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A few hours on my hands after the days jobs were done, so I decided on a visit out to North Cave, I arrived at around 12:30pm to the surprise that there was no butty van, glad I brought a few emergency rations.

i got the gear together, just camera and bins this time, and headed out onto the reserve. I headed down Dryham Lane to the sound of Blue Tits and Cetti’s Warbler, I decided on taking the path that skirts Carp and Far Lakes. I firstly stopped at the hide overlooking the main lake, here I saw Little Grebe, Tufted Duck, Crow, Black headed Gulls, Mallard and Gadwall.

The route around to Carp and Far Lakes were very quiet, I did hear the familiar sound of a Fieldfare, I looked up and around to see a mixed flock of Fieldfare and Redwings going through. Blackbirds, Robins, and Black headed Gulls, were seen around the Far Lake. On approaching the Snipe field area I saw a couple very interested in a bramble patch, I approach very slowly and quietly to find a Grass Snake basking about half way up on the bramble, needless to say it was a great photo opportunity, having never seen one as close I did take a few photos.

My next stop was the Reedbed Hide, here I saw Black tailed Godwit, Ruff, Little Egret, and Shovelers. After the Reedbed Hide I stopped off at the Dragonfly ponds where I saw Migrant Hawkers, Common Darters, Red Admiral Butterfly and Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly.

My final port of call was the Turret Hide seeing from here, Common Snipe, Grey Heron, and Greylag Geese.

It ended up being and enjoyable walk around North Cave setting off thinking I wasn’t going to enjoy my time here, how wrong I was, nature has a way of picking you up, and what an encounter I had with the Grass Snake

Bird List : Blackbird, Black headed Gull, Black tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Coot, Cormorant, Fieldfare, Gadwall, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Long tailed Tit, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Redwing, Robin, Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon, Rook, Ruff, Shoveler, Skylark, Snipe, Tufted Duck, Wigeon.

Butterfly List : red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell

Dragonfly List : Common Darter, Migrant Hawker

Homeward bound, after a great few days in Norfolk, port of call for stop off on the way North was to be a return visit to RSPB Frampton. I arrived at about 10am, got my gear together and clocked in at the hub, with the staff at the centre, stayed around the centre initially looking at a close by Wheatear, glad I did, as a guy came in saying there was an Arctic Skua, later turned out to be a Long tailed Skua, which had landed on site, so finding out the location I was off to have a look, hadn’t seen one of these in a while. I soon connected with said Skua, due to the little crowd that had gathered, it seemed rather happy blogging about on the water, it was good to see close up, as I’ve only seen these distant on a sea watch, it did fly around occasionally , it stayed on site till at least 13:30.

After the excitement I was back on wader watch, there was a lot to go through, highlights being Little Stints, Curlew Sandpipers, Green Sandpiper, Snipe, Dunlins, Black tailed Godwits, Ruff and Avocets, there was also a Wheatear near to the visitor centre Very little was seen at the 360° hide, so I called at the Reedbed hide, where there was more wader action, more of the previous waders seen before plus about 20 Spoonbills, the resident Whooper Swan put in an appearance.

Today was only a drop in visit to Frampton, I find this a great place for many species, and no doubt there be something turning up when I leave, as this place has a tendency to draw in the unexpected anytime.

Bird List : Avocet, Black headed Gull, Black tailed Godwit, Canada Goose, Crow, Cattle Egret, Cormorant, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Lapwing, Linnet, Little Grebe, Little Stint, Long tailed Skua, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pintail, Red Kite, Ringed Plover, Ruff, Shelduck, Shoveler, Snipe, Starling, Swallow, Wheatear, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon (34)

Why Titchwell again? I had to have another go at the American Golden Plover (Lifer at Risk), as the day went by, it wasn’t going to be again, another dip, but there were other things to see.

Willow Emerald was the first thing to see on the west Bank Path near to the Visitor Centre. No Bearded Tit today, a bit windy, which they don’t particularly like. Island Hide was my first port of call, here I saw Avocet, Teal, Shoveler, Wigeon, Black tailed Godwit, Ruff, Lapwing and 32, yep 32 Spoonbills.

I was back on the west bank pathway, Parrinder hide was my next port of call, as the American Golden Plover hadn’t been seen today, I settled in to view over the Volunteer Marsh first, here I saw Redshank, Curlew and a Knot. Over on the other side of Parrinder, overlooking the Freshwater Marsh, lots of Greylag Geese with Black tailed Godwits, Ruff, Pied Wagtails, Starling, Linnets, Black headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, plenty of Golden Plover and Lapwings.

On then down to the beach, the tide was well and truly out, so a little walk to get into position. Down here there were Black tailed and Bar tailed Godwits, Oystercatchers, Redshanks, Turnstones, Black headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, and again for me nowt out at sea.

Back on the west bank path, a little crowd had gathered near the dunes, due to a Convolvolus Hawk Moth being found, a bit of a beast and a plain looking moth, a new moth species for me.

After dinner I was once again looking for the American Golden Plover, a fruitless task today, but I did see Pink footed Geese going over, Great White Egret, Meadow Pipit, Dunlins and a Common Gull whilst searching. I got talking to someone who hadn’t seen the wasp spider or the moth, off we went. We saw the Wasp Spider also ended up finding another six on our way down to the beach area and the moth, the Hawk Moth however had done a bunk, but a Common Lizard was nice compensation.

I left the person behind and ventured off back towards the visitor centre looking for Dragonflies now, only finding Common Darters and Migrant Hawkers. I received a message from a friend back in Huddersfield of a Lesser Yellowlegs that had been seen near the Parrinder hide, off I went back towards the hide, finding one guy there who kindly put me onto the bird, very distant and I’d left my scope back in the car, more birders were now arriving, another guy kindly let me look thru his scope, not a new bird but nice to see and a good one to end the day.

Bird List : Avocet, Bar tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black tailed Godwit, Canada Goose, Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Gadwall, Golden Plover, Goldfinch, Great Black backed Gull, Great Tit, Great White Egret, Herring Gull, Kestrel, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Yellowlegs, Linnet, Little Egret, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied wagtail, Pink footed Goose, Redshank, Robin, Ruff, Shelduck, Shoveler, Spoonbill, Starling, Teal, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren (46)

Dragonfly List ; Common darter, Migrant Hawker, Willow Emerald Damselfly

Todays outing was to Titchwell Marsh, I arrived at 10am, a little bit later than I would have liked, but here I was. Got the gear together and straight out, no messing, stopping at the Visitor Centre feeders was the first port of call, seeing Blue Tit, Great Tit, Dunnock and Woodpigeon. On to the reserve then, walking towards the Island Hide a guy (photographer) was being really joyful, he’d just photographed his first Bearded Tit. Island Hide being my first port of call, soon I believe to be replaced with new, from here, Spoonbills, Black tailed Godwits, Avocets, Ruff, Shovelers, Teal, and Greylag Geese.

Back on the footpath, I was going to head towards the beach, but the Bearded Tit man was waving, beckoning us over, so off I went, a family group pf Bearded Tits were showing close to the path, needless to say a few photos were taken, before they took flight.

Back on the freshwater marsh, hoping to see the reported American Golden Plover from this morning, it turned out to be a needless task, it was a no show, despite extensive searching. Next stop then was the parrinder hide, where I had dinner, also seeing Pied wagtails, Common Sandpiper, Avocets, Golden Plovers, Swallows, and a Grey Heron.

Heading down to the beach, this was the section of the Wasp Spiders, but despite looking, again it wasn’t my day. I stopped off at the saltmarsh area and viewed a few Redshank, Dunlin, Curlews, and Little Egret.

The tide was out when I reached the beach, so it was a little walk to get slightly closer to the birds feeding on the shoreline, Oystercatchers, Ringed Plovers, Black and Bar tailed Godwits, Curlews and Turnstones were all on show.

Back on to the reserve, I once again decided on looking for the American Golden Plover, it would be a lifer if found, but wasn’t to be, despite looking thru lots of Golden Plovers. It was about 4:30pm now, so I headed back to the car and toilet before heading out again to look for dragonflies, Migrant Hawkers, Common Darters and Willow emerald Damselflies were the only ones encountered.

It was now close to 5:45pm, I had to be in Sculthorpe for a meal reservation at 7:30pm, about 30 mins travel away, I decided on looking for the Wasp Spider again and found it, luck was turning so I had another look for the American Golden Plover, I wasn’t that lucky.

Video of the Day can be seen pressing THIS

Bird List :- Avocet, Bar tailed Godwit, Bearded Tit, Blackbird, Black headed Gull, Black tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Cettis Warbler, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Egyptian Goose, Golden Plover, Great Blacked backed Gull, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Kestrel, Lapwing, Linnet, Little Egret, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Robin, Ruff, Shelduck, Shoveler, Snipe, Spoonbill, Starling, Swallow, Teal, Turnstone, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellow Wagtail (46)

Dragonflies : Common Darter, Migrant Hawker, Willow Emerald Damselfly

Landed at Frampton at approx 8:45am, after a 2 1/2 hours drive, traffic conditions were good on the way down, weather started off dull and overcast, but brightened up as I travelled south.

Got the gear together after which the first stop would be toilets, the Visitor Centre doesn’t open till 10am but fortunately there was an outside toilet open. So everything sorted on set off, stopping close by to scan the marsh adjacent to the visitor centre, seeing plenty of Dunlin, Ruff, Lapwing and a few Avocet. Moving on further down the Marsh, stopping about half way along to scan again due to me a large flock of birds which turned out to be Black tailed Godwit, which also had a few Ruff mixed in, more Dunlin nearby but also this time a few Little Stint mixed in, plus Curlew Sandpipers and Snipe.

I walked on down towards the saltmarsh seeing Little Egret and Cattle Egret, Pied Wagtail on the marsh and a fly over Yellow Wagtail. Nothing much on the saltmarsh when I got there, a few Crows, Linnets and Meadow Pipits on the small pools, nearby Black headed Gulls and Herring Gulls, fly over Swallows and House Martins.

I eventually called in at the East Hide and had time photographing a few Little Egrets, after which I walked on to the Reedbed Hide, where I saw approx 18 Spoonbills. The last port of call for today was the 360° hide where there were more waders, namely, Dunlin, Ruff, Pied wagtails, Greylag Geese and a nice fly thu juvenile Peregrine.

After my lunch I decided a walk along the top path, near the car park, along here I found Speckled Wood, Green veined White, Red Admiral and Comma Butterflies, along with Common Darter, Ruddy Darter and Migrant Hawker Dragonflies, and a few Willow Emerald damselflies.

I finally decided on a walk near to the Visitor Centre, left side looking at the Visitor Centre, and here there were more Common Darters, but also lots of Migrant Hawkers, one did eventually land and I filled my boots with photos.

Video of the Day can be seen by pressing THIS

Bird List : Avocet, Black headed Gull, Black tailed Godwit, Canada Goose, Cattle Egret, Cormorant, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Goldfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, Kestrel, lapwing, Linnet, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Little Stint, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Peregrine, Pintail, Ruff, Shelduck, Shoveler, Snipe, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Yellow Wagtail. (36)

Butterfly List : Comma, Green veined White, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood

Dragonfly List : Common Darter, Migrant Hawker, Ruddy darter, Willow Emerald Damselfly

A quick visit to the local ponds on another Dragonfly hunt, the first ones seen were the Common Darters , easy to spot and photograph, along with these were a few Southern Hawkers, got four in the air at one point, and it took a while but a couple of Ruddy Darters as well, alas no damselflies were seen. A single Small Copper Butterfly was a nice find.

It was time to try and catch some hawker species of Dragonflies, before the season ended, I decided that the playground would be RSPB Old Moor, unfortunately Old Moor doesn’t open till 9:30am, so 9:30am on the dot I was in the car park.

I got my gear together, clocked in at the hub, and on to the reserve. It was now cloudy with periods of sunshine, I stated my adventure off in the sensory garden, for my troubles I got a fly by Common Darter. there was nothing on the small pond.

On then to the larger pond area, passed the stepping stones pond, nothing here too, it wasn’t until I’d passed over the bridge and stopped at the left side pond that I started to find Darter species, Common was first but I soon picked up on Ruddy Darter too, along with a nice male Common Blue Damselfly.

I struggled for the rest of the day to add new species, having only one Brown Hawker on a fly past and a single male Emerald Damselfly along the new path, which was at a distance.

I decided on putting Dragonflies to one side and went down to the Wath Ings Hide , as this seemed to be where the bird action was today. Spoonbills were on site Eleven in total and six of those were doing what Spoonbills do at Wath Ings, sleeping. Other birds of note were Greenshank (3), Green Sandpipers (4), Common Sandpipers (2), Great White Egret (2), plus other species, see list.

Overall the day was good, a great number of Darters, littering the paths and fences, and a good number of Spoonbills with 11 seen

Bird List :- Blackbird, Black headed Gull, Canada Goose, Crow, Common Sandpiper, Coot, Cormorant, Gadwall, Great Tit, Great White Egret, Green Sandpiper, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Jay, Lesser Black backed Gull, Little Egret, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Shoveler, Spoonbill, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Wigeon, Woodpigeon (29)

Butterflies :- Brimstone, Common Blue, Large White, Speckled Wood

Dragonflies :- Brown Hawker, Common Blue Damselfly, Common Darter, Emerald Damselfly, Ruddy Darter

Video of the day can be seen here….PRESS

A few hours out, and there was a break in the weather, it had stopped raining, at last, so it was out to Bullcliffe NR, for a few hours.

Plenty of Common Red Soldier Beetles found on site, Gatekeeper Butterflies we in abundance, a single Red Admiral Butterfly was found, and a few Green veined White Butterflies.

I found a patch of Ox eye Daisies, I decided on settling here for a while, watching what was coming and going. I saw Hairy Shieldbug, Spotted Longhorn Beetle, plenty of Hoverflies Syrphus sp, Myathropa florea, Sphaerophoria sp, Episyrphus balteatus, Gatekeepers and Green veined Whites.

Looking around Bullcliffe, mainly on the bramble paches, I found a new fly I hadn’t seen before, a large and colourful fly, a Tachnid fly, going by the name of Phasia hemiptera, this is a parasite fly of shieldbugs, Green and Forest .

Looking other areas at Bullcliffe, more Butterflies to see, mainly, Green veined White and Gatekeeper but I did find a single Comma. At this bramble patch I came across one of my favourite hoverflies the Chrysotoxum bicinctum, a little beauty, black and yellow. On this same bramble patch, I caught sight of what I thought was another Chrysotoxum bicinctum, but eventually turned out to be a fly, another new one, a Thick headed fly, 9 to 11mm in length, aand goes by the name of Conops flavipes, another parasite fly, this ones larvae are parasites to bumblebess.

That was about it at Bullcliffe, heres a short video of the visit PRESS

A break in the dull weather to a fairly sunny one, resulted in me having a quick look around the local ponds after work, I was getting Dragonfly withdrawal.

On entry to the first pond resulted in nothing seen, the second one, at first glance was going the same way.

I moved around to the opposite side, and here I finally saw a Brown Hawker, flying low over the pond vegetation. There was nothing else I could see, so I thought.

I sat and waited, a Blue tailed Damselfly flew passed, male, drifted out of sight, then a female Emerald Damselfly settled on nearby vegetation. I took a few shots. It was a little too far the the 40-150mm lens, which I had on at the time. It was an Emerald Damselfly. However, looking at the photos, there was no sign of Blue, and it had pale wing spots (Pterostigma), I started looking for the spur on the thorax, and there it was, where it should be, I’d found my first local Willow Emerald Damselfly, female, it don’t get much better than that. To finish the visit off, I finally found a couple of female Emerald Damselflies on the nearby bramble patch.