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 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 Nestboxes - 4th and 6th May 2024

 Over the weekend, I was down at Linacre with other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group, to carry out another check of the nestboxes. We had a couple of visits, and recorded some new species, and a very nice surprise....!

The first visit, on Saturday, saw the first check of the boxes around the Ranger's Base, and we found 13 new occupied nests. After that we checked on the owl boxes. The first contained Grey Squirrels (!), the second had a female Mandarin Duck on 11 eggs, and the third box contained..... a single Tawny Owl chick! This was a great find, as it was the first chick in the boxes since 2018.  

Tawny Owl

On the second visit, on Monday, we checked the remaining boxes, and found a grand total of 30 nests, including our first Pied Flycatcher (1 egg) and Wren (1 clutch of 6) of the year. There was 1 singing Pied Flycatcher (year tick 168) in another area of the woods and 1 other nest without eggs in it, so I'm hoping we may yet get more than 1 nest this year. The last piece of good news was that the eggs on the Coal Tit nest we found last week had hatched - the first time this has happened in a box.

Walking around the reservoirs, I managed to spot a couple of Mallard broods (2 and 1), my first of the year, 21 Tufted Ducks, 1 Canada Goose, 1 Grey Wagtail, 2 Great-crested Grebes, 1 Little Grebe, 6 Mandarin Ducks (5 males and 1 female), 6 Blackcaps, 4 Chiffchaffs and 1 singing Garden Warbler ( year tick 164).

A few insects were seen on Sunday: 1 male Orange Tip, 1 Peacock, my first Red and Black Froghopper and 2 Dark-edged Bee-flies.

Whixall Moss - 1st June 2023

 Today Jayne and I visited the Fenn's, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses in Shropshire. We  went in search of two insects, the Large Heath butterfly and the White-faced Darter dragonfly.

Unfortunately, we didn't see the former species (perhaps a little early in the season??), but we did have fantastic views of the darter, including a pair "in tandem".

White-faced Darter (male)

Other wildlife spotted included: Four-spotted Chaser, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Large Skipper, Brimstone, Green Hairstreak, Common Blue Butterfly, Orange Tip, Green Tiger Beetle, Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting, Stonechat and Sundew.

Four-spotted Chaser

Sundew

Small Blue and Dingy Skipper - 20th May 2023

 After seeing details on social media earlier in the week, Jayne and I spent a couple of hours at Pleasley Pit searching for a colony of introduced Small Blue butterflies.

We arrived at the car park, and after walking just 200m, saw our first butterflies (they really are small!!), 3 males, one of which posed beautifully.

Small Blue (male)

We walked on to the area where previous sightings had come from, where we managed to watch both males and females, including this mating pair. At one point there were 11 on the ground together!!

Small Blues (male on the left, I think)

Whilst there, we also spotted several other species: Peacock (2), Comma (2), Orange Tip (1 male) Large White (2) and, best of all, a Dingy Skipper.

Dingy Skipper

Year List update - 15th April 2023

 Over the last week or so I've had a few trips to catch up with a few more "year ticks", taking this year's total to 132.

The first trip was to the moors just above Sheffield to try and catch up with Ring Ouzel and Wheatear. Unfortunately, my first visit blew a blank, as there was a very heavy mist/fog on arrival! I did, however, manage to see several Red Grouse (126).

The next trip, to Ossett in West Yorkshire was a proper "twitch" to see 2 Black-crowned Night Herons (128) that had appeared on the river there. 1 was seen, initially perched up in a tree, but then feeding- very nice! A Kingfisher (127) was also seen, along with half a dozen Sand Martins, a single Swallow, and my first Orange Tip butterflies of the year (2 males).

Black-crowned Night Heron

My next "tick" was a single House Martin (129) that I saw at Linacre yesterday morning. This morning, Jayne and I had a return visit to the moorlands, where, despite some more mist (!), we managed to spot a hunting Short-eared Owl (130), a couple of Ring Ouzels ( male and female - 131) and a couple of Wheatears (male and female - 132).

Wheatear

21st May 2022 - First Dragons and Damsels

 Jayne and I had a walk around Seymour Ponds yesterday, and saw our first Damsel and Dragonflies of the year.

The first species seen was Blue-tailed Damselfly, followed closely by Large Red and Azure Damselflies. Several Four-spotted Chasers were also seen flying around.

Four-spotted Chaser

In addition to the damselflies, we also saw a few butterfly species: Orange Tip, Brimstone, Green-veined White, Small Heath and one of my favourites, Brown Argus.

Brown Argus (underwing)

Brown Argus (upperwing)

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.

Deep Dale

Last May I visited Deep Dale to see the Early Purple Orchids and Cowslips that grow there. This weekend Jayne and I had a return visit to see them again.

Early Purple Orchids and Cowslip

 Whilst there, we also spotted a few butterflies, including this male Orange Tip and a beautiful Green Hairstreak.

Orange Tip (male)

Green Hairstreak

Derbyshire Butterflies and Dragons

The sun was shining today and the temperature got up to 16 degrees, so I was out and about with Jayne enjoying the weather and the insects that are starting to appear here in Derbyshire.

First stop was a small pond called Cupola Pond near Stanedge, Chesterfield. This small pond is found on the edge of the moors, and is a very good spot for a range of Damsel- and Dragonflies. On today's visit we spotted 2 species: Large Red Damselfly and Four-spotted Chaser, both of which are common species here in Derbyshire. See the Derbyshire Dragonflies website here for more details of these and other species present in the county. The website of the British Dragonfly Society (here), is also worth a look for details about all the British species.

Here are a couple of pictures taken today of both species.

Large Red Damselfly

Four-spotted Chaser

After this we drove across to Cromford Canal, where we spotted this female Orange Tip butterfly. Not quite as showy as the male, but still a very nice butterfly to see. See the excellent Butterfly Conservation webite here for more details about this species.

Female Orange Tip

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

Whiethroat and butterflies

Had a visit to the Chesterfield Canal with school today and, as well as having a very good time looking at the narrow boats and enjoying the sunshine, I managed to add a new species to the Year List; Whitethroat. At least 4 individual birds were seen and heard along the stretch of canal. Lovely!
Here's a photo taken a few years ago at Carsington Water.

Whitethroat

Whilst out and about I also managed to see three new species of butterfly: Brimstone (1 male), Orange Tip (1 male) and Speckled Wood (1).

Orange Tip

 

Popped up to Linacre in the evening to fill up the feeders and recorded a Bullfinch and a singing Whitethroat on the ringing site. The Whitethroat was especially good as it was my first record here this year and was also the first record in this area. It was singing around a very interesting looking area of brambles, so it could become a good record for the Nest Record Scheme - if I can track it down!

Year List:
120 - Whitethroat

Linacre ringing begins!

I knew today's outing was going to be good, but I couldn't have dreamed that it would be as good as it really turned out to be!

First up this morning was a meeting with my ringing trainer, another 2 members of the Sorby Breck Ringing Group and one of the DCC rangers at Linacre. Our aim was to investigate a new ringing site and set up a feeding station to encourage birds into the area, so that we can "mist net" here later in the year. The site we chose was next to the Rangers' Base in an area of open grassland and willow scrub. Two feeders were put up and two new net lanes were identified. Lots of birds were heard singing in the area, including Long-tailed Tits, Chiffchaffs and a Song Thrush, so we should get some good birds in the nets. We'll continue feeding the area for a few weeks and hopefully begin ringing later in the summer.

The new feeding station

After setting up the feeding station we set out to check the nestboxes, with the hope of ringing a few chicks. At the moment we have 91 nestboxes on site and out of these, 38 contained active nests i.e. with eggs or chicks, including box 11, the one on my header, which contained 5 eggs! Just 2 of these nests had chicks in them and both broods were just a few days old and so too young to ring yet. A return visit in a week or so should be very productive though!

First chicks of the year!

To compenstae for the lack of pulli in the nestboxes we decided to check the Robin nest that I found earlier in the season (see here). To my great surprise the nest was still intact and 5 young were ready for ringing! These are the first birds to be rung at Linacre and the two that I rang were my first ever pulli! Here's one - gorgeous!

Robin pullus - my first!!

Other notable sights today were the year's first Peacock and Orange Tip butterflies and a very low flying Common Buzzard. Now, where is his nest? That should be worth investigating!

Linacre 1st May 2011 - sunshine, wind, butterflies and a year tick.

Every year it's the same and it never fails to amaze me just how quickly the trees come into leaf and everything turns green! So it was this afternoon when Jayne and I popped down to Linacre for a few hours in the sunshine. I've only been away for a week, but in that short space of time everything has changed. Most noticeable today were the "May blossom" or Hawthorn trees around the site, which were all out  in full flower and looking beautiful.

Hawthorn flowers

As well as this, the Wild Garlic flowers had also opened up and had peppered the green carpets with dozens of lovely white flowers.

Wild Garlic in flower

As well as the flowers this afternoon's visit, despite the very strong winds, was very good for butterfly sightings with 6 species being seen, namely Speckled Wood (1), Large White (7), Peacock (2), Orange Tip (2 males), Comma (1) and a beautifully coloured Small Copper (1).

Small Copper

Birdwise, the reservoirs were pretty quiet, although 2 singing Garden Warblers were a good year tick. A Common Sandpiper was present on the middle reservoirs, dodging all the dogs and people playing on the lovely mud (!) and 2 broods of Mallard, 7 and 8, were swimming around as well. The hybrid goose (see here) was still present on the top reservoir and 4 Great-crested Grebes (2 pairs) were still looking forlornly for somewhere to build a nest!