Linacre Birds and Insects - 2nd June 2019

Last Sunday I got up early and had a couple of hours walking around all 3 reservoirs of Linacre. It was a lovely morning, and I managed to record a new species for June, along with lots of great breeding records.

I started by the middle reservoir where I saw 3 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a 2nd or 3rd calendar year Herring Gull ( my first June record, and only my 5th ever Linacre record, following records in 2010, 2014, 2016 and 2017). Also present was a pair of Great-crested Grebes with 3 chicks and 2 Grey Wagtails (1 adult and 1 juvenile).

Great-crested Grebe

Other signs of successful breeding seen were: Mallard (43 adults and 7 broods of chicks totalling 47 ducklings), Coot (11 adults and 6 broods of chicks, totally 15 chicks), Moorhen (9 adults and 10 chicks; 2 broods of 6 and 4, and Mandarin Duck (6 adults and 20 ducklings; 12 and 8). There were 19 adult Tufted Ducks , but no ducklings yet.

Away from the water the brood of 7 Pied Flycatchers were old enough to ring and a few insects were also seen, namely Red Admiral (1), Chimney Sweeper (a day flying moth) and a hoverfly that I think is a Scaeva pyrasti. 

Scaeva pyrasti?

Cornwall News

I'm down in Cornwall for a week, so I thought I'd share a few of my sightings so far.

I'm staying near Looe on the south coast. The most obvious birds are, of course, the Herring Gulls, with good numbers of adults and juvenile birds around the town.

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed and Black-headed Gulls are also present on the river that runs through the town. Waders are a  bit thin on the ground, but we've had a few Oystercatchers flying up the river. Little Egrets are very obvious on the river as well, with at least 6 seen daily, along with this Grey Heron.

Grey Heron

A family party of Buzzards has also been seen daily from our cottage, as have Sparrowhawk, Swallow, House Martin and Raven.

As well as the birds, we've also seen a few butterflies: Red Admiral, Large White, Gatekeepers, Peacock and a Silver-washed Fritillary at The Monkey Sanctuary. There are several species of hoverfly in the garden, including this beauty, Scaeva pyrasti.

Scaeva pyrasti

The final thing of note, so far, is this beautiful Compass Jellyfish that we spotted swimming along the river in Looe- what a beauty! More information about this species here.

Compass Jellyfish