purpurella, The Snook, Lindisfarne

Common cotton-grass Eriophorum angustifolium, Lindisfarne