Linacre 5th April 2025

 We've had a couple of weeks of warm, sunny weather, so, having a free afternoon, I popped down to Linacre to see if I could see the first butterflies of 2025. In three hours, and temperatures of 12 degrees, I spotted 16 butterflies of 5 species.

The first butterflies seen were Peacocks, and, in total, I recorded a minimum of 9 around the site. The next commonest species was Orange Tip, with 5 males and 2 females seen. Also seen were: Comma (1), Large White (1) and Green-veined White (1).

Peacock

Other insects seen were: Tawny Mining Bee (1 male), another Mining Bee sp (possibly Clarkson's), Broad-bordered Beefly (20+), Eristalis sp (hoverfly) and 4 species of Bumblebee; Common Carder, White-tailed, Buff-tailed and Red-tailed.

Flowers were also out in good numbers: Lesser Celandine, Bluebell, Wood Anenome, Coltsfoot, Dandelion, Daisies, Cowslip and Stitchwort. 

Last, but not least, the birds! I had 2 "Year ticks", with Swallow (134) (3 birds over the middle reservoir) and Blackcap (135) ( a minimum of 4 birds singing). Other birds were: Chiffchaff (9 singing), Buzzard (2 over), Sparrowhawk (1 displaying over the middle reservoir), Great-crested Grebe (5 birds; a pair each on the bottom and middle reservoirs, and 1 single bird on the top reservoir), Cormorant (1), Mallard (c.20), Mandarin (6), Tufted Duck (17), Lesser Black-backed Gull (c.30 flew over!) and Greylag Goose (4 birds on the middle reservoir).

Another "year tick" was Dipper (133) that was seen flying over the main road in Dronfield on 4/4!

Linacre Butterflies - 14th September 2024

 At this time of the year, whenever the sun comes out, I like to get down to Linacre to see if there are any insects about, just in case it's the last sightings I get this year! Yesterday was such a time, with lots of sun and temperatures of 20 degrees. I wasn't disappointed, with 8 species of butterfly seen, along with two dragonflies, a few bees, craneflies, hoverflies and a wasps' nest!

The butterfly species were: Red Admiral (5), Comma (2), Peacock (2), Speckled Wood (7), Large White (2), Green-veined White (3, including a pair attempting to mate) and, best of all, a Small Copper (my first record of the year!).

Small Copper

Small Copper (and friend)

Other species seen were: Migrant Hawker (2), Brown Hawker (1), Red-tailed and Common Carder Bumblebees, Eristalis hoverflies and 1 Marmalade Hoverfly. 

Whilst walking along the bank below the top reservoir, I came across a hole, approximately 1/2m deep, with several hundred wasps flying around it! I peeped in, very carefully (!) and could see the remains of a wasps' nest. I couldn't get a great photo, so I'm not sure if they were Common or German Wasps, but, whatever species, it was great to see. Presumably, the nest had been discovered and dug out by a Badger, or a Honey Buzzard (only joking!!).

Wasps' nest

Linacre Update - 11th May 2024

 Yesterday morning I went down to Linacre to carry out this month's WeBS count, and to catch up with the nestboxes.

The WeBS count was, as usual for May, quite quiet, with the following birds recorded: Mallard (46 birds; 32 adults and 14 ducklings - 4 broods of 5, 5, 3 and 1), Tufted Duck (4!), Grey Wagtail (2; 1 male and 1 female), Grey Heron (1), Coot (5 adults), Moorhen (4 adults) and Mandarin Duck (10).

The nestboxes, on the other hand, were much more exciting! I found our first full clutches Pied Flycatcher eggs of the year (2 nests, each containing 5 eggs). Another 2 singing males were also heard away from these boxes, so I'm keeping everything crossed for further nests. The Coal Tit and Wren nests were still going strong, and the first Blue Tit chicks of the year had hatched. In total, we now have 43 active nests on site - a very good year! Other birds recorded around the site were 3 Blackcap, 4 Chiffchaffs and 1 singing Garden Warbler.

On Thursday, I was also on site, with Chloe, to ring the adult Mandarin Duck that is nesting on site. This year, we also added a colour ring, so hopefully, we'll get some more sightings of her.

Mandarin Duck "HA"

Last, but by no means least, I also managed to spot a few insects: 2 female Orange Tips, 1 Green-veined White, 1 Helophilus pendulus, 1 Common Carder Bumblebee, 1 Red-tailed Bumblebee and 1 Hairy Shieldbug.

Linacre Insects - 22nd July 2023

 It stopped raining for an hour this afternoon (!), so I popped down to Linacre to see what was about. I only walked around the bottom reservoir, before the rain started again, but I did manage to spot a few insects and birds.

Insects seen were: Meadow Brown (3), Green-veined White (1), Marmalade Hoverfly, Volucella pellucens (3), Cinnabar Moth caterpillars,  Silver Y moth (2), Soldier Beetles , White-tailed, Common Carder and Red-tailed Bumblebees, and Common Blue Damselfly (1m).

Silver Y Moth

Cinnabar Moth caterpillar

Birds seen were: House Martin (c20 - 30 feeding over the middle reservoir), Swift (2), Grey Wagtail (1 juvenile), Cormorant (1), Mandarin Duck (8; 1 female with 7 good-sized ducklings) and Little Grebe (2; 1 adult and 1 juvenile, on the middle reservoir).

Little Grebe (chick)

Linacre WeBS - 21st May 2023

 This weekend was WeBS weekend, so I had a walk around this morning. The following birds were counted: Mallard (49 adults and just 2 ducklings), Tufted Duck (21), Mandarin Duck (22; 20 males and 2 females, no ducklings), Moorhen (4, no young), Coot (11 adults and 1 young - my first of the year), Little Grebe (5 adults; 4 on the middle reservoir and 1 on the top reservoir - no young yet), Great-crested Grebe (5; all adults, no chick seen today), Canada Goose (1) and Grey Wagtail (1 on the bottom reservoir).

Whilst on site, I also checked up on the nestboxes. Unfortunately, several had been predated, including two of the Pied Flycatcher nests. Thankfully, the third nest was still intact. Fingers crossed it survives.

The sun was out whilst I was there and I managed to see a couple of insects, a Green-veined White and my first damselfly of the year, a Common Blue on the ringing site.

Green-veined White

Common Blue Damselfly

Linacre Insects - 3rd June 2022

 The sun came out on Friday afternoon, so I popped down to Linacre in the hope of seeing some insects.

The first ones I saw were Common Blue, Azure and Blue-tailed Damselflies. 

Common Blue Damselfly

Butterflies seen were: Small Copper (1), Meadow Brown (1), Common Blue (1), Comma (1), Green-veined White (1), Holly Blue (1), Large White (3) and Brimstone (1 male). 1 Nemophora degeerella was also seen.

Hoverflies were far and few between, but one Helophilus pendulus and 1 Volucella bombylans were seen.

Helophilus pendulus (and friend!)

Birds seen were: Mallard (83; 52 adults and 31 ducklings), Moorhen (18; 5 adults and 13 young), Coot (20; 6 adults and 9 young), Tufted Duck (17 adults), Mandarin Duck (29; 13 adults and16 ducklings), Grey Wagtail (3), Great-crested Grebe (7; 4 adults and 3 juveniles), Little Grebe (1 adult), Herring Gull (1 adult) and Lesser Black-backed Gull (9; 6 adults and 3 younger birds (not this year's juveniles). 

Linacre Insects and WeBS - 13th June 2021

This afternoon was warm and sunny with temperatures in the low 20s, so I decided to have a look around Linacre for some damselflies and other insects. 

By far the best species present was the Wall butterfly, with 2 females seen (records sent to County recorder).

Wall Brown

In addition, I also recorded 1 male Common Blue Butterfly, 1 Speckled Wood 1 Small Copper and 1 Green-veined White, along with dozens of Common Blue Damselflies. 

Common Blue Butterfly

I was on site on the 5th June too, and saw my first Volucella bombylans (hoverfly) of the year, and several Celypha lacunana (moths).

Birdwise, it's quite quiet, but today's WeBS count saw the following birds recorded: Mallard (39 adults and 20 juveniles), Mandarin (27 adults and 14 ducklings), Tufted Duck (12 adults), Moorhen (3 adults and 2 chicks), Coot (9 adults and 10 young), 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Pied Wagtail, 3 Great-crested Grebe (2 adults and 1 chick) and 1 sub-adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Mandarin with ducklings

Mallard with ducklings

Linacre Insects - 17th April 2019

The weather went up to 17 degrees yesterday and this afternoon, so I had a couple of sessions walking around the middle reservoir of Linacre. This area is particularly good for insects as it's south facing, and there is also some open ground, along with many Dandelions and Dog Violets. Today's session was the best with at least 7 Peacocks, 4 Commas, 2 Orange Tips (males), 1 Small White, 1 Green-veined White and 2 Brimstones seen.

Brimstone

Other insects seen included: Red-tailed, White-tailed, Common Carder and Tree Bumblebees, 3 Dark-edged Bee Flies, Tawny Mining Bee (2 females  - first Linacre record), a Drone Fly species, most likely Eristalis pertinax, and a new species of Nomad Bee, Nomada leucophthalma.

Tawny Mining Bee (female)

Nomad Bee?

Linacre Nestbox Update

I spent 3 hours at Linacre this morning with my nephew Luke and Brian from Sorby Breck Ringing Group checking the nest boxes. We ended with a total of 26 active nests (25 Blue or Great Tit nests and the Pied Flycatcher nest), and ringed the first brood of 2016 (7 Great Tits). As you can see from the picture, the Flycatcher nest had increased from 1 to 7 eggs, which is an excellent achievement. I haven't seen the female bird yet, but a male bird was singing in the area around the nest again today. All of today's details will be added to the Nest Record Cards for the BTO's Nest Record Scheme.

Pied Flycatcher nest

Away from the nest boxes, we also had sightings of 1 Great-crested Grebe on the top reservoir, the Shag, which was still present on the bottom reservoir (thanks Luke), and a Grey Wagtail which was found feeding 3 juveniles (thanks again to Luke for this sighting). Canada Geese were heard calling as we walked through the woods, but weren't seen. Willow Warblers, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Song Thrush were all singing.

The sun came out while we were there, which meant we saw a few butterflies, namely Green-veined White,  2 male Orange Tips and 2 Speckled Woods.

Linacre Insects

Whilst down at Linacre yesterday, I took the opportunity to take a few photos of the insect life there. Nothing new was noted, but what was there was cooperating, and I managed some nice shots.

Common Blue Damselflies were present again in good numbers, including several males and pairs "in tandem".

Common Blue Damselfly

Along with the Common Blue, I also recorded 3 Brown Hawkers and a single Migrant Hawker, but unfortunately, neither species would pose for a photo.

The sun came out while I was there, and so too did the butterflies. Gatekeepers were seen in good numbers (6+), as were Meadow Browns (5), while 1 Small Copper, 1 Comma, 4 Peacocks and 4 Green-veined Whites were also seen feeding around the site.

Gatekeeper

Comma

Green-veined White

As well as the butterflies, I also stumbled upon a couple of moth species; namely Large Yellow Underwing and a Copper Underwing species.

Large Yellow Underwing

Copper Underwing sp.

There are 2 species of Copper Underwing in Britain, but to confirm whether this is a Svennson's Copper Underwing, or just a "normal" Copper Underwing, you need to check the hindwing. Unfortunately, the moth flew off before I could check, so it'll have to go down as a Copper Underwing species.

Golden-ringed Dragonfly

Now that I'm back in Derbyshire, I thought I'd have a day exploring the moorlands, looking, in particular, for a very attractive dragonfly species - the Golden-ringed Dragonfly.

The Golden-ringed Dragonfly, or Cordulegaster boltonii, is the only member of this family of dragonfly to live in Britain and it prefers to live on areas of high land in acidic rivers and streams. As a result, the larvae can take up to 5 years to develop into this stunning adult.

Golden-ringed Dragonfly (male)

The individual I saw today was a male, and it was patrolling a small section of the Bar Brook on Big Moor. I saw a female "ovipositing" in this area back in 2011. See here for details. See details on the British Dragonfly Society's website here for details of this species. 

Other dragon and damselflies seen in the area were: Large Red Damselfly, Emerald Damselfly, Common Hawker (2 males) and Common Darter.

Whilst looking for the dragonfly, I spotted several other insects, including Small Heath, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Small Skipper, Green-veined and Large White butterflies. 

Male and female Gatekeepers

Birds were thin on the ground, but 2 Common Buzzards were seen, along with a couple of Meadow Pipits and a Yellowhammer. 

I also came across a Water Vole, and its latrine.

Water Vole

Water Vole's latrine

Cornish Butterflies and Moths

Whilst here in Cornwall I've been looking at the butterflies as well as the bird life. In total I've recorded a total of 12 species of butterfly and 3 species of moth.

The most common species, and those recorded in the garden of our cottage in Sandplace, near Looe (see here), were Peacock, Gatekeeper, Red Admiral, Large White and Green-veined White. A couple of Silver-washed Fritillaries were also seen on a couple of occasions feeding on the buddlehia in the garden.

Silver-washed Fritillary 

Away from the garden, we visited Whitsand Bay, near Torpoint, where we also spotted Common Blue, Holly Blue, Small Copper, Painted Lady, and  a fly-by Clouded Yellow!!

Common Blue Butterfly

Holly Blue (male, with damaged wing)

Small Copper

The three moth species seen were Silver Y, feeding on the buddlehia in the garden, a Drinker moth and a Buff Footman. The last 2 species got into the cottage one night, and are both  new species for me.

Drinker Moth

Buff Footman

Linacre Nestbox and Butterfly Update

As you know, this year's nestbox season at Linacre has been our best ever (see here for details), and yesterday I went down to check the boxes to see if the chicks had all managed to fledge successfully.

I'm very pleased to say that out of the 232 pulli that were ringed by me and other members of the Sorby Breck Ringing Group, only 5 had failed to fledge! That gives us a fledging rate of 98.2%, which compares very nicely with the 99.4% fledging rate last year, when 166 birds were ringed. I didn't have time to check on the Mandarin Box, so I'll check that soon.

After checking the boxes, I had a walk around all the 3 reservoirs. The bird life was very quiet, so I decided to look at a new area of wildflower meadow that is being developed by the Rangers, near Spire View. The sun had come out when I got there, and I managed to count a good number of butterflies on the flowering knapweeds: Peacock 11, Small Copper 1, Ringlet 1, Comma 3, Meadow Brown 10, Gatekeeper 6, Small Skipper 1, Green-veined White 2 and a day-flying moth, Common Carpet 1.

Green-veined White on Knapweed

Bees, Butterflies and a Bee-Fly

The weather yesterday was gorgeous, with temperatures of 13 degrees, blue skies and bright sunshine. As a result I decided to have a look at the insects at Linacre, and I'm very glad I did, with 5 species of bee, 6 species of butterfly, 2 species of Hoverfly and a new species of Bee Fly seen!

First up the bees. The species seen today were: White-tailed, Buff-tailed, Common Carder, Honey and Tree Bumblebee. All these, with the exception of the Tree Bumblebee, were the species that I've recorded before at Linacre. The Tree Bumblebee is a relatively new arrival in the UK, and is slowly spreading North. More details on the Bumblebee Conservation website here.

Tree Bumblebee

 

Next, the butterflies. In total I saw 6 species in just 1 spot, at the base of the top reservoir dam wall. Species seen were: Green-veined White (c.6), Comma (1), Peacock (minimum of 8), Small Tortoiseshell (2), Orange Tip (2 males) and a Brimstone (my first record for Linacre).

 

Green-veined White

Comma

Orange Tip

Brimstone

Whilst watching the butterflies, I also managed to spot a Bee Fly - a brand new species for me! Looking on the web, I'm pretty sure it was a Dark-edged Bee Fly (Bombylius major). Details here.

Dark-edged Bee Fly

Linacre Insects

Every summer I spend some time looking at the insect life at Linacre. Today I spent  three hours walking around the bottom and middle reservoirs and recorded some lovely things. Here are some photos:

White-tailed Bumblebee

Black and Yellow Longhorn Beetle

Common Carder Bee

Great Pied Hoverfly

Green-veined White

Small Copper



Other species seen, but not photographed were: Small White, Large White, Peacock and a Southern Hawker dragonfly that chased, caught and ate a Speckled Wood butterfly.

Linacre Ringing - 18th August 2012

Saturday morning's ringing session took place at Linacre Reservoirs in a mixture of sunshine and showers. After four hours we managed 35 birds of 9 species, new birds first and retraps in brackets; Blue Tit - 9, Great Tit - 9 (1), Coal Tit- 3, Dunnock - (1), Robin- 4, Bullfinch - 1, Jay- 1, Blackcap - 4 including 3 juveniles and Wren - 2.

As well as the ringing we heard Tawny Owls "hooting",  saw a Kestrel hunting, a late Swift and a Sparrowhawk being mobbed by about 20 House Martins.

Butterflies on site include Green veined White, Meadow Brown and Holly Blue.

Holly Blue