212F Returns!

 After yesterday's visit to look at butterflies, Jayne and I had a quick drive over to Rufford to see if there were any Black-headed Gulls back. There were just 7 gulls present, but the first one I saw was wearing a green darvic ring!!! I grabbed a quick photo, and saw that the bird in question was 212F, a new bird for me. 

212F

212F was ringed, as a 1st year bird, in October 2024. It was seen twice over last winter, both times in Derby, but this was the first record at Rufford. The above photo shows a few retained juvenile feathers.

Below is a photo of the same bird, from Derby, in December 2024.

212F

Whilst there, we also spotted a couple of Swallows and a single Holly Blue butterfly.

Linacre - 31st August 2023

 It was the last day of meteorological summer yesterday, and I had 3 hours down at Linacre. There were several species of butterfly and dragonfly around, a new record count of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and amazing views of a Common Lizard.

Butterflies seen were: Speckled Wood (7), Large White (1), Green-veined White (2), Red Admiral (1), and Small Copper (1). There were dozens of hoverflies, including a sing Myathropa florea ("Batman" hoverfly), Eristalis sp and Syrphus sp. Other insects seen were: Bronze Shieldbug (1, my first Linacre record), 3 Hornets (my highest ever count), a single male Common Blue Damselfly, Migrant Hawker (5; including a pair in tandem) and Brown Hawker (2).

Bronze Shieldbug

Holly Blue

Birdwise, it was quite quiet, but I did hear a single Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler (both singing), two Ravens, over the top reservoir, two Buzzards, again over the top reservoir, Moorhens, Coots, Mallards, Tufted Ducks, Mandarin Ducks, a juvenile Robin and Dunnock and, as previously mentioned, a record count of Lesser Black-backed Gulls (36, made up of 31 adults and 5 juveniles.)

Robin (juvenile)

The final sighting of the visit was a super Common Lizard that was basking on the wall by the boardwalk around the top reservoir. This is a species that is recorded annually at Linacre, and is my second record of 2023. The views that this individual, however, are my best ever! One of the defence mechanisms of this species, is to drop its tail if a predator attacks. As you can see from the picture, this individual has regrown its tail after such an encounter.

Common Lizard

Linacre - 13th August 2023

 I had two hours down at Linacre on Saturday afternoon (1pm - 3.15pm). The weather was okay, at 18 degrees, overcast and breezy, but with a few sunny spells.

During the sunny spells I managed to see some butterflies, including my first Linacre records of 2023 of Painted Lady and Wall Brown (both in the ringing area).

Painted Lady

Wall Brown

Other butterflies seen were: Meadow Brown (9), Speckled Wood (6), Peacock (1), Gatekeeper (5), Large White (1), Green-veined White (3), Red Admiral (4), Comma (2), Holly Blue (2) and Small Copper (4). 

Other insects seen were: Grasshopper sp, Eristalis and Syrphus hoverflies, Soldier Beetles, a single Hornet, 1 Brown Hawker, a pair of Common Blue Damselflies (in tandem), a Straw Dot moth, a Black and Yellow Longhorn Beetle, Myathropa florea (3), Volucella pellucens (3) and Volucella inanis (1- my first Linacre record of the year).

Volucella inanis

Bird seen included: Woodpigeon (a group of c20 in the top car park), Corvids, most likely Rooks (a flock of c40 in the field by the main entrance), Grey Heron (1 on the bottom reservoir), a juvenile Robin, 2 Ravens over the top reservoir, a Peregrine Falcon (1 over the top reservoir), Bullfinch (1 in the ringing site), Lesser Black-backed Gull (6; 5 adults and 1 juvenile), House Martin (1), Swallow (1), Kingfisher (1 on the middle reservoir), 6 Grey Wagtails, Chiffchaff (wheeting heard) and Tufted Duck (3 ducklings on the middle reservoir - my first record of 2023).

Tufted Duck

Warham Camp - 31st July 2023

 Jayne and I went across the Warham Camp this afternoon. It was overcast, and spitting with rain, but we still managed to see a few species of butterfly.

The key species was Chalkhill Blue, and we saw them straight away. Unfortunately, due to the weather, we only saw about half a dozen, and they kept down in the long grass. I eventually managed to get a few photos.

Chalkhill Blue

Other species seen were: Holly Blue (1), Common Blue (1), Essex Skipper (1), 6-spot Burnet (1),Yellow Shell (1), Wall Brown (1) and a single male Banded Demoiselle.

Wall Brown

There were only a few birds about: Red Kite (2), Marsh Harrier (2), Skylark (heard singing) and Yellowhammer (1 heard).

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). 

Dronfield Nature Park - 3rd July 2016

After Sunday's visit to Lindrick Dale, I popped into the Dronfield Nature Park, a small grassland site with a  pond.

Pond at Dronfield Nature Park

Despite the warm weather, the pond was quite quiet, with just 3 damselflies seen. These were a pair of blue damselflies in tandem, and another male blue damselfly. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good view to identify to species. The only other animal seen in the pond was a newt. Again, I wasn't able to identify it to species level.

Newt species

Other insects seen included Common Carder Bee, Holly Blue and 3 Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet moth.

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet moth

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 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