Lindrick Dale - 2nd July 2023

 On Sunday, I went across to Lindrick Dale to see if there were any butterflies. It was 18 degrees, overcast and quite windy, but I did still mange to see a few of the regulars.

The first butterflies seen were Marbled Whites, with c.20 in total. Dark Green Fritillaries were also about, but only 4 were flying. Other species seen were: Small Heath (1), Ringlets (4), 6-spot Burnet (1) and Meadow Browns (c.10). Unfortunately, no Silver-studded Blues were seen.

Marbled White

Dark Green Fritillary

Two species of orchid were also seen: Pyramidal and Common Spotted.

Lindrick Common - 20th June 2020

This spring has seen a lot of warm, dry weather and above average temperatures. As a result, butterflies seem to have been emerging earlier than usual, so I decided to go to Lindrick Common a couple of weeks earlier myself.

When I arrived, it was obvious that they vegetation hadn't kept pace with the butterflies and there were only a few flowering plants. The butterflies, however, were all present in good numbers, with 10+ Marbled Whites, 15+ Dark Green Fritillaries and at least 15 Silver-studded Blues (all but one being male). The temperature was around 20 degrees, so the Whites and Fritillaries were all pretty active. The blues, on the other hand, were the most confiding I've ever known, and posed, beautifully, with open wings.

Marbled White

Dark Green Fritillary (underwing)

Dark Green Fritillary 

Silver-studded Blue

Other species seen whilst there included my first Ringlets of the year, along with several Meadow Browns, 1 Large Skipper, and, best of all, a day-flying moth called a Burnet Companion, which was a lifer!

Burnet Companion

Three species of orchid were out, namely Bee (1), Pyramidal (c.15) and Common Spotted (c.10).

Lindrick Butterflies

For the last two years, I've visited a lovely site called Lindrick Dale, near Worksop, to see two special butterfly species; Dark Green Fritillary and Marbled White. Yesterday I was back there for my first visit of 2016. Both butterflies were present in decent numbers, along with a few other species.

The fritillaries, about 15 in total, put on a great show, flying around and landing on the thistles. I've taken many photos before, so yesterday, I decided to try a few different ones, including these "head on" shots.

Dark Green Fritillary

The same was true with Marbled Whites (15+)  and the Ringlets (20+). Here's a shot of these species sharing a thistle.

Marbled White and Ringlet

As well as these butterflies, I also had singles of Small Skipper, Common Blue (a female), and about 15 Meadow Browns.

Meadow Brown and White-tailed Bumblebee

Flowers seen today were: Pyramidal Orchid, Common Spotted Orchid and Bladder Campion.

Bladder Campion

Linacre Orchids

Every year the field by the top reservoir at Linacre erupts into flower with a wide variety of different plants, most of which, I'm ashamed to admit, I can't identify. While I was there on Saturday I noticed, among others, a huge number of orchids, many more than I've ever spotted before. Hopefully, this photo will give some idea of the numbers involved.

Orchids!

I got a few photos of individual spikes, and, according to one of the people I follow on Twitter, they are Common spotted Orchids.

Common spotted Orchid

Another plant that was also in bloom this weekend was the Foxglove. This is a very common plant, but one that, surprisingly, hasn't been included in this blog before! Here's a picture of one from Saturday, again, from the top reservoir.

Foxglove

Whilst looking at the flowers, Luke and I also noticed a number of wasps chewing the wood off the boardwalk! Luke managed to get a few close ups, including this lovely, face-on shot (thanks for the copy Luke). I looked ont t'internet, and think it's a Common Wasp, due to the anchor shaped mark on its face (see here).

Common Wasp

This second photo, of a different individual, also shows the line of wood that the wasp has chewed off.

Common Wasp

Return to Lindrick Dale

Last year I discovered a really great butterfly site that held 3 species that are very uncommon in this area, namely Dark Green Fritillary, Marbled White and Silver-studded Blue. I visited a couple of times and managed to catch up with all three species (click on the label Lindrick Dale below to see these posts). Last weekend (28th June) I had another visit and managed to see the first two species.

Last year I managed to get some really nice shots of the upperwing of the Dark Green Fritillary, so this year I was really keen to try and get some photos of the green underwing. Here are my efforts.

Dark Green Fritillary

The other species, Marbled White, was also present, but in quite small numbers, (fewer than 6 were seen). I got a nice photo of a pristine male.

Marbled White

As well as the key species, there were also a couple of Large Skippers, one Small Heath and dozens of Ringlets present. 

Ringlet

Finally, there were some nice flowers present too. Here are pictures of Pyramidal, Common Spotted and Bee Orchid.

Pyramidal Orchid

Common Spotted Orchid (I think)

Bee Orchid

Now I need to get back to try and find the Silver-studded Blues!

Linacre insects and flowers

At this time of the year the birdlife at Linacre can go quite quiet, so, whilst walking around on Sunday, I also started to look around at the flowers that are coming out and some of the insects that live on them. Some of the species I didn't recognise, so I put them on iSpot and got a few new names. Here are a few pictures.

Red and Black Froghopper

 

 

Marmalade Hoverfly

 

Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius - male)

 

Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum)

 

Marsh Snipefly (Rhagio tringarius)

 

Marsh Orchid species

 

Common-spotted Orchid

 

Linacre -26th June 2011 Patch tick!!

This time of year can sometimes be a little dull bird wise at Linacre, so when I set off for a walk this morning I wasn't really expecting anything exciting to report. How wrong I was! As well as a lovely pair of Bullfinch feeding on some "weeds" sticking out of the dam wall and a Moorhen with a pair of chicks (first of the year) on the middle reservoir I also found a new bird for the site - a juvenile Little Ringed Plover!!!!

Little Ringed Plover

The bird was first spotted feeding along the muddy edge of the top reservoir and watched for a good fifteen minutes. At first I wasn't 100% sure which plover species it was, but looking in Collins, (the best field guide ever!) it was soon obviously a LRP, with its narrow,black beak, yellowy legs and small, yellow orbital ring around the eye. Brilliant record! Perhaps with so much mud exposed we might get a few more passage waders dropping in this year- fingers crossed.

Other birds spotted this morning were Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Mandarin (3 broods), Mallard (2 broods), Coot (2!), Swallow (10),Swift (1), House Martin (2), Great Crested Grebe (2), and Tufted Duck (15).

Other sightings of note were 5 Meadow Brown butterflies and a beautiful group of 100+ orchids, which, after a quick google search, appear to be Common spotted Orchid. Let me know if that's not right please.

Common spotted Orchid