Rufford Gulls - 2nd August 2026

 Yesterday, I had a quick 45 minute visit to Rufford. Gull numbers had increased to c.40 Black-headed Gulls, and included the first juveniles of the year (4).6 ringed gulls were seen, including some that I've not had there for quite some time.

258A was one such bird. First ringed in February 2020, this bird has been a regular visitor to Rufford, but yesterday's sighting was my first since January 2026. So far, there haven't been any summer sightings.

258A

273A was ringed, as a juvenile bird in November 2021, and , again, has been a regular winter visitor to Rufford. This sighting was my first since 3rd January 2026. Again, no summer sightings.

273A

207C was ringed on 22nd December 2022, as an adult, and has been reported an amazing 47 times at Rufford. This was my second sighting this season.

207C

258C was ringed on 3rd December 2023, as a juvenile, and has been seen 30 times at Rufford. This is my first sighting since 17th January 2026. Again, no summer sightings.

258C

255F was ringed 30th November 2024, as a juvenile. Yesterday's sighting was only my 5th sighting since ringing, and my first since September 2025. Presumably, it pops into Rufford when it first arrives back, and then overwinters elsewhere. No summer sightings.

255F

2V03 was ringed on 18th January 2025, as an age 5, i.e. born on 2024. Yesterday's sighting was my first of the season, and only the fourth since ringing. I last saw this bird on 2nd September 2025. Again, presumably a bird that overwinters elsewhere. No summer sightings yet. 

2V03

Year List and Mediterranean Gull

 Last week, whilst in Wales, Jayne and I added another two species to the "Year List", and saw a fantastic looking juvenile Mediterranean Gull.

The two new species were: Water Rail (174), with one seen feeding along the edge of the reeds in the wetlands between Malltreath and Pen Cob car park and Chough (175) that was seen at RSPB South Stack.

Chough C8

The last bird of interest in Wales, was a juvenile Mediterranean Gull, that we spotted whilst walking along the coastal path at Benllech. Here are a few pictures, taken whilst the bird was preening.

Mediterranean Gull

Red Squirrels!

 One species that we love to see is the Red Squirrel. Obviously, we don't get them in Derbyshire anymore, but, whilst in Anglesey, Jayne and I have managed to see them in a couple of spots around the island. 

The first spot, Llyn Parc Mawr, is a car park on the Newborough National Nature Reserve. This site was just a 10 minute drive away from our holiday home, so we popped across on our first night. We arrived at about 6.30pm, and, within two  minutes were watching the first of 3 squirrels, taking advantage of the feeding stations there.

The second site, The Dingle or Nant y Pandy, in Llangefni, was a little further afield, and the squirrels were again quite easy to see, as they are often fed by visitors. We had great views of at least 3 different squirrels.

Whilst here, we also saw a Painted Lady, a male Banded Demoiselle and a single Myathropa florea hoverfly.

Bodnant Gardens - 27th July 2026

 On Monday, Jayne and I stopped off at the National Trust's Bodnant Gardens, on route to Anglesey.

We had a walk around the site, and noted a few nice butterflies, including two new for the year: Clouded Yellow and Common Blue Butterfly.

Clouded Yellow (over exposed!!!)

Common Blue Butterfly (female)

We also spotted 6+ Painted Ladies, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers and Green-veined Whites.

Dragonflies were also seen, including Common Darter, Golden-ringed Dragonfly (both new for the year), Migrant Hawker, Emperor (2 males and a couple of ovipositing females), Common Blue and Azure Damselflies.

Emperor

Yorkshire Sculpture Park - 24th July 2026

 Jayne and I had a walk around YSP today, and added a new species for the year, saw 3 ringed Mute Swans and managed a beautiful picture of a Brown Hawker.

The "year tick" was a single Spotted Flycatcher (173). This is a new species for us at this site. Unfortunately, no photo, as it flew away as soon as we spotted it!

The three ringed swans were 31Y3, 9Y63 and 6Y97. They all appeared to see last year's youngsters (aged 5), and will all have been ringed by Yorkshire Swan and Wildlife Hospital. 

6Y63

9Y63

31Y3

Brown and Migrant Hawkers were everywhere, along with a couple of Emperor dragonflies. One of the Brown Hawkers posed nicely for a photo on some sycamore keys.

Brown Hawker

Seven Hours at Linacre!

 Yesterday (19th), I had a couple of visits to Linacre. The first, from 06.00 - 09.30, was a ringing session, with 3 other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group, whilst the second from 14.00 - 17.30, was a solo walk, looking for insects and carrying out this month's WeBS walk.

The ringing session was quite a quiet affair, with just 9 birds ringed. Happily, 8 of the 9 birds were juveniles, i.e. born this year, but the low number was quite disappointing, given the time of year. Hopefully, numbers will pick up, as the summer progresses. Bird caught were (new/retrap): Blackcap 1/0 (juvenile), Chiffchaff 4/0 (all juveniles), Robin 1/0 (juvenile), Blue Tit 1/0 (juvenile) and Bullfinch 2/0 (1 adult - born last year, and 1 juvenile).

By the afternoon, the temperature had risen to 22 degrees, so I went back down for a walk around the site. As you can see from the picture below, the bottom reservoir is currently nearly dry. It has been drained as maintenance work is being carried out on the overflow. As a result there were few birds there, but the exposed mud could bring in some waders perhaps.

Bottom reservoir

Waterbirds see were: Mallard (42 - 40 adults and 2 juveniles), Tufted Duck (24 - all adults), Mandarin Duck (17 - all adults), Coot (1 adult), Moorhen (3 adults), Grey Heron (1), Great-crested Grebe (3 adults - no juveniles this year), Herring Gull (1 adult), Lesser Black-backed Gull (5 adults and 1 juvenile),and, the best of all, a juvenile Common Sandpiper!

Whilst on site, I also spent a lot of time (!) looking at the amazing number of butterflies and other insects present. Very conservative estimates of species seen are: Meadow Brown (50+), Gatekeeper (9), Speckled Wood (3), Comma (2), Painted Lady (6 - 5 very fresh looking individuals and 1 very tatty one!), Holly Blue (4), Green-veined White (2), Large White (1), Peacock (3), Small Skipper (1), Silver Y (1), Shaded Broad-bar (1 in the ringing site), Brown Hawker (2), Common Blue Damselfly (100+, including ovipositing pairs), Blue-tailed Damselfly (1 male), Migrant Hawker (6), Volucella inanis (2), Volucella pullecens (3), Myathropa florea (1) and Eristalis sp!

Migrant Hawker

Common Blue Damselfly

Volucella inanis

Rufford - 18th July 2026

 I had a few hours free this afternoon, so I had my second visit of the "autumn" to Rufford CP. The number of Black-headed Gulls had increased to c.25, and I managed to see 3 ringed gulls.

The 3 birds seen were: 200H (2nd sighting this winter), 206A (1st sighting since 3rd January 2026) and 207C (1st sighting since 17th February). 

200H (losing the brown hood)

206A (full hood)

207C (fullish hood)

Other birds seen were: c45 Greylag Geese, c20 Canada Geese, Kingfisher (1 heard), 4 House Martins and 7 Mute Swans ( all un ringed, and looked like last year's birds).

It was quite overcast, so only managed to see 1 male Blue-tailed Damselfly (my first here) and 1 Red Admiral.