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 WhiteButterflies.
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.
Another new site for me, this one again being about thirty minutes away from the bed and Breakfast I’d being staying in, Monk’s Wood.
Monk’s Wood a known site for the Black Hairstreak Butterfly, on my walk Monk’s Wood, I stopped and photographed Syrphus Hoverflies, Tiger Craneflies and a Speckled Bush Cricket, but alas no Black hairstreaks, but it was a bit overcast..
I eventually moved off from the distraction of Bush Crickets, and bumped into a couple who were also looking for the Black Hairstreak and had seen a couple briefly, whilst taking to this couple another couple, who turned out to be doing a Black Hairstreak count over the last few days, they’d counted 109 yesterday, showed us where the best spots were for the Hairstreak. It wasn’t long before we saw plenty of Black Hairstreak Butterflies, eventually giving good photo opportunities. I eventually moved away from the site and caught other Black Hairstreaks around the site, I also found a few Spotted Longhorn Beetles.
I left Monks Wood at about 11am and headed further North, and towards home, stopping briefly at Barnack Hills and Holes, a good place for insects, Butterflies and Flowers. The going was difficult and I only picked up a few Butterfly species Brimstone, Common Blue, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood and a few Marbled Whites
Paxton Pits based near St Neots, this would be my base for a couple of days, looking for dragonflies. My first time at this reserve, a well known place and hotspot for dragonfly species.
I’d set off early morning from home and was on site at 9am, a three hour tri. As I walked onto the reserve, I was greeted by a Male Banded Demoiselle, what a start, I was soon adding Azure and Common Blue Damselflies to the day list, a Four Spotted Chaser joined in along with a nearby female Black tailed Skimmer, what a great thirty minutes to the day.
Walking further into the reserve I found a quiet area with a bramble patch near to one of the ponds/small lake, here I found a Emperor Dragonfly, feasting on another unlucky dragonfly (turned out to be a Scarce Chaser), whilst watching the Emperor a male Scarce Chaser landed close by. A party of people of joined me in watching the Emperor, and taking photos, Peter Wood was with the party whom I’d talked to on a dragonfly site about my visit, he spent a while with me showing the areas of Paxton pits for certain species of dragonfly and where to find them.
Peter showed me the area where Norfolk Hawker (Green eyed) hung out, but by this time they were in the air, the dragonfly I mainly wanted to see, would be lifer, no worries there were plenty. Around this area during my visit I found Four Spotted Chasers, Scarce Chasers, Black tailed Skimmers, Norfolk Hawkers and lots of damselfly species.
After dinner I picked up a female type Black tailed Skimmer which hung around for a while for photos, turned out to be a Immature Male looking at the photos. I was just going to call it a day, I was getting nothing new, until I got talking to a guy who put me onto a Variable Damselfly site, needless to say I changed my plans and headed off. I eventually found the pool in question where I found the Variable Damselflies along with Red eyed Damselflies,Azure Damselflies, Norfolk Hawkers and a fresh Emerald Damselfly, now I called it a day, ending on thirteen species, I’d be back tomorrow.
The following day I went down the opposite trial to the Meadow trial, the Heron trial, plenty more Scarce Chasers down here along with Four Spotted Chasers, put I’d come down here looking for a Banded Demoiselle site, which I found near to the river, glorious couple of hours watching these and taking lots of photos.
The weather over my stay was a very hot, over both days and did become a little bit of a struggle around mid day. I was on site from 9am till 6pm on both days.
I’d stopped at a nearby Bed and Breakfast, The Hall farm near Tilbrook, about twenty five minutes away, the place was fantastic, grounds are huge with its own large pond, where I saw a single Emperor dragonfly. The room itself was large, clean, the shower was great, the hosts were welcoming and pleasant. Over all I had a fantastic time and one I look forward to having again, Paxton Pits was unbelievable for dragonflies and the people I meet were all very helpful, needless to say I became a friend of Paxton Pits.
A members day with today being a Butterfly and Dragonfly walk, the walk was due to start at at 10:30am, setting off from the visitor centre, I arrived on site for a walk around before that at 9:30am and to be sure of a car parking space.
The first bramble batch I encountered held a Common Green Shieldbug along with various ladybird larva, Harlequin, and Seven spot.
I took a right after going thru the first gate, finding my first Large Skipper of the year. Followed the path up and round and down again, finding a Yellow barred Longhorn Moth on route.
I decided on going down to a small pool I knew, but with the weather over the last few weeks, it was dry, so I looked around the nearest bramble patch, finding a nice snipefly, Rhagio sp.
The feeders were quiet with more squirrels than bird species, only finding Great Tit and Dunnock. It was now just after 10am, so I headed off to the visitor centre, ready for the walk.
The group had gathered, so off we went, sticking around the visitor center gardens and pools first seeing , Small Tortiseshell, Small Heath and Meadow Brown Butterflies, Damselflies about were mainly Large Red and Azure.
Up onto the North loop of the reserve were we found, Small Heath, Large Skipper and Common Blue Butterflies, also finding a Golden bloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle. Onto the top of the loop, where the pools are, finding more Azure and Large Red Damselflies, but the find was a splendid male Broad Bodied Chaser, needless to say a few photos were taken.
We moved onto the reserve then and down to the dipping pond, finding more Azure and Large Red Damselflies, a few Speckled Wood Butterfly were new for the day, I ended the day on another Golden bloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle
Broad Bodied Chaser Golden bloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle
A quick visit into the local ponds before work to see if there were any new dragonflies on the wing, I was hoping for that Broad Bodied Chaser.
There were about seven Four Spotted Chasers on my favourite pond, along with plenty of Azure Damselfly, a few Large Red, and Blue tailed Damselfly, nothing new.
Butterflies about was a single Red Admiral and a pair of male Common Blue Butterfly.
Birds noted were Willow Warbler, Blackbird, Blackcap, Wren, Mallard and a “yaffling” Green Woodpecker
A late night trip up into Langsett moors for a certain crepuscular bird. The temp had dropped to about 6 degrees, 9:30pm, and not even a churr yet, I wasn’t feeling hopeful.
There were a few Woodcock flying around, keeping us entertained along with a single Long eared Owl, there was also young owls calling from the nearby tree line, the target bird was a no show, the Nightjar, was a heard only, and very briefly.
Todays plan was to head down to Old Moor to catch up on some Dragonfly action, Old Moor seemed to be having a good start. An early start it was with a stop off around Langsett Reservoir, a local site within the HBW recording area, arrived at about 6am to the sound of Blackbirds, Robin, Blackcaps, and Song Thrush. Out of the car park and on down to the dam wall, picking up on Canada Goose and Mallards on route. Along the dam wall I found, a couple of Pied Wagtails and four Common Sandpipers, a photo stop off, a few Black headed Gulls were about and a distant call of a Cuckoo on the moors.
Common Sandpiper
Down at my first site, Chaffinch were noisy, along with a couple of Chiffchaff, took a while to find a Spotted Flycatcher, Blue Tits were the ones using the various nest boxes, not the birds i was looking for. Great Tits were seen, Oystercatcher at this point was a heard only, and a Roe Deer was a nice encounter.
Roe Deer
On the way back to the car Blackbirds, Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush were looking for food in one of the fields, a nice opportunity to see them together. Back along the dam wall, Common Sandpipers were still about along with the Pied Wagtails, nearer to the car park Dunnock and Greenfinch were in the surrounding tress, with a Collard Dove flying around and a Wren bursting out its song in a nearby bush, a Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker in the car park. A three hour visit, it was time for breakfast at the nearby Bank View café, before my journey down to Old Moor, to chase the Dragons.
It was 10am when I arrived at Old Moor. It was still a bit chilly, I was hoping for it to get a bit warmer for me to be able to find the quarry I’d come for today.
It took a while to find what I was looking for, but eventually, I found a few Damselflies near the Bittern Shelter. Common Blue, Azure, Blue tailed and Large Red Damselflies, all in one area. Around the pools, there was no action at all, so I came around and down to the Bittern hide, finding a pair of Azure Damselfly on the approach path, photo stop. There was a small area of teed just off the path , here, there were a couple of Four spotted Chasers , doing what Chasers do, a photo opportunity, they were close in, around here there was also an obliging male Holly Blue Butterfly.
I had another look around the pools, I drew a blank. I then decided to move on down to Wath Ings to see the Black winged Stilts. On my way down, I stopped off at the Toyota platform to look for Red eyed Damselfly. They were easy to find, resting on the nearby lily pads.
I moved on, then took in the new pathway down to Wath Ings, hoping for Hairy Dragonfly on route. Sadly, no Dragonfly about, I did find a Garden Warbler.
Plenty of birds from the Wath Ings hide, including the pair of Black winged Stilts, but at a distance.
After Wath Ings, I was soon back on the pools looking for dragonflies again. I found somemore Four Spotted Chasers on a different pool, along with very brief views of Hairy Dragonfly and a female Broad Bodied Chaser.
A successful day with my Dragonfly targets meet, let down early morning with the target bird species
Red eyed Damselfly
Langsett List : Blackbird, Blackcap, Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Canada Goose , Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collard Dove, Common Sandpiper, Cuckoo, Curlew, Dunnock, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Long tailed Tit, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Song Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher, Treecreeper, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren
Old Moor Bird List :- Avocet, Bittern, Blackbird, Black winged Stilt, Canada Goose, Crow, Cettis Warbler, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Garden Warbler, Goldfinch, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Jay, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black backed Gull, Little Grebe, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pochard, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Robin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Starling, Tufted Duck, Woodpigen
Butterflies :- Brimstone, Common Blue, Dingy Skipper, Holly Blue, Small Heath, Speckled Wood
Dragonflies :- Azure Damselfly, Blue tailed Damselfly, Broad bodied Chaser, Common Blue Damselfly, Hairy Dragonfly, Large Red Damselfly, Red eyed Damselfly
The end of May usually sees me starting to have a visit out to Bullcliffe nature reserve to find various butterfly species, a good place for Dingy Skipper.
My first impression was how overthrown things had become, and was nothing near the reserve I remember so many years back, I know nobody sends to take responsibility for this tiny reserve anymore, think it used to be Wakefield Council at one time
I headed up to the favourite spot for butterflies and was soon onto my first Dingy Skipper and soon picked up a few more too, numbers looked good. No other butterflies were seen in this spot, but I did pick up a single Small Heath near the old car parking spot.
Other highlights were a single Common Blue Damselfly, something I hadn’t seen here for a number of years. The pond area was well overgrown.
Well, it was good to find good numbers of Dingy Skipper. I’m looking forward to my next visit.
Another fine day, so I another visit to the local ponds, hopefully to get some shots of Four Spotted Chaser.
Plenty of Large Red and Azure Damselfly on the first two ponds I visited, but no larger Dragonfly on the favourite second pond. So I tried the third pond where there isn’t usually any action, but it was cleared last year of ingrowing vegetation. A single Four Spotted Chaser was patrolling the pond and landing, and I was able to take a good selection of photos. Here also was a single Blue tailed Damselfly.
Other wildlife of note was very little. Birds noted were Willow Warbler, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Green Woodpecker, and Common Whitethroat
Huddsbirder 