Linacre - 22nd June 2024

 Last weekend, I was down at Linacre for a few hours. The boardwalk around the top reservoir was still out of bounds for repairs, and the water level there had also been dropped. Unfortunately, no waders....yet! As is expected in June, it was very quiet, with just a few ducklings around and about. The highlight (perhaps "lowlight") of the walk was my first sighting of Swift (at Linacre) for the year. This is very late, and only involved one bird that was seen for about 30 seconds! No hirundines were seen. I checked the last few boxes, and was very pleased to see that the second brood of Pied Flycatchers had fledged successfully, making that 10 chicks in total - the highest ever count.

Out on the water the following bids were counted: Mallard (77 adults and 6 ducklings), Tufted Duck (15 adults), Lesser Black-backed Gull (4 adults), Mandarin (15 adults and 6 ducklings), Moorhen (just 6 adults - no young yet!), Coot (2 adults and 3 chicks - the only ones seen so far this year), Grey Wagtail (1 adult) and Great-crested Grebe (7 adults and 6 juveniles).

I also had a quick check, and fill, of the feeders. Whilst walking down, I flushed a Tawny Owl and also saw my first Straw Dot (moth) and Volucella bombylans (hoverfly, bumblebee mimic) of the year. A Chimney Sweeper moth, reported by Antony, in the fields beyond the top reservoir on 26th, was the first record since 2019.

Volucella bombylans

Middleton Top - 13th June 2020

Since lockdown eased, Jayne and I have decided to go and visit some places that we've drived past for years, but have never actually stopped at. One such place is Middleton Top, near Wirksworth.

We parked up, and walked along the old railway line in the direction of Parsley Hay. As we walked along, we began to notice a profusion of bees, and it wasn't long before we spotted our first butterfly of the day, a pristine Small Tortoiseshell. In total, at least 12 were seen, possibly more, and were presumably, newly emerged. Along the walk, we also saw one Small Heath, one Small Skipper , 2 Chimney Sweepers (day-flying moth) and three Meadow Brown.

Chimney Sweeper

There were also many hoverflies, including a new species for me, Leucozona lucorum.

Leucozona lucorum

When we got back to the Visitors' Centre, we noticed a small nature reserve called Redhills Quarry, and had a short look around. The first thing Jayne spotted was a family of Redstarts flying around the bushes. In total, we saw 2 fledged family groups and 1 pair feeding young!

Redstart

We also had a couple of Common Blue Butterflies and, what I think is a Potter Wasp, possibly Ancistrocerus scoticus.

Lathkill Dale - 6th June 2020

Jayne and I went for a walk along Lathkill Dale today. The weather wasn't great, with strong winds and lots of cloud, but we did get a few spells of sunshine which brought out a few insects.

Birdwise, it was quite quiet, but we did manage to see and hear 4 Ravens (family party perhaps?), and, best of all, a pair of mating Spotted Flycatchers! Other birds seen were: Jackdaws, Crows, Blue and Great Tit, Mallards, Mute Swan (1 pair with 5 cygnets), Grey Heron, Swallow, Swift, House Martins (20+), Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Moorhen and Coot (2 broods).

A few insects were seen in the sunnier periods, including my first Chimney Sweeper moth of 2020, male and female Common Blue Butterflies, one Speckled Wood and a Volucella bombylans hoverfly.

Common Blue (male)

Common Blue (female)

Volucella bombylans (bumblebee mimic)

Linacre Birds and Insects - 2nd June 2019

Last Sunday I got up early and had a couple of hours walking around all 3 reservoirs of Linacre. It was a lovely morning, and I managed to record a new species for June, along with lots of great breeding records.

I started by the middle reservoir where I saw 3 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a 2nd or 3rd calendar year Herring Gull ( my first June record, and only my 5th ever Linacre record, following records in 2010, 2014, 2016 and 2017). Also present was a pair of Great-crested Grebes with 3 chicks and 2 Grey Wagtails (1 adult and 1 juvenile).

Great-crested Grebe

Other signs of successful breeding seen were: Mallard (43 adults and 7 broods of chicks totalling 47 ducklings), Coot (11 adults and 6 broods of chicks, totally 15 chicks), Moorhen (9 adults and 10 chicks; 2 broods of 6 and 4, and Mandarin Duck (6 adults and 20 ducklings; 12 and 8). There were 19 adult Tufted Ducks , but no ducklings yet.

Away from the water the brood of 7 Pied Flycatchers were old enough to ring and a few insects were also seen, namely Red Admiral (1), Chimney Sweeper (a day flying moth) and a hoverfly that I think is a Scaeva pyrasti. 

Scaeva pyrasti?

Linacre Ringing - 4 breeding records

This morning's ringing session at Linacre was a quiet one, with just 10 birds caught, but within that small number, we were very lucky to record juvenile birds, born this year, of 4 species (Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Blue Tit and Mistle Thrush). Of these 4 species, 3; Blackcap, Garden Warbler and Mistle Thrush, were the first records of young birds for 2017, and prove breeding on site. The Blue Tits included new  juvenile birds, unfortunately, not ones ringed in the boxes. The 4th species in the title was Common Buzzard. We didn't ring any chicks (unfortunately), but we did spot an adult bird carrying food into the woods, which, again, is positive proof of breeding. This last record, is particularly pleasing, as it's the first time I've recorded breeding of this species at Linacre.

Other birds caught this morning were: Bullfinch (a new male and a retrap female) and a retrap male Nuthatch.

In between the net rounds we recorded a couple of Swifts, a Grey Wagtail (thanks David), a House Martin, a Kestrel, a Brown Hare, a Sparrowhawk and a Chimney Sweeper (moth - see here for details).

We also took the ladders with us today, so we could check the owl boxes. The Mandarin Duck eggs we found in April (see here) had gone (hopefully hatched and fledged, and not predated), and the other boxes (including the Little Owl box), were all empty.