I had a highlight this week on the work patch with a Hobby going thru being actively seen off the patch by a horde of Swallows. The Hobby did try catching one or two of the Swallows which was great for me to see but the Swallows didn’t like it, so having ganged up on it the Hobby soon moved thru, This week wasn’t great for insects but it was good to see Small Coppers on the work patch in the one day we did get some sunshine.
But its been an Old Moor week this week with our first visit on Tuesday 9th for the organised Bat Watch this was a great outing and a time for learning. The event started at 8pm with a finish time of 10pm the first 45 minutes was all talk going into the background of bats, how many species etc. but we were soon out walking the paths with bat detectors in hand. We ended up hearing 3 species of bat from the 5 found at Old Moor these were Common Pipistrelle, Soprano Pipistrelle and Noctule, leaving Daubentons and Brown Eared for another day, looking forward to the next one on the 6th of September.
My next visit was on the 12th with the hope of finding a few waders moving thru and maybe a couple of Dragonfly Hawkers species as well. The insects went out the window with what the weather had given me but the day was saved with a few waders going thru these were Green Sandpiper (7) [Video Link], Knot (1) [Video Link], Greenshank (4) [Video Link], and Redshank. Other birds of note on the day were Snipe, Grey Herons, Common Tern, Sand Martins, Kestrel, and Great Spotted Woodpecker. The Lapwing flock now appears to be building up nicely at Old Moor. After a couple of hours in Wath Ings hide the day seemed to have had warmed up a little so I made my back via the pools catching sight of Common Blue, Blue Tailed, Azure and Large Red Damselflies, 2 Common Blue Butterflies and a Small Tortoiseshell and a Brown Hawker not for the hoped for Southern, that was the day I was happy I had my Greenshank the bird I had come for.
Small Copper
Common Blue Female
Huddsbirder 