End of year favourites - Northumberland

As I live on the northern edge of Newcastle it is very easy to escape into proper countryside.  Away from my garden and my two local haunts of Gosforth Park and Banks' Pond I most often head north up the Northumberland coast or west up the Tyne Valley.  Here are a few photos from my travels in Newcastle and Northumberland this year.

I expect you knew what they all are but if not here's a list: brambling (♂), common frog, ashy mining bee (♂), common lizard, chocolate mining bee (♀), adder (♂), grey seal, ring-necked parakeet, common hawker (♂), willow tit, yellowhammer (♂), hawfinch (♂), swallow, twite (♂), shore lark, snow bunting (♂), roe deer (♀).

Basking in the sunshine

We found these lizards at the weekend on a trip to the apiary of the chairman of our local Beekeeping Association.  The hives are in a sunny sheltered spot that obviously suits lizards as well as bees.

These are common lizards (Zootoca vivipara).  I think these are probably males with wonderful colouring which changes from brown and black at the front to blue/green at the back.

These photos show their ear pits.

You can see that the lizard's tail is much longer than its body.

This one is a pregnant female.  Zootoca vivipara gives birth to live young in July, so any day now.