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 ringing - 8th September 2019

I didn't manage to get any ringing in at Linacre in July and August, but I was down there on Sunday with 4 other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group and what a session we had! In just over 4 hours we managed to catch and ring 81 birds of 15 species.

Birds caught were (new/retrap): Wren 1/0, Dunnock 4/0, Robin 1/0, Treecreeper 1/0, Whitethroat 1/0, Blackcap 6/0, Willow Warbler 2/0, Chiffchaff 2/0, Goldcrest 2/0, Blue Tit 26/1, Great Tit 23/3, Coal Tit 2/0, Nuthatch 2/0, Goldfinch 1/0 and Chaffinch 1/0. As is normal at this time of year, the vast majority of the birds caught today were juveniles, including 1 of the retrap Great Tits that had been ringed in one of the boxes at Linacre on 23th May this year. Other notable records were the juvenile Whitethroat, 2 young Willow Warblers, 6 juvenile Blackcaps and 2 juvenile Chiffchaffs.

Whitethroat (juvenile)

Chiffchaff (juvenile)

Other birds seen/heard were: Grey Heron (1 over), House Martin (9 over), Swallow (3 over), Tawny Owl (birds heard in the woods on arrival at 6am) and Meadow Pipit (2 over).

The sun was out, and the temperature rose to 15 degrees late morning, which brought out some late butterflies: 5 Red Admirals,  3 Painted Ladies, 4 Small Tortoiseshells, 1 Large White and 1 Small White and a Mother of Pearl moth.

Painted Lady

Fermyn Wood - 7th July 2019

Jayne and I had our first visit to this woodland site in Northamptonshire today to take part in a guided walk lead by the East Midland's Branch of Butterfly Conservation . The main species we were hoping to see was Purple Emperor, and we managed to see 1 flying past. Unfortunately, we didn't get one on the ground, so no photo this time. Still a very good butterfly to see, and a new one for us both.

The other species that we wanted to see was Silver-washed Fritillary, and this time we got great views and some super photos of both males and females.

Silver-washed Fritillary (male)

Silver-washed Fritillary (female)

Other species seen were: Ringlet (everywhere), Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Comma (2), Painted Lady (4), Meadow Brown, Red Admiral (1), Large White and Small White.

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?

Attenborough Nature Reserve - 15th April 2019

I haven't been to Attenborough Nature Reserve near Nottingham for several years, so when I heard that a pair of Ferruginous Ducks were present, and "showing well", I thought I'd have a drive down. The ducks were, as promised, very confiding, swimming around the bridge by the Visitors' Centre, allowing some great views and photographs.

Male Ferruginous Duck

Female Ferruginous Duck

Whilst there I also managed another 2 "year ticks"; Cetti's Warbler and Red-crested Pochard.

Red-crested Pochard (pair)

When the sun came out I also got a couple of "butterfly ticks"; Small White and Speckled Wood, along with my first ever Tawny Mining Bee.

Small White (female)

Speckled Wood

Tawny Mining Bee (female)

Year List update:

135 – Cetti’s Warbler

136 – Ferruginous Duck

137 – Red-crested Pochard

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

Return to Chatsworth

The sun was shining again yesterday, so, after a morning ringing session in Sheffield, where we caught 18 birds including a Chiffchaff and a Blackcap, I went out to Chatsworth House for another look around the sculptures again, this time with my son and his girlfriend, father in law, wife and daughter!

Whilst there, I was drawn to the flowers where I managed to spot a few butterflies (Comma x 1, Small Tortoiseshell x 3, Speckled Wood x1, Small White x 1, Small Copper x 1 and Silver Y moth x 3) and 5 species of hoverfly. Here are a few photos:

Small Copper

 

Syrphus ribesii

 

Helophilus pendulus

 

Eupeodus luniger

 

I think the hoverflies are all correctly identified. The last one, Eupeodus luniger, is a "lifer" for me!

Linacre WeBS Walk- September 2013

This month's WeBS walk took place this morning with myself, my nephew Luke and three other members of the Chesterfield RSPB Group (thank you everyone). We spent 3 hours walking around all 3 reservoirs and recorded 33 species of bird including a "patch tick" in the shape of a Hobby which was seen chasing a mixed flock of 20+ House Martins and 30+ Swallows high above the middle reservoir.

Other highlights this month included the first record of Wigeon since one single male bird in March this year (see here), with 8 on the middle reservoir, a Kingfisher on the middle reservoir as well and the flock of approximately 12 Crossbills in Larches on the south side of the middle reservoir!

Away from the middle reservoir we spotted the family party of Little Grebes (2 adults and 3 juveniles on the bottom reservoir, and another bird on the middle reservoir), 59 Mallards, 20 Tufted Ducks, 2 Cormorants, 4 Moorhens (3 adults and 1 juvenile), 3 Grey Wagtails (1 adult and 2 youngsters), 2 Pied Wagtails (the first since April), 25 Mandarin Ducks, 1 Canada Goose, 17 Coots and 3 Great-crested Grebes (2 adults and 1 juvenile).

Apart from the Crossbills, we also recorded 3 Common Buzzards, 1 Sparrowhawk, the usual Tit species, Treecreeper, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch and Goldcrest in the surrounding woodlands.

Finally, just one butterfly today, a Small White, and  I spotted a new plant species by the river at the top end of the site, which I believe is Water Mint. It smelt of mint when I rubbed the leaves anyway!

Water Mint

More worryingly, I also spotted a small patch of Himalayan Balsam, which, as the name suggest, isn't from around here. It is in fact, a very invasive non native species, which, if not controlled, will spread along water courses, crowding out native plants such as the Water Mint. Here's some more information about this plant from the North York Moors National Park website.

Sightings of the Year!!!

Today was the last day of the summer holidays, the sun was shining and yesterday's strong winds had dropped, so I decided to pop down to Linacre for  a few hours to try and get some photos of the myriad insects that are usually on offer. I'm very glad I did, because in just one and a half hours I notched up 10 species of butterfly, including 2 "Linacre Lifers" in the shape of a CLOUDED YELLOW and a Painted Lady!!

Clouded Yellow (male I think)

Painted Lady

 

Both these species of butterfly are annual migrants to Britain from southern Europe and North Africa. Painted Ladies are usually seen in reasonable numbers every year, but Clouded Yellows are much rarer. This year, however, has been a bumper year with individuals seen across the country. Several individual have been recorded in Derbyshire as well, see here for details, but I was still VERY pleased to spot this individual today. Not only is it anew record for Linacre, but also a new species for me in Britain.

As well as these butterflies I also managed to find the following: Speckled Wood (5), Meadow Brown (5), Small Copper (5),  Small Tortoiseshell (1), Comma (1), Peacock (1), Large White (2), Small White (2) and another species that I've yet to identify- oooh!!

Comma (1st Linacre record this year)

Whilst looking at the butterflies, there was also a hawker species of dragonfly flying about, lots of hoverflies, bumblebees and some lovely birds including the flock of 15 Crossbills seen at the weekend, a possible family group of 4 Common Buzzards right overhead, 3 Swallows, 2 squabbling Kingfishers on the middle reservoir (my first record of more than one bird together) and Linnets, that were heard, but not seen (first Linacre record of 2013). Not a bad hour and a half, by anyone's standards.

Linacre - 3rd June 2011 - Butterflies, Bees and Damselflies!!

When I first started visiting Linacre on a regular basis it was primarily to enjoy and record the bird life around the reservoirs. Very quickly, however, I realised that there was a lot more to this area than just the birds. At the this time of the year the birds around the site tend to be be pretty quiet and it is at these time that I turn my attention to the much smaller inhabitants, namely the invertebrates.

With the temperatures hitting an amazing 24 degrees Celsius for two consecutive days I thought today was the day to start this year's "bug hunt" and I was to be rewarded  with some lovely sightings and a new species for me and for Linacre.

The first species I want to show you is the new one for me and is called a Red-and-Black Froghopper.

Red-and Black Froghopper

Froghoppers or "spittle bugs" are species that lay their eggs on a grass stem. When the young hatch they blows bubbles out of their bottoms to create a froth which is also known as "cuckoo spit" and acts as a defence against predators. As I said before this is a new species for me and, as far as I know, for Linacre. I saw a total of 6 individuals around the top reservoir today.

There are lots of different bee and hoverfly species around Linacre, most of which I can't correctly identify(!), but here are a couple of pictures of some that I think I've identified correctly.

White-tailed Bumblebee

Common Carder Bee

Also seen today was a Mayfly, which I think is a Drake Mackerel ...

Mayfly "Drake Mackerel"

6 Small Copper buterflies and my first damselfly of the year, a teneral or newly emerged Common Blue Damselfly. As you can see from the photograph the damselfly isn't blue yet, which tells me it is newly emerged. The blue colour should develop over the next day or so.

Small Copper

Common Blue Damselfly

Other species of butterfly seen today included a single Speckled Wood, 2 Peacocks and 1 Small White. A butterfly larvae was found feeding on a nettle and is either a Peacock or a Small Tortoiseshell.

Butterfly larvae

All in all, a great start to the season, with hopefully lots more to tell you about as the summer progresses.