Huddsbirder

Another Batty week again at Old Moor RSPB on Tuesday the 6th, kick off was at 7:30pm, the rain had stopped but the winds were still blowing a gale I didn’t hold out much hope of seeing much tonight but a Noctule put in a brief appearance which I didn’t pick up on and a couple of Soprano Pipistrelle graced us with their presence, but these were found well out of the wind around the back of the Visitor Centre.

Friday the 9th again down at Thunderbridge Meadows in the vain hope of catching a couple of late Butterflies I arrived late morning and the temperature was around the 19° mark there was a stonking fresh Red Admiral about along with a few Speckled Woods and that was about it, birds included Buzzard, Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Saturday the 10th turned out to be better weather wise it was a warm still night so with the experience we had gained from the Old Moor bat walks we decided on finding or own locally. Find we did brilliant night with fantastic views and numerous Noctule bats about with Soprano and Common  Pipistrelles too with Sopranos being the numerous a few Owls were out too with Little and Tawny Owls present

Speckled Wood

End of the week with a couple of hours to spare I thought I would venture out to a local Butterfly site in the vain hope of seeing something due to the poor week at work, cows are back in the field, I needed a cheer up.

There didn’t appear much at first but when you came across some sunny glades there was one or two butterflies about with the local Buzzards over head and the noisy Nuthatch calling from within the tress and not to be out done a Great Spotted Woodpecker joined in and then a Kingfisher on the stream made its presence known with the high-pitched call.

Back to the butterflies there were Speckled Woods, Comma, Green veined Whites and a Small Tortoiseshell today nothing unusual was seen I was hoping for maybe a Painted Lady to round the year off but no. I also visited  the local ponds finding a single Speckled Wood along with a Migrant Hawker a Green woodpecker “yaffling” and a few Swallows hawking the fields

Small Tortoiseshell

Comma

Bank Holiday Monday and after a long weekend it was time to play out our visit was again down to Old Moor RSPB in the vain hope of a few Hawkers.

The walk from the car park along the car park hedges produced a couple of Common Darter enjoying the limited sunshine as we made our move towards Warbler Way for the first part of the day. Large White and Common Blue Butterflies were soon evident as we strolled along the Trans Pennine Trial

Common Blue Butterfly

We soon encountered more Common Darters along with a couple of rather worn Meadow Brown Butterflies and some smart-looking Small Coppers with Common Blue Damselflies in and amongst.

The second part of the day we spent on the reserve seeing some bird life which started before the reception centre with someone don’t know how they did it but they did because they were well hidden in the nearby tree 2 Tawny Owls which became the centre of attention for a lot of people. On to the reserve and from the wader and family hides there was good numbers of Little Grebes and  Coots  along with lesser numbers of Gadwall, Mallard, Teal, Canada Geese, Cormorant, the Sand Martins were still very much evident near the man made banking and we saw a single Common Swift over the reserve. Waders in attendance were Common Sandpiper, Ruff, Lapwing, and Greenshank.

Greenshank

Sitting in hides wasn’t finding any Hawkers so we decided on coffee and then back to the pond dipping pools to see if we could find any hawkers, as we made our way back for coffee I encountered my first Emerald Damselfly for the year a beautiful Male. After coffee and cake it was on to the pond dipping pools and Common Darters were again soon encountered, but it wasn’t till we had nearly finished walking around the pools that my wife pointed out a larger Dragonfly, this turned out to be a Male Migrant Hawker, patrolling his territory and soon after this we picked out a Female Migrant Hawker in the reed bed egg laying, but she turned out to be a bit camera-shy hiding herself  behind the reed stems. Well we enjoyed one hawker for the day maybe  September will bring some more.

Common-Darter

The Day List :-

Emerald Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Small Copper, Meadow Brown, Large White, Gatekeeper, Common Darter, Migrant Hawker, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, Ruff, Lapwing, Cormorant, Woodpigeon, Stock Dove,m Magpie, Crow, Starling, Canada Goose, Mallard, Teal, Gadwall, Pied Wagtail, Goldfinch, Linnet, Bullfinch, Blue Tit, Chiffchaff, Black Headed Gull, Tufted Duck, Swift, Tawny Owl (2)

The forecast was good so I booked the Wednesday of work (17th) and made my way up to a couple of recently found Butterfly sites Warton Crag and Arnside Knott. First call was Warton Crag landing at about 9 o’clock in the quarry car park. I made my way out the right side of the car park and along the footpaths not knowing the area it was guess work, I found myself on the side of the crag watching some Common Blue Butterflies along with Meadow Brown, Speckled Woods, Red Admiral and  Small Copper

Red Admiral

 My reason for coming up into Cumbria was Arnside Knott so after an hour I left Warton Crag and 20 minutes later landed at Arnside Knott

Arnside Knott

Walking up the hill and thru the small wood I came into a small glade being hit by the sun and then saw the butterfly I had come to see, in flight it appears small and black this was the Scotch Argus and Arnside Knott was one of the better places to see this small beauty, as the day went on I found that the Scotch Argus was rather numerous here the day went by with little else about there was the few Speckled Woods, Graylings, Meadow Brown and a rather worn Dark Green Fritillary. Whilst here I got talking to a guy who put me on to Gait Burrows so it was there I ended up on my way back home seeing again Speckled Woods, Green veined White and Grayling. More photos at my flickr, if you want to find out about these sites see my Butterfly tab

Speckled Wood

Scotch Argus

Scotch Argus

Grayling

The end of the week saw me at a local site looking at the gorgeous Wall Butterfly

Wall

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

A weekend away in Rutland a what a glorious sunny weekend it was we hit it on the nose, our day out was Saturday and the first port of call was Rutland Water itself.  Our stop was at the Lyndon Centre Reserve [Link] along the south shore mainly for Butterflies and Osprey. Our walk took us towards the Manton Bay area of the reserve and during our walk we saw Green-veined Whites, Red Admirals, Meadow Browns, Ringlets, Speckled Woods, Gatekeepers, Peacocks, Brimstone, Common Blue Damselflies, Large Red Damselflies, Common Darter Dragonflies, and after all that we finally arrived at the Wadersrape Hide [Link to Map]. Here it was birds and the Ospreys,  we saw 2 adult birds and 3 young from this year, on the nest and nearby posts, along with the Ospreys, Shelduck, Tufted Duck, Cormorant, Little Egret (4), Lapwing, Sedge Warbler, Common Tern and Buzzard. After all that we decided on a trip down to Fermyn Woods [Link to Fermyn Woods] for more Butterflies, from Rutland Lyndon Reserve its about a 40 minute journey.

The price at Fermyn is the Purple Emperor and with some inside knowledge we set off on a long walk seeing Holly Blues, Red Admirals, Peacocks, Large Skippers, Small Skippers, Green-veined Whites, Large Whites, Comma, Meadow Browns, Speckled Woods, Gatekeepers, Ringlet, Common Blue and lastly our price a female Purple Emperor and with that we set off back seeing more of the same along with a White Admiral, Migrant Hawker and back at the car park a male Banded Demoiselle, what a brillant day and of course the List :-

Sedge Warbler, Ospreys, Buzzard, Hobby, Kestrel, Shelduck, Tufted Duck, Coot, Moorhen, Gadwall, Mallard, Cormorant, Little Egret, Lapwing, Sparrowhawk, Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Bullfinch, Willow Warbler, Canada Goose, Black Headed Gull, Common Tern, Brimstone, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Common Blue, Gatekeeper, Green-veined White, Red Admiral, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Large White, Holly Blue, White Admiral, Ringlet, Purple Emperor, Banded Demoiselle, Common Darter, Migrant Hawker, Blue Tailed Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly

And a few pics thrown in

Gatekeeper

Sheild Bug

White Admiral

Close up of Gatekeeper

and a record shot of Holly Blue Butterfly

Holly Blue

The week ended with a high seeing my first Small Copper of the year a on my work Patch along with the usual species see My Patch Highlights at Week 29 [Link]

Friday was a visit out to Blacktoft Sands in the hope of seeing the Marsh Sandpiper that had been reported for most of the week, you guessed it, when I arrived at 9am that day it had not been seen that morning and wasn’t  seen all day that day, it would have been a welcome addition to the yorkshire List but never mind. The birds on show today were Avocet, Spotted Redshanks, Redshanks, Green Sandpipers, Dunlin, Black tailed Godwits, Little Egret, Spoonbills, Grey Heron, Marsh Harriers, Pied Wagtails and 2 for the year list Ruff and Yellow Wagtail, heres a video of some of them [Link] enjoy and not not to forget Woodpigeon, Lapwing and Sedge Warblers. A couple of Butterfly species included Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Small White and an unidentified Dragonfly.

After Blacktoft I moved on to one of the YWT Butterfly reserves this one is at Brockadale [Location Info] grid ref is SE514173 and it was on the way back home so I dropped in for a few hours. Todays Butterflies on show were Brimstone, Large Skiper, Small Skipper, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Green-veined White, Large White, Gatekeepers, Common Blue, and the one I went looking for Marbled White, I didn’t find this till the end of the day but find I did, also lots and lots of 6 Spot Burnet Moths these were everywhere. Some birds were also seen especially Yellowhammers there was a couple of soaring Buzzard in the mid day heat and Goldfinch. One of the most unexpected finds of the day was a Male Banded Demosielle, always expect the unexpected, day over

The end of the week saw me down at the Local ponds finding more Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns, Green-veined Whites and Speckled Woods with a few Dragonfly species thrown in Emperor, Common Darter and a Common Hawker with a couple of Damselfly species to boot these being Blue Tailed and Azure Damselflies, proving there is wildlife on your doorstep, so get out and look, here are a few pics of the day.

Small Skipper

Common Darter

 And a view of the Brocadale Nature Reserve

Brockadale Nature Reserve

Not much to report this week no visits out due to work and family commitments but the week saw the arrival of a new baby my Pentax K-r DSLR camera > Review but the new macro lens didn’t come mix up, so hopefully next week a deicated macro lens will appear, so I have to make do with the kit lens which is okay ‘ish but no where near as good as a dedicated lens so I have been getting used to the feel of the camera, finding my way around it etc etc.

The wildlife this week has been quiet but I have had my first Gatekeeper butterflies this week along with the ususal Meadow Browns, Ringlet, Green-veined Whites, Small Skippers, Commas, Large Whites, Small Whites, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshells. This week has also given me a new Moth species in the form of a Swallow tailed Moth (see photo) and the bad news this week the local farmer has cut my butterfly field down so I am hoping I will find similar species but now I will have to look in a different location

Swallow Tailed Moth

Small Tortoiseshell

Meadow Brown

With the jobs done and out of the awy in the morning we rewarded ourselves with a trip out to Old Moor in the vain hope that we would get to see some Dragonflies for our day menu. After having our sandwiches on arrival we made our way on to the reserve with our first stop being the feeders to catch up on some common bird species Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Collard Dove, Woodpigeon, Robin, Dunnock, Great Tit and Blue Tit all made a good start to the day. The nettle bed favoured by Damselflies had been chopped down since our last visit so we made our way to the pond dipping pools. Dragonflies were proving difficult to find there was the odd 6 Spot Burnet Moth about but it wasn’t until the last pond that a Dragonfly flew past, then another, on counting there was two Four Spotted Chasers, Brown Hawker with a Common Darter joining them, they were beautiful to watch and at one point buzzed us whilst we stood on the bridge over looking them, fantastic, taht lead us nicely into a coffee break.

Four Spotted Chaser

Brown Hawker

After coffee we made our way down towards Green lane firstly passing the big pond on the left were we found a Emperor Dragonfly great start to part 2 of the day. On Green lane we watched Azure Damselflies, Small Skippers, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, Blue Tailed and Common Blue Damselflies, we did finally hit the wader scrape hide to find Oh yes some birds Common Sandpiper, Ringed Plover, Little Grebe and Pied Wagtail to name but a few , a great day out

The Species List fot the day in no particular order :-

Woodpigeon, Oystercatcher, Tree Sparrow, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Robin, Dunnock, Collard Dove, Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Magpie, Moorhen, Coot, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Cormorant, Starling, Canada Goose, Common Tern, Lapwing, Common Sandpiper, Swift, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Crow, Greylag Goose, Little Grebe, Ringed Plover, Pied Wagtail, 6 Spot Burnet Moth, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Green Veined White, Small Skipper, Comma, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Blue Tailed damselfly, Common Darter, Brown Hawker, Emperor Dragonfly, Four Spotted Chaser

Another great week on the work patch, goes to show again that there is wildlife in those places you wouldn’t think of so don’t just keep to those nature reserve get out on the back garden places and look, 3 new species for the patch a diiner time walk around the top pond had me getting sight of quiet a lot of Damselflies, namely Azure Damselflies but careful looking brought out my first first Blue Tailed Damselfly followed by my second first Large Red Damselfly then out of the corner of my eye I caught the sight of a Dragonfly my third first a splendid Emperor Dragonfly bingo sure is great finding something new on your patch. Butterflies this week included Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Speckled Wood, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Small Tortoiseshell and the birds Bullfinch, Chiffchaff, Song Thrush, Grey Heron and Nuthatch