Wildlife sightings cause excitement on Northumberland Wildlife Trust's East Chevington nature reserve

As part of the Catch My Drift project, five volunteers spent three days surveying the 185-hectare East Chevington reserve for butterflies, with one volunteer having spotted a rare purple hairstreak butterfly next to one of the reserve’s footpaths.

The butterfly relies entirely on the oak tree to survive, using it as a food source, home and place to lay eggs.

It is mostly found in oak woods across southern England and Wales, with scattered colonies further north, but are not massively recorded in this region.

The reserve has semi mature oak trees, so the reserve says that it [the butterfly] is likely living in one of them.

On the same day, an emperor dragonfly, previously unrecorded on the East Chevington reserve, was spotted and photographed by a member of the public named Dave Purnell.

This breed of dragonfly is described as a ‘great colonizer of ponds’, and was found in a pond created by Catch My Drift project volunteers.

Additionally, at Druridge Bay, a pair of juvenile tawny owls were spotted perching in the woodland trees on the wildlife charity’s Hauxley reserve.

However, a red squirrel moved itself into the tawny owl nest boxes at the end of April and reportedly barricaded the doorway with sticks to stop the owl from getting back in.

This had led to staff on the reserve ‘resigning’ themselves to the prospect of young Tawny owls not appearing once again this year.

However, their hopes were once again lifted when adult owls found somewhere else to breed on the reserve.

Tawny owls are said to prefer more mature trees, so it is hoped that as the reserve’s woodland starts to mature, they will become a regular sighting.

Alex Lister, Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Druridge Bay landscape manager, said: "From a squirrel taking over a nest box and another taking a look inside the building in the morning to tawny owls taking over the playground, turf wars with crows and now a rare butterfly and dragonfly being found at East Chevington, who says wildlife isn’t great?

“Access to our reserves if free, so if you’re watching your cash this summer, come and see what you can spot for yourself.”