Linacre - 30th June 2024

 It hasn't been a great summer for butterflies so far, but a walk around Linacre this morning got me two new species for the year, along with a new moth and a record count of Common Sandpipers.

The two new butterflies were: Meadow Brown and Ringlet, with 2 of each species seen, on the dam banks and the ringing site respectively.

Meadow Brown

Ringlet

Two moth species were identified: Latticed Heath (2nd record of the year) and a Shaded Broad-bar (1st record of the year).

Shaded Broad-bar

Birdwise, it was a decent morning too, with some very good post breeding counts, a new (for the year) breeding record and, as already mentioned, a new high record of Common Sandpipers. Birds seen were: Mallard (114 adults and 4 broods of 1, 3, 5 and 1;124 birds in total), Mandarin Duck (62 adults and 3 broods of 5,1 and 1; 69 birds in total), Tufted Duck (26 adults), Grey Wagtail ( 7 birds; 2 adults and 5 juveniles), Grey Heron (1),  Moorhen (3 adults - no young!), Coot (1 adult and 3 juveniles), Common Sandpiper (3 flew from the wall on the middle reservoir - my first ever record of more than 1 bird - possible breeding?), Lesser Black-backed Gull (1), Kingfisher (1), Swift ( a nice record of 7 birds over the middle reservoir), Swallow (1 bird!), Common Buzzard (1), Skylark (1 singing), Chiffchaff ( 5 singing), Blackcap (6 singing), Garden Warbler (1 singing),  Great-crested Grebe ( 12 birds; 6 adults and 2 broods of 2 and 4) and Little Grebe (1 juvenile on the middle reservoir - first young of the year).

Little Grebe

Lindrick Dale- 29th June 2024

 This afternoon, I had a drive across to Lindrick Dale, near Worksop, to try my luck with the butterflies. It was 20 degrees, and pretty overcast when I arrived, but I got lucky and saw 5 new species for the year. 

The first species, and the most common (c.20), was the Marbled White. Also present were: Ringlet (c.10), Meadow Brown (c15), Large Skipper (1) and Dark Green Fritillary (c.5). Unfortunately, no Silver-studded Blues were seen (too early, too overcast?)

Marbled White

Ringlet

Dark Green Fritillary

Large Skipper

Linacre - 22nd June 2024

 Last weekend, I was down at Linacre for a few hours. The boardwalk around the top reservoir was still out of bounds for repairs, and the water level there had also been dropped. Unfortunately, no waders....yet! As is expected in June, it was very quiet, with just a few ducklings around and about. The highlight (perhaps "lowlight") of the walk was my first sighting of Swift (at Linacre) for the year. This is very late, and only involved one bird that was seen for about 30 seconds! No hirundines were seen. I checked the last few boxes, and was very pleased to see that the second brood of Pied Flycatchers had fledged successfully, making that 10 chicks in total - the highest ever count.

Out on the water the following bids were counted: Mallard (77 adults and 6 ducklings), Tufted Duck (15 adults), Lesser Black-backed Gull (4 adults), Mandarin (15 adults and 6 ducklings), Moorhen (just 6 adults - no young yet!), Coot (2 adults and 3 chicks - the only ones seen so far this year), Grey Wagtail (1 adult) and Great-crested Grebe (7 adults and 6 juveniles).

I also had a quick check, and fill, of the feeders. Whilst walking down, I flushed a Tawny Owl and also saw my first Straw Dot (moth) and Volucella bombylans (hoverfly, bumblebee mimic) of the year. A Chimney Sweeper moth, reported by Antony, in the fields beyond the top reservoir on 26th, was the first record since 2019.

Volucella bombylans

Black-headed Gull 270A - Another resighting!

News came through yesterday, that a gull I ringed in December 2020, had been re sighted in The Netherlands!

The bird in question, 270A, was originally ringed at The Carrs, Warsop, Nottinghamshire on 22/12/2020. At the the time of ringing, it was aged as a 1st year bird. Here's a picture, taken in 2020.

270A

It hasn't been re sighted in the UK yet, mainly because we haven't been checking the wintering site!! There have, however, been 2 re sightings, both in The Netherlands, and both by the same observer, but 1 year apart! The first sighting was in Almere in 21st July 2022, and the second was last Thursday, 20th June 2024, also in Almere. Here's picture, courtesy of the finder, feeding on a landfill site!

270A in The Netherlands

I'll make sure I get to Warsop this winter, and hopefully, get a new sighting!

Linacre Insects - 3 new species!

 The summer of 2024 has, so far, been pretty awful weather wise, with very few periods of dry, warm weather. Today, the temperature managed to drag itself to 17 degrees (!), and there were a few sunny spells, so Jayne and I had a couple of hours at Linacre, and managed to find 3 new species!!!!

Although it was sunny, the number of insects seen was still pretty low, but it did, at least, have a few new records for the year, along with the new ones. Firstly, we spotted Common Blue Damselflies (c15), followed by 1 Speckled Wood, Swollen-thighed Beetles, Red and Black Froghopper, 3 Green-veined White, 1 Volucella pellucens (Great Pied Hoverfly), Eristalis sp, 1 Myathropa florea, 1 male Sericomyia silentis, 1 Mayfly sp, 3 Cinnabar Moths, 1 Latticed Heath and White-tailed and Common Carder Bumblebees.

Sericomyia silentis

The three new species that we saw today were: 1 Speckled Longhorn Beetle, an Agapeta hamana moth and a Orthotaenia undulana moth!

Speckled Longhorn Beetle

Agapeta hamana

Orthotaenia undulana

Linacre Nestboxes -2024 Season

 Last Thursday, Jayne and I popped down to Linacre to ring the last chicks (pulli) of the 2024 season. As it turns out, contrary to many areas, the nestboxes have been very good this year, with a total of 192 pulli, 1 adult Mandarin and 1 adult Pied Flycatcher ringed.

By far the most numerous bird ringed this year was, as always, Blue Tit. In total, I ringed 20 broods, ranging from 3 - 10 birds, making a total of 132 birds (the highest number since 2018). All these nests have now fledged, and only 6 birds didn't fledge - a fledging rate of 95%, which is pretty good. The second most numerous species was Great Tit, with 6 broods of between 5-8 birds, totalling 43 birds. This time all birds fledged, so 100% success rate! The third tit species, was Coal Tit, with just 1 brood of 6 ringed. Again, all the brood fledged, so another 100% success rate! This was particularly nice, as this is only the third time this species has used the boxes, since they were put up in 2006! Last year's clutch were predated, so the previous successful nest was back in 2011. 1 Tawny Owl was also ringed. This box hasn't yet been checked, so I don't know if it has fledged yet. Likewise, the adult Mandarin Duck, and her clutch still need to be checked. The last species, Pied Flycatcher, has also had its most successful year to date. In total, 3 nests were discovered this year, 2 of which had chicks that could be ringed (2 broods of 5). The first young ringed have now fledged, and the second box will be checked again next week. The other brood was predated.

As always, all nests were monitored for the BTO's Nest Record Scheme, and all birds ringed, were done so, under BTO licence.