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 - 31st August 2024

 Based on the year so far, this afternoon's walk around Linacre, was by far the best one for insects this summer. In total, I saw 7 different species of butterfly, along with 3 dragonfly species, 4 hoverfly species and a few other insects. In addition, I go my first Linacre Hobby since 2013!!

The butterflies seen were: Peacock (9), Red Admiral (5), Speckled Wood (5), Large White (1), Small White (4), Comma (2) and Meadow Brown (2).

The dragonfly species were: Migrant Hawker (2), Brown Hawker (2) and Common Darter (1).

Migrant Hawker

 

The hoverfly species were: Eristalis sp, Helophilus pendulus (1), Volucella pellucens a.k.a Great Pied Hoverfly and (1)Volucella inanis (1). Other insects seen included a Scorpion Fly, a 7-spot Ladybird and a Large Yellow Underwing. 

Volucella inanis

Birdwise, it was quite quiet, but the obvious highlight was a Hobby that was chasing a couple of Swallows! My last Linacre record of this species was way back in September 2013!! Other birds seen were: Canada Goose (20 on the top reservoir), Great-crested Grebe (4; 2 adults and 2 juveniles), Little Grebe (1), Swallow ( 4 in total), wheeting Chiffchaffs, Grey Heron (1), Tufted Duck,  Mallard and Mandarin Duck.

Linacre Nestboxes - 19th May 2024

 Last week's visit to Linacre was very successful, with 43 active nests found. I was back down again yesterday, and am very pleased to say that the nests were still going strong. In addition, I spotted a few butterfly species, including a new one for the year.

First up, the nestboxes. Last week, there were 2 Pied Flycatcher nests, but this week, it had increased to 3! One of last week's nests had increased the number of eggs to 7 (from 5), and the other two contained 5 and 4 eggs. The Wren's nest was still active as was the Coal Tit's. These chicks were old enough to ring (brood of 6) as was the first brood of Blue Tits (6). I'm particularly pleased with Coal Tits, as this is the first time this species has successfully nested in the boxes. As always, the results will be entered into the BTO's Nest Record Scheme.

After checking the boxes, I had a quick check for butterflies, and dropped lucky with 1 Red Admiral, 1 Peacock, 3 Silver Y moths and, best of all, a Painted Lady!

Painted Lady

There weren't many birds on the water (presumably still nesting), but I did record 2 broods (10 and 9) of Mandarin Ducks.

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.

Linacre 2nd April 2024

 This week, I've managed a couple of trips to Linacre, recording my first butterflies of 2024 and a few more summer migrants.

Tuesday's visit (2nd) was warm and sunny (13 degrees), so I managed to see a couple of Peacock butterflies and 2 Dark-edged Bee Flies.

Peacock

Bee Fly

Other insects seen were: Common Carder and Buff-tailed Bumblebees and several  Eristalis hoverflies.

Birds seen were: 6 singing Chiffchaffs, 1 Willow Warbler (1st of the year), 1 Blackcap (first of the year), 1 Mute Swan (6Y24), 2 Greylag Geese (1st record of 2024), 6 Canada Geese (3 pairs), singing Skylark, Green Woodpecker (heard), Goosander (1 redhead),  1 Mistle Thrush, 1 Buzzard and a singing Grey Wagtail (wearing a ring).

Grey Wagtail

RSPB Minsmere - 9th August 2023

 On Wednesday, Jayne and I had 3 hours at RSPB Minsmere. We got there just after 6am, and walked around the main scrape area, before finishing off back at the café with a delicious vegan sausage cob!

It was quite quiet as we set off, but the first sighting, of a Common Lizard, warming up on a post was a great start. As the weather warmed up, we began to spot several Stonechats, Linnets, Reed Bunting, Common Terns, the first Common and Ruddy Darters, along with a couple of Migrant Hawkers and dozens of Gatekeepers.

Common Lizard

Arriving at the East Hide, we began to spot a few more birds, with the following waders seen: Green Sandpiper (3), Common Sandpiper (1), Ruff (3), Avocet (c50), Black-tailed Godwit (c.60), Redshank (2), Dunlin (6), Lapwing and Spotted Redshank (5). Gulls were far and few between, but we did spot a few Black-headed Gulls, a single, juvenile Mediterranean Gull, 1 adult Kittiwake and, best of all, 26 Little Gulls, including a few in breeding plumage. 5 Spoonbills were asleep, and there were also several Shelducks (juveniles), Teal, Mallard, Greylag, Canada and at least one family party of Barnacle Geese.

Avocets

We carried on around The Scrape, spotting another Migrant Hawker, a male Black-tailed Skimmer, more Common and Ruddy Darter and dozens of Red Admirals and Peacock butterflies, feeding on Hemp Agrimony.

Ruddy Darter

Our final stop was the Bittern Hide. Here we spotted Bearded Tit (heard only), a Muntjac Deer, a Kestrel, a distant Marsh Harrier and a fly-by Bittern.

Back at the Visitors' Centre, we had a few minutes watching the butterflies on the Buddleia bushes. Red Admirals and Peacocks were in good numbers again, along with a single Brimstone (1 male), 1 Comma, Gatekeeper (c.5) and at least a couple of Grayling. 3 Hornets were also seen buzzing around the bushes.

Grayling

Year List update: Little Gull (179)

The Gulls are Back!!

 Late this morning, I had a drive across to Rufford for the first visit since March, looking for the returning Black-headed Gulls.

I was in luck, with 20 birds (all adults) seen on the main lake, including the first darvic-ringed bird of the autumn, 293A! This bird was ringed at Center Parcs, as an adult, in December 2021, and was last seen in February 2022. No breeding season sightings have been reported, yet.

293A

Whilst there, Jayne and I had a walk around and spotted some good insects as well: Common Dater (1, my first of the year), Blue-tailed Damselfly, Emerald Damselfly (1, also my first of the year), a Hawker sp, Comma (4), Small White (10+), Red Admiral (1), Peacock (1) and Gatekeeper (1 being eaten by a female Blackcap!). We also had Swallows and House Martins over the lake.

Common Dater

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

Linacre Insects - 8th April 2023

 The sun was out again yesterday, and the temperature rose to 15 degrees, so I popped down to Linacre for a few hours looking for the first butterflies of the year. Whilst on site (1.30 - 3.30pm) I managed to see 4 species.

The first species of the year was Comma, with 6 seen. The second species was Peacock, with again 6 seen. I got a brief fly by from a "white butterfly", which may have been an Orange Tip. The final species seen was Small Tortoiseshell, with 2 seen. 

Comma

Peacock

In addition, I also had a very brief view of a possible Orange Underwing moth. Unfortunately, I only saw it once, and can't confirm the identification, but it was in exactly the same spot as my previous sighting in 2021 (see here).Dark-edged Bee-flies were also seen.

Linacre Lifer - Orange Underwing!!

 The weather was a very pleasant 15 degrees and sunny on Easter Sunday afternoon, so I decided to go down to Linacre for a couple of hours to see if there were any butterflies flying about.

I started off by walking down from the car park along the edge of the farmer's field where I spotted my first Linacre butterflies of the year: 2 Small Tortoiseshells and a Peacock. Whilst walking, a small day-flying moth literally dropped down onto the path in front of me. I grabbed a few photos, and realised that it was an Orange Underwing, a lifer and a new record for Linacre!! Here's a link to this new moth species.

Orange Underwing

Whilst on site I also managed to see many Dark-edged Bee Flies (c.10 - 15), along with  a Tawny Mining Bee (1 female), 1 Common Carder Bee, 1 Garden Bumblebee, Clarkson's Mining Bees and an Early Mining Bee.

Linacre - 22nd July 2020

I had a couple of hours at Linacre this afternoon. When I arrived at 12.30pm it was grey, overcast and just 17 degrees. I started down at the bottom reservoir where I was very lucky to see a Kingfisher fly up from the river, over the wall and along the water. Also on the water were 20+ Mallards and a breeding plumaged Black-headed Gull. This gull was a very unexpected sighting, as the first ones don't usually return until September or October! One adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was also present on the top reservoir.

Black-headed Gull

About half way round, the sun came out, and so did the insects! 8 species of butterfly were seen: Large White (1), Small White (2), Green-veined White (1), Ringlet (2), Meadow Brown (c.10), Gatekeeper (2), Comma (2) and Peacock (1). A new species of day-flying moth, 6-spot Burnet Moth (3), was also seen, as were 2 species of damselfly: Common Blue Damselfly (c.3 pairs in cop and ovipositing) and Blue-tailed Damselfly (1 male and 1 female of the "rufescens" form).

Common Blue Damselflies in cop

Blue-tailed Damselfly (female)

Other insects seen included my first Volucella pellucens (Great Pied Hoverfly) of the year (2), 2 Black and Yellow Longhorn Beetles and several species of bumblebee and droneflies.

Great Pied Hoverfly

Black and Yellow Longhorn Beetle

Linacre Insects

I spent a few hours at Linacre over the last few days and recorded the following insects: Southern Hawker (1), Brown Hawker (3, including 1 ovipositing female), Common Blue Damselfly (2 males) and Common Darter (2 tenerals on 30th - my first 2019 record).

Brown Hawker (female)

Common Darter

Butterflies seen were: Red Admiral (3), Painted Lady (1), Large White (1), Green-veined White (1), Common Blue Butterfly (2 males and 1 female), Wall Brown (1), Small Tortoiseshell (1), Peacock (2), Speckled Wood and Small Copper (3).

Small Copper

LINACRE LIFER!!!

It was about 20 degrees on Thursday, so I popped down to Linacre in the afternoon for 3 hours to see what was about. In the sun there were lots of butterflies in and around the buddleia in the ringing site, including: Painted Lady (8 - it's been a fantastic year nationwide for this species, and my best ever at Linacre too), Red Admiral (1), Peacock (2), Comma (1), Wall Brown (1), Gatekeeper (1), Common Blue Butterfly (3 males, 1 in the ringing site and 2 on the bank below the top reservoir. A female was also seen in the ringing site on 23rd), Small Tortoiseshell (1), Meadow Brown (1), Speckled Wood (1), Small Copper (1 on the bank below the bottom reservoir) and Large White (2). Other insects seen were: Brown Hawker (2), Volucella inanis (1), Volucella pellucens (1) and many Marmalade and Eristalis hoverflies.

Birdwise it was relatively quiet, except for the Linacre lifer in the shape of a juvenile REDSTART!!

Redstart

This bird was seen flycatching on the boardwalk, with about 3 Chiffchaffs, for about 1 minute, during a short rain shower. Luckily I managed to get this photo before it flitted off into the bushes and disappeared. I only have one other record of this species at Linacre, 2 birds reported in May 2016, so it could be a breeding species, which has been missed, or it could  just be a passage migrant. Only time, and more records will tell. 

Other birds seen were: Mallard (71), Tufted Duck (14), Mandarin Duck (29), Coot (2 adults and no juveniles!!), Moorhen (12; 4 adults and 8 juveniles), Great-crested Grebe (1 adult), Grey Wagtail (1 juvenile), Robin (1 juvenile), Swallow (2), House Martin (6) and Lesser Black-backed Gull (10 dropped in for 5 minutes during the rain).

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 Insects - 30th March 2019

Yesterday afternoon the temperature rose to 15 degrees celsius, so I decided to have my first proper look for insects at Linacre this year. Luke had already seen 2 Brimstones and 2 Peacocks on Friday 29th, so I knew there were a few insects about.

I walked along the south side of the middle reservoir, and managed to see a total of 4 Peacocks, 3 Commas and 3 Dark-edged Bee Flies.

Peacock

Comma

Dark-edged Bee Fly

Along with these three species, I also managed to spot my first species of hoverfly, a Drone Fly (Eristalis sp.) , and a bee species , which may be some kind of Mining Bee. I'll update if, and when I manage to get a proper identification.

Linacre Butterflies- 21st August 2018

The sun came out today, so I popped down to Linacre to see if there were any butterflies about.

The first butterfly I saw was a Painted Lady, my first Linacre record of 2018.

Painted Lady

Other species seen were: Purple Hairstreak (a female) Red Admiral (1), Small Tortoiseshell (6), Common Blue (1 female), Holly Blue (1), Speckled Wood (1), Meadow Brown (1), Peacock (1), Small White (2) and Small Copper (2).

Red Admiral

Small Copper

Linacre- 1st September 2017

The sun was out this morning, so I decided to have a few hours down at Linacre. There were 6 species of butterfly on the wing, 3 dragonflies and 1 damselfly species.

The butterflies seen were: Speckled Wood (5), Peacock (5), Red Admiral (2), Large White (1), Comma (1) and Small Copper (3, my first record of 2017).

Small Copper

Dragonflies and damselflies seen were: Common Dater (1, the first Linacre record of 2017), Brown Hawker (3), Southern Hawker (1) and Common Blue Damselfly. 2 species of hoverfly were also seen: Volucella pellucens (Great Pied Hoverfly) and Sericomyia silentis (only my second Linacre record, after 1 on 18th August 2016).

Sericomyia silentis

Birds seen around the site today were: Mallard (37), Tufted Duck 19; 18 adults and 1 duckling), Mandarin Duck (25), Great-crested Grebe (2 adults and 1 juvenile), Grey Heron (2), Grey Wagtail (1), Coot (3 adults), Moorhen (12; 6 adults and 6 juveniles), Cormorant (1), Common Buzzard (1), Swallow (c. 15) and Chiffchaff (3, including 1 singing).

Ringing Success

After a couple of months break, we (Sorby Breck Ringing Group) were back down at Linacre this morning for a ringing session. As the title suggests, we had a very successful morning, with 72 birds of 10 species caught and ringed. All the birds, bar two, were juvenile birds.

The most numerous species caught was Blue Tit, comprising 42 birds (38 new and 4 retraps). All birds were born this year, and the retraps were birds that had been ringed this year in the boxes throughout Linacre, which is always good to see. We also caught 4 juvenile Great Tits (3 new birds and 1 retrap that had also been ringed in a Linacre box this year), 2 Coal Tits (1 adult and 1 juvenile), 2 Long-tailed Tits (both juveniles), 1 Wren (juvenile), 1 Song Thrush (juvenile) and 1 Goldfinch (juvenile).

To supplement the resident birds, we also caught 3 species of summer migrant; Blackcap (3 juveniles), Chiffchaff (6 juveniles) and Willow Warbler (9 juveniles and 1 adult). All in all, an excellent morning's ringing.

Willow Warbler (juvenile)

Other bird species seen during the morning included 12 House Martins, 1 Swallow and 2 Kestrels, which could have been an adult and a juvenile. A Painted Lady butterfly was also seen, the first site record since 2013 (see here), along with 1 Peacock,  1 Red Admiral and dozens of Cinnabar Moth caterpillars.

Linacre Ringing and a 2 new Species

I was out ringing with 3 members of the Sorby Breck Ringing Group at Linacre yesterday. We had 3 and a half hours on site, but only caught 9 birds, most of which were retrap Tits (Blue, Great and a single new Long-tailed). We also had singles of Dunnock and Bullfinch (a 5 male). Unfortunately, no warblers were caught, although Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap were all heard singing.

Whilst there, the sun came out for a while, and a Peacock butterfly was seen, along with a moth. I grabbed a quick photo, and was very pleased to identify it later as a Water Carpet - a new species for me and for Linacre (as far as I'm aware).

Water Carpet

Apparently, this species is quite common in Derbyshire, so is presumably quite common here, but has, so far, been overlooked. A nice addition.

The other "new" species was , I think, a Short-tailed or Field Vole. The individual was found underneath an old manhole cover that was on the grass by the ringing site. I lifted it up, and spotted this.

Field Vole

As you can (hopefully) see, its the back end of a Vole, and appears to have a very short tail. According to The Wildlife Trust's website (see here),  a Field Vole's tail is approximately 30% of its body length, so I quite happy that the id is correct. We did, also, see its face, but I didn't manage a photo of that end!! Now I know what the Kestrel that we saw, was after.