Lakes

Large numbers of Curlew on the estuaries are starting to build up with 2 different flocks of 500 + seen. Oystercatcher also in good numbers 300 and 200.A flock of 9 Greenshank , adult Med Gull , Yellow Wagtail and the first juvenile Little Egrets have been seen . Redshank , Dunlin ,Common Sandpiper , Ringed Plover  , Whimbrel , and lapwing are filling up the estuaries at low tide. Little ,Sandwich and Common Terns were seen at Hodbarrow along with another 2 + 1 Greenshank.
Nice to see Grayling and Gatekeeper here. Also nice to see another Otter feeding on crabs and fish near Ravenglass  watched for about 40 minutes .

On the 16th July I had 4 Common Terns NNW over the house ,which is the third tern species from the garden   ,,,

Scotland July 2016

                                                Small Pearl bordered Fritillary

                                                           Emperor

                                                                 Gold Spot

Red Deer

                                                              Golden ringed Dragonfly

Birds included finding a  pair of breeding Redwing , summer plumaged Black throated Diver , breeding Common Scoter , Merlin , Tree Pipit  and Greenshank. And the Scottish form of Large Heath butterfly.

Summer Solstice 2016

                                                            Poplar hawkmoth

                                                   Small Elephanr Hawkmoth

                                                        Elephant hawkmoth

                                                      Beautiful Snout

                                                        Bilberry Tortrix

Summer

 Tawny , Little and Barn Owl feathers and little owl pellets, Buzzard feathers and Kestrel pellets( containing Common Shrew jaw bone)

                                                      Clay coloured Weevil...Norland Moor

Marsh Fritillary and Broad - bordered bee Hawkmoth

Lincs today saw , Painted lady (5) Common Blue  (1) Holly Blue ( 1) Wall Brown (2) Orange Tip (2 males)Marsh Fritillary (14) Dingy Skipper (2) Broad Borderd Bee hawkmoth (3)Silver Y (2) and 500+ Diamond Backed moths.

Southern Lakes

                                                             E.Sangii  Foulshaw Moss (first record for the reserve)

                                                         Hooded Crow 

                                           Oystercatcher nesting between railway tracks ..??

                                                    Green Hairstreak  Black Combe

                                      Otter tracks showing digging out a Sand Martin nest


Nice to finally catch up with  the Foulshaw Ospreys , watched the male bringing in some new nesting material ...and also watched an adult Otter at Waberthwaite hunting along the estuary at low tide. Superb .....Plenty of Goosander and Shelduck chicks about  and found a small colony of Yellowhammers ( 3 siging males) near Black Combe .......................

Suprise Sandwich

A Sandwich Tern flew N/W at 18.00 today a real surprise went to grab the camera but the kids had been using it and it was dead as a post.....House Martins , Swifts,  LBBgulls had been on the move most of the day .3 Blackcap , 2 Chiffchaff , 1 Whitethroat singing this morning. Plenty Skylarks singing around Shelf moor this afternoon and a few Linnets.

Donna Nook

The thing with living in a land locked county is you miss the sea...I could see hundreds of seals today  on the tide line on another brief visit to Donna Nook.....30 + Yellow Wagtails , 1 Lesser Whitethroat singing , 30 + Whitethroat , 20+ Sedge Warblers ,  20 Avocets with 7 young , 1 Cuckoo , 1 Spotted Flycatcher ,1  Common Sandpiper , 2 Little Ringed Plover , a small flock of waders flew overhead  contained 7 Ringed Plover and 1 Dunlin ,1 Curlew , 2 female Marsh Harrier 10 + Little Egret , and a couple of Barn Owls......

All the locals are back

Had a walk this morning around the local fields and all the summer visitors are back in place ,,,Blackcap , Chiffchaff , Willow Warbler , Whitethroat , Swallows  and  Swifts the Garden Warbler site is now another Shit housing estate........

Donna Nook

,Managed another couple of hours there today , started off with a female Pied Flycatcher on the fence in the car park.20 Avocet  ,6 Grey Plover , Common Sandpiper , 1 Whimbrel , 1 Greenshank , plenty Dunlin and Ringed Plover . A  smart Lesser Whitethroat , Blackcap , Willlow Warbler and loads of Whitethroat and Yellowhammer. Short eared Owl at Pyes Hall and  a few Yellow Wags / Wheatear ,,,,,,Loads of Swits heading north...Green Hairstreak , Wall Brown , Orange tip , Small tort , Peacock , Green Veined and Small White...

Norland Moor

                                                   Mallard nest in heather / billberry today
Plenty about on Norland moor today with Cuckoo , Whinchat , Wheatear , Meadow Pipit , Redpoll (display flight ) ,Linnet , Whitethroat , plenty Willow Warblers , Reed Bunting , Lapwing  , Skylark and a Grasshopper Warbler......Also found a Long Eared Owl in a quarry near by.....and a couple of Pipistrelle bats...

Pallid Harrier 2cy

                                                                             No 1

                                                                                No.2

                                                                              No 3

                                                                               No 4

No.5

No.6

No 7

No 8

                                                                     No 9

                                                                      No 10

No 11

Swift

First Swift over north today and little else locally due to snow and basic winter weather....Did manage a Lesser Whitethroat calling briefly yesterday along with Blackcap , Willow Warbler ,Chiffchaff and Whitethroat ........Linnets are now back on Hedge top lane and have been seen feeding on dandilions this weekend.....A few gulls on the move west 8  LBBGuls , 4 Common Gull and 2 Herring....An interesting move of Swallows today and my first House Martin over the house , one of the Swallows was distinctly red underneath  and may well have been one of the North African types ??. A singing Goldcrest has been very vocal in the back garden

Waberthwaite Cumbria

 Rising , Falling , High and Low Tides are a rare sight  for an inland birder but when you get the chance to sit on the side of a tidal estuary and watch the day go by its a real treat. 3 Black tailed Godwits flew just above the river north soon followed by a flock of Pied Wags stopping briefly on the shingle shore to feed on the edge of the tidal flow. There were two White Wagtails in with them a cracking adult summer and an adult still in winter plumage with smooth grey cap. Red breasted Merganser were nosily displaying in the open water. A male Whinchat popped up on to a small tuft of juncus and a couple of Wheatear showed briefly  .5 Buzzards soared over and up to 5 Little Egrets came down to feed ,  a couple in breeding plumage (pink feet an all) .
  I could pick up the calls of Oystercatcher and redshank from the far bank then Whimbrel calling and Greenshank and 3 Little Ringed plover were in display mode . A group of 8 Shelduck flew over soon followed by a flock of Pinkfeet the last till the winter no doubt. Whimbrel were quite close feeding in the mud and up to 7 Common Sandpipers were feeding as well. AS the tide turned the last of the winter ducks came out to feed 11 Goldeneye , 2 Teal , 6 Goosander and the sky filled with Sand Martins , a couple of House Martins and 10 Swallow .A quick look at the mouth of the estuary produced 2 Sandwich terns and a Red Throated Diver feeding close to the shore.5 Ringed Plover were searching the tide line........

Donna Nook

                                                Brown Tail Cats

                                                     Yellow Wagtail
 The first birds I saw was a flock of 37 Avocet flying over the new flood plane a fantastic bit of habitat creation.2 Short eared  Owl were hunting the marsh , a couple of peregrines were hunting the salt marsh.3 Willow Warbler , 3 Whitethroat , 2 Wheatear in the scrub and  Swallows , House /Sand Martins were heading north  and a few Yellow Wagtails also north. A Marsh Harrier was kicking around and a Hen Harrier showed briefly over the marsh. 6 Brent Geese over and about 500 + Seals were on a large sand bank.

16th and 17th .April.2016

16th ....Had a walk round the local fields and did not have one summer migrant.?? Buzzards showed well and at least 10 Linnets have moved in feeding on the new dandelion. Very cold wet....
17th First singing Blackcap , a few Chiffchaffs , 2 Swallows and a Singing Nuthatch.....

Coveneham RES

Managed to get there before the midge swarms came out and was very pleased to find a first winter Little Gull flying around , Gadwall ,Shoveler , Widgeon , Shelduck , Swallow , Wheatear , Barn Owl singing Yellowhammer and plenty of Buzzards.one Brimstone butterfly and a small white also
   4 Sand Martin over the House  this afternoon.

Whooper Swans

12 Whooper Swans headed  west today just above tree height through the low mist and drizzle at  16.15.....

Norland Moor

Had an interesting walk around Norland Moor today but the weather was not in my favour and I ended up soaked to the skin... The area is very busy with the General Public and in particular dogs and dog walkers. You would think that with all the disturbance that little would breed up there , and if the area was managed a bit better who knows what might breed there.! There is a small colony of Lapwings ( 6 + pairs ) next to  the western edge and they can be herd calling , displaying and fighting off the local crow population most of the time and 2 Golden Plover were feeding in a field close by . At least 8 Willow Warblers were singing from the Birch trees and 2 Lesser Redpoll were feeding here also.
   The number of breeding Meadow Pipit (30 + pairs ( maybe double that?) ) is very encouraging for such a busy location. 3 pairs of Reed Bunting , 2 pairs Linnet and at least 10 pairs of Blackbird , 8 Wrens , 3 pairs Dunnock , 4 Robins , 2 displaying Pheasants ,.3 different Skylarks were seen collecting food / nesting material from the paths and at one point one burst into song. A Green Woodpecker was also seen on a number of occasions feeding in the heather and on the ground.!
There are lots of small pools and a couple of pairs of Mallard were flushed from cover.

Monday

2 Whatear at Shelf trailer park, Mute Swan and Coots nesting at Shibden and a Wheatear at Beacon Hill , with Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell on the wing ...

Lincolnshire

A good trip today with a Green Sandpiper , 2 Corn Bunting , 4 Little Egret  30 Yellowhammer ,1 juv Peregrine ,Little Owl and the bird of the day a cracking Yellow Wagtail .

BUZZARD MANIA

What a sight a 'Kettle ' of 8  Buzzards over the village today. Its difficult to know if they were movers or locals .? Another 15 sightings during the day of Buzzards around the village , 2 Swallows and a Chiffchaff also

OSPREY......MEGA Garden Tick

One flew north today at aprox 14.22 heading towards Queensbury and with a quick call to Bri he got it too.....Brilliant.... First Swallow as well