Huddsbirder

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.

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.

Video of the day can be seen here —- PRESS

Dragonfly List :-

1. Azure Damselfly
2. Banded Demoiselle
3. Black tailed Skimmer
4. Blue tailed Damselfly
5. Common Blue Damselfly
6. Common Darter
7. Emerald Damselfly
8. Emperor
9. Four spotted Chaser
10. Norfolk Hawker
11. Red eyed Damselfly
12. Scarce Chaser
13. Variable Damselfly

Butterfly List :-

1. Large Skipper
2. Large White
3. Meadow Brown
4. Red Admiral

Bird List :-

1. Blackbird
2. Blackcap
3. Cetti’s Warbler
4. Chiffchaff
5. Common Tern
6. Cormorant
7. Cuckoo
8. Garden Warbler
9. Great Spotted Woodpecker
10. Green Woodpecker
11. Greenfinch
12. Grey Heron
13. Jackdaw
14. Mute Swan
15. Reed Bunting
16. Reed Warbler
17. Sedge Warbler
18. Stock Dove
19. Tufted Duck
20. Woodpigeon

Other Species :-

1. Spotted Longhorn Beetle
2. Wasp Beetle