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The weather got worse on the Friday but brighter again for the Saturday so the plan for today was Rutland Water then Aston Rowant for Butterflies Saturday then back home.

Rutland Water was a wash out it rained most of the time I was there and in the brief times it wasn’t Common Blue Damselflies could be seen darting amongst the bushes. I started the day at the visitor centre from the upstairs which overlooks lagoon 1, here I found a few Little Egret, Common Tern, Mallard, plenty of Coot, Swallow, House and Sand Martins overhead, Shoveler, Crow, Lapwing and Great Crested Grebe. 

I then headed out towards lagoon 3 where most of the interesting waders were, like Ruff, Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Dunlin etc but someone must have told them I was coming because they were none of them there. I moved on to lagoon 4 here I found an Osprey which eventually took flight when we had a brief break from the rain, plenty of Pied Wagtails were also on lagoon 4 with Egyptian Goose, Gadwall, Lesser Black backed Gull, Black headed Gull, and I believe a juvenile Kittiwake, Tufted Duck, Greylag Goose and Teal.

I then took the decision to take a long walk back to Lax Hill were a few more lagoons had been created over the last winter period. Four new lagoons I visited 5,6,7 and 8 with very little to see, the odd Robin, Wren, Cormorant and Buzzard, and what I believed to have been a Raven. I did also manage a to see a couple of brave butterflies Ringlet and Gatekeeper, there was also a few Cinnabar Moth caterpillars amongst the Ragwort

Common Blue Damselfly, Female

View at Lagoon 6

Due to the weather turning for the worse I decided on staying around the B&B and investigating the woodland rather than the planned trip to Aston Rowant. Red Kite and Buzzard were following the plough in the nearby field, Swallows were overhead and House Sparrow and Yellowhammer in the hedgerow nearby. In on the woodland ride there was little flying around in the overcast conditions but as always you could rely Ringlet and Meadow Brown braving it. A Magpie Moth gave flight and rested in the nearby grass and started laying eggs before giving flight again.

Further in I was being to find little insect life but the birds had picked up with Coal Tit, Great Tit, Robin and Chaffinch seen and with Hobby going thru overhead , Great Spotted Woodpecker seen and Nuthatch heard. A couple of the many hoverflies ID were Marmalade, Seicomyia silentis and Chrysotoxum bicinctum  and to finish the walk, and nearly stepping on it, a beautiful Painted Lady my first of the year

Painted Lady Butterfly

Magpie Moth

I took a couple of days of work and headed south again for a 3 night stay in the Northants area for some wildlife watching, my base camp was to be a new B&B for me called Laundimer House, Weldon nr Corby, a new farmhouse build at the end of a dirt track with Swallows, Red Kites, Buzzards and a large wood next door I think I have just found a new home, for more info see the B&B tab.

So it was Wednesday the 12th (Day 1) the sun was out to play and my first port of call was to be Barnack Hills and Holes NR which is known for its Orchids and Butterflies and I was turning up for the butterfly side. I arrived at about 9:15am after a 2 hour journey from home, on entering the reserve the first butterfly seen was a hoped for Chalkhill Blue I needn’t have hoped they were everywhere the most common butterfly on site. This being the sighting of Chalkhill Blue I was taken by surprise of the size much larger in flight than the common blue and more of a pascal shade of blue. With careful searching I was also able to find my next quarry of the days away the Brown Argus, smaller than the Chalkhill Blue but about the same size as the Common Blue. Other butterflies on site were in good numbers the Meadow Brown, Ringlet and the Green veined White, there were also Large White on site. Birds seen here were Red Kite, Kestrel and Green Woodpecker, also caught of 6 Spot Burnet Moths and a Shaded Broad-bar Moth.

Chalkhill Blue Butterfly

My second port of call for the day and a new site for me was to be Bedford Perlieus NR…no car park here so it was a make do pull over room for about 3 cars only, parking up then I caught sight of a pair of  Silver washed Fritillarys’ gliding about just in front of the car so I spent some time with these before moving into the reserve. In here there were lots of Silver washed fritillary about, most were now well-worn but there was the odd individual that was still in good condition. With looking I found a few Brown Argus Butterflies along with a couple of Comma, a couple of Speckled Wood, a couple of nice Peacock, Large Skipper, lots of Meadow Brown, Green veined whites, a single White letter Hairstreak, lots of nice Brimstone butterflies as well. Other wildlife included Green Woodpecker and a Fox

Brown Argus Butterfly

Siler washed Fritillary

Big day out today, so passport ready as I was going thru Lancashire up in to Cumbria and my first port of call was to be Arnside and Arnside Knott for a few sort after butterflies. Scotch Argus was the butterfly of the day with plenty of them around but very hard to get a photo as they were not settling, other species about in numbers were Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper and Ringlet, After much walking I came across a well camouflaged butterfly blending well in to the rock it was sat on, it was only because I disturbed it that I was able to see the Grayling. By now I’d walked all the way round so I started another search this time I found a worn Northern Brown Argus, and a better specimen later on, also got to see a Dark green Fritillary in the same location, Small Skippers were also seen as well as a few birds five Common Buzzards went over a Nuthatch was seen along with a Green Woodpecker.

I decided on a visit down to gait Burrows which wasn’t very productive but did add Speckled Wood and Common Blue to the day list and I also got great views of a Common Darter Dragonfly has it kept returning to the same perch which was at my eye line and only about 4 feet away.

My final port of call was down to Leighton Moss and to the Eric Morecambe hide where I managed to get views of the Great White Egret also with the smaller cousin the Little Egret. There was a good group of waders close in to the hide being Common Redshank and Dunlin mainly with a few Black tailed Godwits thrown in, there was also a single Spotted Redshank. Further out were Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtails, Starlings, lapwings, and a Comma Butterfly was added to the day list

Scotch Argus

Grayling

Common Darter

Took a quick ramble around a local Huddersfield Res in the vain hope of seeing a Wall Butterfly which didn’t pay off but plenty of common stuff to feast on the bright windy conditions…. Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown, Ringlets, Small Skippers, Green veined Whites and Gatekeepers

Green veined White

Small Tortoiseshell

Here I was again but this time I was holidaying in nearby Whitby and with the family returning mid-week due to hospital appointments I found myself with a couple of days to spare, so I spent the time in the Fen Bog area. The weather was better than the last time I visit and the wildlife over the few days was better with some new species and some targets missed, which will be saved till next year.

There were good numbers of Narrow bordered 5 Spot Burnet Moths about this time, Swallows and House Martins, Black headed and Herring Gulls, a Kestrel, I also happened to disturb a Nightjar, which was soon up and back down again into cover. There were plenty of Ringlet Butterflies along with Meadow Brown Butterfly, Small and Large Skipper Butterfly, Common Blue Butterfly and lots of Small Heath Butterflies, and a new species for me Dark green Fritillary Butterfly, which was really hard to pin down I really given up trying to get a decent photo of one when I stumbled across one going back to the car, but no under-wing shots, well you can’t have everything.

On the dragonfly front I only managed to catch sight of Common Darter and Golden Ringed Dragonfly, but the best surprise for me was seeing my first Green Tiger Beetle, now these little beauties are really quick on their legs and it was hard to find one that was still enough for a decent photo, I really enjoyed watching these. Another find was the large fly called a Tachina grossa (see on my flickr photostream…a real beauty)

Things I missed which will mean a return trip next year were Keeled Skimmer and Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary

Golden Ringed Dragonfly

Green Tiger Beetle

Dark Green Fritillary

Here’s a couple of new nature reserve’s for me, Ben Rhydding Nature Reserve this ones near Ilkey and the Fen Bog Nature Reserve this ones up on the North Yorkshire Moors (Nr Whitby) both being good for Butterflies as well as other wildlfe.

Ben Rhydding was to be the first port of call in the morning sun and produced some excellent butterflies Comma, Small Tortoiseshell, Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet however the quarry we had come to look for did take some finding, we were looking around all the elm trees to no avail but were found feeding at eye level on thistles the White letter Hairstreak, we enjoyed for a while filling or boots with photos and excellent views of a butterfly that feeds mainly high in trees

White letter Hairstreak

It was then onward to the North York Moors in the vain hope of more butterfly species, we completely failed at Fen Bog probably now due to the overcast weather, so after lunch moved on to a place in wheeldale near a stream and ponds. We had better success here with 3 Common Crossbills, Chiffchaff, Swallows and Kestrel, butterflies on sight were Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Small Skipper, Speckled Wood and it was here we got sight of a Golden ringed Dragonfly

Todays trip was down to Fermyn Woods to have an audience with His Imperial Majesty (Purple Emperor Butterfly) it would be  a 2 1/2 hour drive with a pick up stop at Doncaster on route , we were of at 6am and hit the parking stop on sight for about 8:40am.

We were soon in the woods picking things up like Meadow Browns, Ringlets and Speckled Woods on route to the favoured Purple Emperor sights. We stopped off at one of my favoured sunny glades where we saw White Admiral, Large White, Large Skipper, and a Purple Emperor (H.I.M) , it was whilst a few of us were enjoying the Emperor that a White letter Hairstreak showed up alas all but briefly but I did manage a very poor photo of it as it went to ground in the long grass and hid.

We explored further into the woods stopping at various sunny glades enjoining the many butterflies stopping off at various bushes, we had wonderful views of many Emperors and White admirals during the course of the day, seen easily and very close as they came to ground on the woodland footpaths. Silver Washed Fritillary were also seen but on this visit all but briefly and high up. Commas, Small tortoiseshell were also seen and rumours of a Painted Lady.

We then decided on a new site on route North again at a place in Barnack called Hill and Holes where there is to be found the Chalkhill Hill Blue Butterfly….we didn’t find any on this occasion but I think we were a bit to early, however there were many Marbled White Butterflies to enjoy.

Our last stop was at the bridge on the Rutland Water Reservoir where we could see Osprey, Black tailed Godwit, Common Tern, Mallards, Egyptian Goose, Green Sandpipers, Coots, Moorhen, Swift, Swallows, Sand Martins and a fly thru Little Egret…great ending to a wonderful day

Purple Emperor

White Admiral

A quick visit out to the Bulcliffe colliery Sight to see if I could find any surprises to-day in the heat wave we were having at present.

There was a good number of Silver Y moths about long with a great number of Ringlet and Meadow Brown Butterflies on the wing, Common Buzzards overhead with Yellowhammer, Willow Warblers and Common Whitethroat singing from the bushes added to the wonderful stroll I was having around this small nature reserve, Small Heath, Common Blue, Large Skippers and Small Tortoiseshell Butterflies added to my short visit

Small Heath Butterfly

Hairy Shield Bug

Adventure weekend the the journey back home was to be with a stop off at Rutland water at the Lyndon Reserve for Osprey, todays weather was cloudy with wind, litle hope of more insect life today then. Down at the first hide the Ospreys could be seen, female at the nest with the male osprey close at hand. Other birds from here were Little Egret (5) Common Tern, and a surprise sight was a Little Tern . Sand Martin, Swallow and Swift were overhead.
Walking on top the other hide I found Chimney Sweeper Moths and Peacock Catapillars

A great weekend in the Northants area with plenty of species seen many more I haven’t logged here but a great weekend of adventure all round…and thanks to the many people I met

The Day List:-

Common Whitethroat, Wren, Common Tern, Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck, Black headed Gull, Greylag Goose, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Swift, Moorhen, Goldfinch, Little Egret, Pied Wagtail, Starling, Chiffchaff, Blue Tit, Long tailed Tit, Willow Warbler, Chaffinch, Lapwing, Reed Bunting, Osprey, Common Buzzard, Little Tern, Sand Martin, Blackcap, Swallow, Shoveler, Coot