Huddsbirder

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

A quick visit back down to the local area ponds in the vain hope of finding a few more Dragons. My walk started with viewing a few Butterflies namely Ringlets and Meadow Browns with a few Whites thrown in along with a couple of Speckled Woods more or less the same as last week. On arrival at the ponds it seemed it was going to be a wasted trip again but just sitting and waiting can bring great rewards and so it did, Damselflies started to appear Large Red and Azures and a Blue Tailed Damselfly flitting amongst the pond vegetation, then a Dragonfly came into view but was lost again it soon came around as it made its way along its patrol path I soon made it out to be a Emperor Dragonfly which in passing made another Dragonfly come in to view, a Four Spotted Chaser you can’t bet the feeling of finding something new yourself on a local patch, brilliant I sat and watched for a few moments and took a few photos as a record. A bit more looking turned up another Emperor so two on site, a great ending to a couple of hours watching, check out those local sites.

Local Quarry Ponds

Four Spotted Chaser

It was to Fairburn Ings again and since it was a warm day we thought we would go to see what Dragonflies were about, did I mention there was two Spoonbill about at Fairburn as well, so hopefully they were still there. Arrived at 10:30am and headed to the visitor centre for the Spoonbill information they were on main bay but not seen today, off we headed anyway the walk would do us good. During our walk  we saw a variety of Damselflies and Butterflies mainly Ringlet and Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood, Green Veined White, Gatekeeper, Red Admiral, Azure Damselfly, White Ermine Moth but the prize of the day went to a Moth, one I’ve never seen before , a Hummingbird Hawk Moth fantastic and it was too turn out to be one of two we saw during the day.

Humming Bird Hawk Moth_

Back to the birds we finally arrived at the hide were the spoonbills were last seen to find they hadn’t been seen by the guy who had been sat there a while so with a bit of scanning and patience we finally found one Spoonbill in the classic pose of being a sleep it did awake now and again just to show us why it was a spoonbill however it was too far away to photograph. Back to the centre for dinner and a bit more Dragon watching Large Red Damselflies, Azure Damselflies, Blue Tailed Damselflies, Banded Demoiselle (Female) and Common Darter rounded the day off no larger Dragons about but the Hummingbird Hawk Moths more than made up for that.

White Ermine

Day List in no order :-

Robin, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Collard Dove, Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Spoonbill, Mute Swan, Teal, Shelduck, Mallard, Great Crested Grebe, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, Reed Warbler, Blue Tit, Tree Sparrow, Common Tern, Greenfinch, Lapwing, Oysetercatcher, Blackbird, Cormorant, Hummingbird Hawk Moth, Gatekeeper, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Small White, Large White, Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Green Veined White, Large Red Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Blue Tailed Damselfly, Common Darter

A quick visit down to the local area ponds in the vain hope of finding a few Dragons. My walk started with viewing a few Butterflies namely Ringlets and Meadow Browns with a few Whites thrown in along with a couple of Speckled Woods. On arrival at the ponds it seemed it was going to be a wasted trip but just sitting and waiting can bring great rewards and so it did, Damselflies started to appear Large Red and Azures flitting amongst the pond vegetation and over the pond lilies and then a Dragonfly came into view and was lost again but it soon came around as it made its way along its patrol path I soon made it out to be a Emperor Dragonfly, light green body and blue tail a great ending to a couple of hours watching on a local site goes to show check out those local sites

Emperor Dragonfly

Large Red Damselfly