Martin Hodges' Wildlife Blog

New odonata record in the Algarve

2012-01-30T22:22:00.001Z

I've been busy databasing my Odonata records from my trips away to the Algarve in recent years as I've been asked for records by a contact at the University of the Algarve.

The subject of Long Skimmer Orthetrum trinacria came up as the species appears to be rapidly colonising the Algarve region. My contact tells me the first documented Algarve record was in the summer of 2008 but the one pictured was one of 7 individuals seen at a site in the summer of 2007, and for the minute becomes the earliest documented record. I knew there was a reason I took and saved this record shot!

However, if anyone reading this has any records from the Algarve, please mail me at martinhodges1976@yahoo.com and I'll pass on your details to my contact in the Algarve.

White-winged gulls... continue to appear!!!

2012-01-15T19:04:00.000Z

Large white-winged gulls at Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire, are still something of a scarcity. I know... January 2000 I first started looking.

However, a 2nd winter Glaucous Gull was in this evening's roost, albeit briefly, before it flew south out of the area. Time in, birds out!

Question is, is this the same bird that was appearing before Christmas 2011 that suddenly stopped appearing as my holidays started... or another one?

Time for some dreadful record pictures...

Last weekend's sub-adult/adult Iceland Gull, I couldn't see a red spot on the yellow bill, but it was distant and getting dark!

And this afternoon's Glaucous Gull as it flew out south over the car park and off the site.

On the subject of white things... the Tophill Low NR Cattle Egret. Not that I've seen it but click here for more news from the site.

The gull run continues...

2012-01-08T18:30:00.001Z

A view of D res, Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire during one of the squalls that came over during the 11 night gull roost fun over Christmas! The camera was steady, the hide shaking!

Gull roosting 2012 in now in full swing with 4 nights in the shed already. The 1st winter Mediterranean Gull has appeared on D on 3 nights, with a new adult bird appearing (the first since late Oct/early Nov) on Sunday evening.

The highlight was Saturday with an Iceland Gull coming into roost just before last light, which kept with Tophill history and failed to reappear on Sunday.

Life in the playground 2011

2011-12-31T21:58:00.000Z

I thought I'd post a selection of highlights, seen by my eyes, in 2011...

So many brilliant days out in 2011, spent lots of time with some great people who inspire me, enjoyed lots of surprises and no disappointments.

If only I blogged everything, it wouldn't be right to share my best days! Maybe some surprises in 2012 :)

Happy New Year!

Gulls glorious gulls...

2011-12-31T18:32:00.000Z

So the final days of the year have seen me spending way to much time scanning the gull roost at Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire. However, other than a 1st winter Mediterranean Gull that has appeared on the 27th, 30th and tonight, it has been a case of plenty of gulls, just nothing special among them!

So the final Med of 2011...cracking record shot!!!

I guess I've spent way too much time going through the gulls at Tophill since August, but...

20+ different Mediterranean Gulls (a couple of others may well add to the total, and who knows what got missed in October!!!)
6 Yellow-legged Gulls
2 Caspian Gulls (pending acceptance once I submit descriptions)
2 Glaucous Gulls
1 Little Gull (a rarer bird after late-summer)

So not a bad little haul, and I shouldn't really forget the early part of the winter - the Iceland Gull, and the Glaucous Gull that appeared one evening which I missed, the good numbers of Little Gulls in the summer... I can't really believe I considered retiring from the gull spotting hobby!!! Perhaps the best Larid year in Tophill's history...

It's got a little cold... so some snaps from sunny Sagres!

2011-12-29T20:41:00.002Z

I was sitting in a shed today at Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire, in the cold and I realised I was really missing the warmth of the Algarve, Portugal!

More pictures taken while sat on my chair on a hill in the sun, just on the outskirts of Sagres last October

Rarely is there nothing to look at on the hill!

Festive birding

2011-12-28T19:00:00.001Z

Freedom from the office means one thing... being outside!!!

It appears the/one of the Glaucous Gulls was reappeared on several nights the last week at Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire, and a Caspian Gull was reported last Thursday in the roost, so I kind of had hopes Santa may drop in a festive surprise... six evenings gull roosting... best I can manage is a 1st winter Mediterranean Gull on the 27th! Still, five more evenings to go before the office calls!

Six afternoons looking over D res hasn't been too unproductive though with the Greenland White-fronted Goose among the Eurasian flock on Christmas Day and tonight (Wednesday), 2 Little Egrets on Boxing Day south at dusk and the drake Green-winged Teal finally appearing on the res on Tuesday (it got a glance at best!!!). And a supporting cast of Hen Harrier, Short-eared Owls, Barn Owls, coupled with the mild temperatures, has made life rather easy and pleasant.

Plenty of Winter Moths have been appearing in the headlights on leaving due to the mild evenings. This Grey-shoulder Knot found itself unable to hide from the camera on the 24th.

The fungi seems to have gone a bit quiet, but for fans of Myxomycetes, a little bit of Fuligo candida , photographed by Doug Fairweather.

Time off at Christmas is so much better without the snow!

Two-night Glaucous

2011-12-18T21:26:00.000Z

All of the weekend birding involved being sat in a shed looking over D res at Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire.

And the gull roost came up trumps with another Glaucous Gull, and it came in Saturday and Sunday. I believe only once before in Tophill's 50 year history has a big 'white-winger' appeared on consecutive nights!!!

Time for some bad pictures!

Record pics! I don't mind admitting I thought the bird was a first winter but these ones on the Tophill Low Blog, taken by Richard Hampshire, show the bird to have a pale iris and a pale tip to the bill (which to be honest wasn't that easy to pick up in the field in fading light) so it is a second winter. Don't mind my error and better to get it right.

First proper blast of cold

2011-12-16T21:25:00.001Z

Is winter actually here now? Definitely getting colder doing the gull roost at Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire. Two degrees celsius and feet like ice blocks after a few hours in the shed today overlooking D res!

The best of it was this 1st winter Mediterranean Gull which appeared in front of the hide as the light started to fade.

Certainly, last weekend, and today, less birds are coming in on evening compared to a month ago. The picture below illustrates that the res isn't packed.

Still, we did manage to get the third 'white-winger' of the year when this Glaucous Gull dropped in briefly last Sunday evening.

Still plenty of White-fronted Geese around today numbering 118 Eurasian and the single Greenland bird.

Owls seem to be showing well at the moment in various spots of East Yorkshire. Managed to knock off all five common species without trying over the last 3 weeks - certainly easier when you don't look for them!

This a heavily cropped bad pic of one of the 4+ Short-eared Owls around the north end of Tophill Low in the last few weeks.

I also bumped into 1+ Long-eared Owl during my wanderings. Trying to hide and showing reasonably well!

Whoopers, Wolds and Wow!

2011-12-05T19:31:00.001Z

So the long weekend continued with a tour of Tophill Low, East Yorkshire again on Saturday.

The 'Greenland' White-front remained with c60-69 Eurasian White-fronts, 3 Pink-footed Geese appeared close by and a Short-eared Owl was in North Marsh briefly before heading east of the river.

A couple of hours scanning the gull roost on D res turned up absolutely nothing, tho a drake Goosander appeared on last light.

Sunday afternoon was once again spent scouring D Res. Other than 5 Whooper Swans and the White-front flock flying around it was generally quiet. The gull numbers appear to have dropped a little since Friday.

A chilly Monday, complete with snow flurries, was spent touring the Yorkshire Wolds with Neil Hart in search of interesting BoPs.

The scenery was reasonable on the eye.

Although we failed to find any Rough-legged Buzzards, we did encounter one or two Peregrines, 3 Buzzards and we ended up at the Wolds Red Kite roost where a minimum of 10 birds appeared before we decided to depart.

The rarest sighting of the day was an unexpected surprise. In fact, I think I've seen it only once since I last photographed it at Warham Greens, Norfolk in 2003 during a Pallid Harrier twitch.

Secretive and elusive it did, at times, show well today...

Neil's Tripod... yes he does own one!!!

The Desert and 'Greenland'... just an hour apart

2011-12-02T20:32:00.003Z

So having done the hard graft, it is time for some time off!

Fortunately the male Desert Wheatear at Bempton Cliffs, East Yorkshire lingered from last weekend becoming Yorkshire tick 300 and something! Cracking little bird, and despite not showing on arrival, it did eventually show down to 18 inches as it flew up the cliff and hit the wind. Unfortunately it didn't alight close by but stayed just out of camera distance. The problem was compounded by some folk 'telling everyone' the bird was 'quite tame and liked people' !!! Hmmm... interesting then that when approached it flew further away. And the person who made the statement was rather offended when it was pointed out that their fieldcraft was rather lacking!!!

So hence here is another record shot! I don't take pics of Desert Wheatears that often and it is the first one I've twitched since 1997ish!

Within an hour, Neil Hart and myself had arrived at Tophill Low, East Yorkshire ready for some gull spotting. A flock of 49 or so White-fronted Geese appeared on D res, but news of a 'Greenland' White-front among them via the Birdguides website, I must admit, was created with some sceptism. Primarily due to recent claims via Birdguides of a Bonaparte's Gull and a Great-white Egret at the site... no names, just claims! So faced with the same information, naturally news of Greenland White-front got an 'Oh... right!'

However, great credit to Tim Cowley arriving and taking the Birdguides report seriously and taking the hike alongside D res to view Decoy fields and refinding the bird among a few more Eurasian White-fronts... 69 in total

Time for some record shots!

flavirostris White-fronted Goose

Not sure if it is a race tick for Tophill. No doubt folk will be scanning the archive records!

A bit of fieldcraft meant the Eurasion White-fronted also stayed for a picture!

A walk to Top Lock yield a single Short-eared Owl, a Pink-footed Goose and a Little Egret as the light started going.

The D res gull extravaganza featured an adult Yellow-legged Gull, while 2 Goosanders appeared late on and the 'Greenland' White-front became a D res tick.

Maybe the extra effort to do the overtime was worth working to get the day off!!!

Caspian and myxomycetes

2011-11-27T23:18:00.000Z

The fog last weekend put a stop to the Larid spotting, but clear skies this weekend enabled plenty.

Saturday and Sunday afternoon at Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire was spent scanning through the gulls that passed through D res. The highlight undoubtably an adult Caspian Gull which appeared late afternoon on Saturday. However, as seems to be the case with Tophill gulls, it didn't reappear Sunday, which makes it rather frustrating for folk wanting to connect the day after. So after waiting 11 years, to find two in fortnight is rather surprising and lucky. Or maybe perhaps I spend too much time sat looking!!! A 1st winter Yellow-legged Gull appeared briefly on the wall Saturday afternoon, before presumably flying south. The best of the rest was made up of 54 White-fronted Geese on Saturday (a few more were present on Sunday) a 'redhead' Goosander was present lunchtime on Sunday and an Egyptian Goose flew in alone to join the goose flock on the site late-afternoon. Click here for Richard's Tophill news

With me opting to spend Saturday doing the larids, Doug Fairweather was finding myxomycetes. Smart little organisms which aren't quite fungi, but we come across with increasing regularity. I could explain in my terms what myxomycetes are, but this piece by Michael Kuo explains it simply!!

We still don't have many on the site list but here are a couple Doug photographed.

Leocarpus fragilis

Tubifera ferruginosa

Posted last autumn, but the first we have encountered this season, a collection of Parrot Waxcaps.

Odonata in the Algarve October 2011

2011-11-22T23:44:00.002Z

Anax parthenope - Lesser Emperor

When not sitting on a chair in Sagres, Algarve, Portugal, scanning the skies for the next raptor to add to the day count, probably the next easiest things to see are the masses of Sympetrum, normally moving west or north. It is an impressive sight for anyone who hasn't seen what can only be called a 'swarm' of darters!

A quiet day in Sagres in early October prompted me to head to a site I know reasonably well called the Boca Do Rio which provides ample opportunity to see dragonflies and darters, as well as a few birds.

When the Boca holds areas of standing water it is best described as awesome. On arrival I was greeted by a mass of Odonata of various species which numbered 50+ Emperor Dragonfly Anax imperator 150+ Lesser Emperor A. parthenope the odd Vagrant Emperor A. ephippiger (though these were noticeable by their lack of number compared to recent years) 1500+ Red-viened Darter Sympetrum fonscolombii 60+ Broad Scarlet Crocothemis erythraea the odd Southern Darter S. meridionale a few Iberian Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura graellsii while my first Black Percher Diplacodes lefebvrii showed well flying past me before perching up just too far away for a picture in the impenetrable Portuguese vegetation. You get the idea? It is a bit of spectacle!!! Rather makes my Yorkshire site counts of 80 Four-spotted Chaser Libellula quadrimaculata look rather tame by comparison!

Anax imperator Emperor Dragonfly

Aeshna mixta Migrant Hawker

The Red-viened Darters S. fonscolombii sit reasonably well, though sometimes the wind makes getting a decent photo awkward.

While the Broad Scarlets C. erythraea are most often seen perched up sky-pointing or defending territory against just about anything that flies into their zone.

Though this washed out female/over-mature male posed a few problems for identification as its flight pattern and behaviour was total different to any others of this species I've ever seen in my life. I'm reasonably familiar with the species but it was good to learn from.

Having made numerous visits to the site over several years, I have an idea of what is around though its good to add new species to my area list. This time around, searching yielded a male and female Epaulet Skimmer Orthetrum chryostigma

Male above, female below

This Willow Emerald Lestes viridis one of two encountered while I had the wrong lens on the camera!

Plenty to see, and not enough time to spend doing Odonata and draining everything that could be seen in the Algarve, but it gives a taste of just what is there.

I've been trying to capture a decent picture to relate the idea of the number of Sympetrum in Sagres at any one time. So I've decided to show this evening picture showing part of the pine line viewable from the hill one evening. I've altered it to black and white so the wings show up a little more... and bear in mind you can only see the ones against the dark trees!

And that line of pines is about 700 metres away from the hill! Darters are everywhere, these are just the ones the camera picked up!

Discreet visitor returns

2011-11-20T21:10:00.000Z

Just the one day out this weekend due to work!!! Still it was foggy and by all accounts I didn't miss much Saturday.

So in the fog I thought I best tour Tophill Low NR, East Yorks again, if anything just for the fresh air.

Anyhow, South Lagoon isn't a place I spend much time at on the site... popped in today and was greeted with a 'twic'. A noise many miss, but unmistakably the call of a Cetti's Warbler. A species that has become a winter regular on site in recent years... as well as hosting the first Yorkshire breeding pair.

Managed to catch up with a Short-eared Owl at the Hempholme end mid-afternoon hunting to the east of the river.

A few White-fronted Geese remained on D res as the fog lifted, but I decided against going thru the gulls... I could only assume the fog would return.

Raise some cash - sponsor my 'tache

2011-11-14T00:23:00.002Z

So here is the facial fluff I've been growing as part of The Slug Wranglers gang who are growing moustaches to increase awareness of Men's health issues during Movember and hopefully raise some money.

Up to you whether or not you give, but 50p, 50 cents, £1, 1$ or 1 Euro isn't going to break the bank. Just click on the donations page.

The readers have hit this blog over 2000 times so far this month so go on... all those little donations could mount up to a big amount and I'll grow my slug, or more correctly, this furry caterpillar, until the end of November!

Goose influx

2011-11-13T22:34:00.001Z

Seems to be a bit of a goose movement on. Good numbers of White-fronted Geese around on the east coast and Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire didn't miss out with 46 birds (including 12 juvs) on Saturday and 52 on Sunday which kept jumping from D res onto Decoy fields. A couple of Whooper Swans appeared on Sunday as did 4 Pink-footed Geese. Just need some Bean Geese now!

Finally ticked Hen Harrier for the site. A female south thru Decoy fields mid-afternoon the first I've managed in 11 years of visiting. Disappointingly, there was a failure to pick out anything of interest among the 15,000 or so roosting Larids... just the way it goes sometimes.

For the week's news from Tophill, click here

The probable Hemipholiota populnea found by Doug Fairweather has now become an actual one after a specimen was sent to our expert advisor so he could look at the spores! He commented 'Hemipholiota populnea, based on the provisional Red Data list of 1992, is considered threatened in the UK by the decline of the chief host species for the fungi. Due to the lack of records since, there is little to suggest its status has altered.'

So it leaves the question - will it reappear next year?

Some other smart bits around.

Field Blewit

Pholiota highlandensis Bonfire Scalycap

A stump of Candle Snuff

Operation Cachinnans finally proves successful

2011-11-06T23:13:00.001Z

Well it had to happen eventually! Most readers will know I have a habit of sitting in a cold shed on stilts looking across D res at Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire, going through the gulls on a regular basis.

This afternoon, I finally added the 'obvious' missing species to the site's bird list as a 1st winter Caspian Gull was present on the res 13.35-13.46 before disappearing south. The bird then reappeared briefly at 14.05 and again at 14.20 before flying SW as many birds often do during the afternoon, presumably heading south to the Humber to roost. After having 4 previous candidates over the last 10 years I'm happy enough to call this one.

Interestingly, there was a noticeable increase in the number of Herring Gulls present this weekend with 45+ birds noted Saturday evening and maybe another 30-50 birds through the site this afternoon. Maybe there is some sort of movement occurring and this bird was caught up in it, especially with there also being a 1st winter Yellow-legged Gull, another uncommon species, also appearing, before it too flew south.

So as I enter winter number 11 of gull roosting at Tophill Low (I dread to think how many hours that has entailed) , thats 12 species of gull on my site list... unless the next one is a Sabine's it should be a BB rare!

Got to be in it to win it... and note the the rarer gulls historically are one night wonders, or in the case of the Franklin's Gull going way back in history... it dropped in, stayed 15 minutes or so then left.

The joys of the reclassification of fungi species

2011-11-05T23:57:00.000Z

So Doug Fairweather found this one at Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire, last week. Difficult to put a name to. Pholiota species perhaps is as far as the books take you. However, with a little advice, it may be possibly be Hemipholiota populnea. A recent reclassification of various species has resulted in a few new ones being created. Just like everything else it would seem... unless its moths when agg gets added to certain species as they can't be done without genitalia examination!

A week later, the specimen looked a little different and has been collected so hopefully our expert friend can come to a definate identification. Hopefully I'll be posting more when we get news.

A few other bits and bobs around. This Lepista flaccida Tawny Funnel part of a good show at the south end of the site.

Note you can see both the top and the underside. Always helpful to see both when trying to identify a species.

I missed the moth trapping, however nothing of note was trapped. Usual November fair... November Moth, Large Wainscot and a couple of Feathered Thorn (pictured)

The gull roost held yet another Mediterranean Gull. I think that maybe 12-14 different birds that have appeared this autumn so far, though I suspect several were missed in October.

Roll up, roll up for the Circus spectacular

2011-11-03T22:59:00.001Z

I did something unusual for November - birding after work!

Fortunately, the 4pm finish gave me just under an hour of semi-decent light to get to the Humber, Ouse, Trent confluence to see what Harriers were roosting.

In fading light, the spectacle was superb with Harriers on view before I could get out of the car. A quick stumble up the riverbank and a minimum of 34+ Marsh Harriers were on view hanging over the reedbeds giving crippling views. Also a ringtail harrier spp which looked like a Hen, but these days presuming is a dangerous thing (tho one has been roosting) and to be honest it looked like one!

All in all, for making very little effort, walking four strides up a riverbank and observing for 15 minutes or so, it was a pretty awesome sight.

Dark nights again!

2011-10-30T22:56:00.000Z

The joys of winter. Dark nights and gulls.

Another weekend at Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire. No dragonflies on Saturday, few gulls or any avian highlights.

This Stropharia caerulea Blue Roundhead, the fungi highlight

Sunday saw me back spending an afternoon looking over D res rather than twitching Filey, North Yorks for a Swift.

A good number of gulls, maybe 14,000, though with movements in and out all afternoon, its is difficult to work out the maximum number of birds. Highlight of sitting looking... an adult Med Gull which dropped in for about 4 minutes mid-afternoon before flying north and not returning by the time the light went.

Bit of Skylark movement - 21 west noon til dusk. Maybe I should've counted all day.

Riscos Apenas

2011-10-25T11:39:00.000+01:00

Just thought I'd plug this blog by Paulo Alves. Some brilliant paintings and well worth a look. Should be more great work to come

Back to reality

2011-10-22T23:59:00.001+01:00

So after a nearly 3 weeks in the sun, its back to the cold. And I'm suffering! However, I don't seemed to have missed much other than a Glossy Ibis and Red-throated Pipit.

Friday evening I was back at the Tophill Low NR gull roost in East Yorkshire. Almost feels good to be back, my thoughts of gull roosting retirement soon came back, but after a while I was back in the swing of things. Nothing of interest other than an adult type Little Gull, 3 argentatus Herring Gulls and a few Lesser Black Backs still present.

Tophill Saturday turned up a few birds - 7 Black wits flew south, as did a Little Egret and with 20+ Curlew noted east of the river at the south end, 32 flying south in the last 30 minutes of light could mean over 50 are around. A female Pintail and a Willow Tit made up the best of the rest while the gull roost held 4 argentatus Herring Gulls, a single argenteus Herring Gull and only 1 Lesser Black Back.

Still a few dragonflies on the wing - 9 Migrant Hawkers and 29 Common Darters

They seem in good condition given the date so I expect if the weather stays good we'll get some November records.

Also managed to catch up with one of the new fungi Doug Fairweather found while I was away - Horse Mushroom

Its good to be home... Honest!!!

Sagres raptor migration October 2011

2011-10-21T22:42:00.001+01:00

Another autumn trip to the Algarve, Portugal with most time spent on a hill on the outskirts of Sagres, the south west tip of mainland Europe.

What can be said about it… 17 days sat on a seat looking at the sky turned up 24 species of raptor. It should have been 25 – just the Lesser Spotted Eagle just didn’t come close enough to Sagres to be identified, but it was one as one of the other spotters further north nailed it!!! It was 25 for the trip though with a lone Black-winged Kite noted between Lagos and Sagres one morning. However, the number of birds seen was well down on last year, hence a lack of decent photographs, but 4 new species of BoP added to my hill list. It meant some good days, some bad days, a few surprises and bits of luck, and finding a Portuguese mega!

Here are the day totals from my notes (Please note these are my totals, not the ones used by the survey team)

Black Kite

Oct 2nd – 1 Osprey, 10+ Black Kite, 22+ Short-toed Eagle, 2+ Sparrowhawk, 3+ Buzzard, 5 Honey Buzzard, 15+ Booted Eagle, 3 Egyptian Vulture, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Hen Harrier, 1+ Hobby, 2+ Kestrel. Additionally, 1 Black Stork, 2 Ravens, 10+ flava Wagtail south

Hen Harrier

Oct 3rd – 4 Short-toed Eagle, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Buzzard, 6 Booted Eagle, Additionally 2 Black Stork. Also 10+ Pied Flycatchers, 4 Redstarts, 3 Black Redstarts, 6 Whinchat, 50+ Wheatear, Subalpine Warblers, Dartford Warblers, Wryneck in the area.

4th Oct – Dragonfly spotting – I’ll write it up later!

Oct 5th – 1 Red Kite, 4+ Black Kite, 2 Short-toed Eagle, 3 Sparrowhawk, 4 Buzzard, 7 Honey Buzzard, 1 Bonelli’s Eagle, 7 Egyptian Vulture, 4 Griffon Vulture, 1 Hen Harrier, 2 Peregrine, 4 Kestrel. Additionally 10 Black Stork, 2 Raven c20 Chough, 1 Bee-eater.

Honey Buzzard

Oct 6th – 9 Black Kite, 3 Short-toed Eagle, 1 Goshawk, 5 Buzzard, 9 Honey Buzzard, 14 Booted Eagle, 2 Griffon Vulture, 2 Hen Harrier, 6+ Kestrel. Additionally 40+ Chough.

Oct 7th – 1 Black Kite, 2 Short-toed Eagle, 4+ Sparrowhawk, 1 Honey Buzzard, 3 Booted Eagle, 1 Egyptian Vulture, few Kestrel. Additionally 2 Black Stork. (Basically a horrible windy day – I spent most of it hidden behind a bush!)

Oct 8th – 3-4 Short-toed Eagle, 6+ Sparrowhawk, 1 Goshawk, 3+ Buzzard, 6 Honey Buzzard, 5 Booted Eagle, 6 Egyptian Vulture, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Peregrine, 7+ Kestrel.

Oct 9th – 2 Short-toed Eagle, 4+ Sparrowhawk, 1 Buzzard, 3 Honey Buzzard, 1 Bonelli’s Eagle, 6 Booted Eagle, 6 Egyptian Vulture, c320 Griffon Vulture, 1 juvenile/immature Ruppell’s Vulture, 2 Peregrine, 6+ Kestrel. Additionally 13 Black Stork, 2 Raven.

Black Stork

Oct 10th –3 Black Kite, 3-5 Short-toed Eagle, 6+ Sparrowhawk, 2+ Buzzard, 2 Honey Buzzard, 9 Booted Eagle, 1 Golden Eagle, 7 Egyptian Vulture, 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 Hen Harrier, 2 Peregrine, 1 Hobby, 7+ Kestrel. Additionally 16 Black Stork

Oct 11th – 1 Black Kite, 2 Short-toed Eagle, 4+ Sparrowhawk, 1 Goshawk, 2-4 Buzzard, 4 Honey Buzzard, 3 Booted Eagle, 7 Egyptian Vulture, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Hen Harrier, 2 Peregrine, 1 Eleonora’s Falcon, 8+ Kestrel. Additionally 3 Black Stork, 5 Spoonbill

Oct 12th – 2+ Black Kite, 3 Short-toed Eagle, 4+ Sparrowhawk, 1 Goshawk, 4+ Buzzard, 2 Honey Buzzard, 1 Bonelli’s Eagle, 1 Booted Eagle, 11 Egyptian Vulture, 1 Griffon Vulture, 1 Marsh Harrier, 2 Hen Harrier, 1 Montagu’s Harrier, 3 Peregrine, 6+ Kestrel. Additionally 4 Black Stork and 4 Raven

Egyptian Vulture

Oct 13th –2 Short-toed Eagle, 3+ Buzzard, 2 Honey Buzzard, 1 Bonelli’s Eagle, 3-4 Booted Eagle, 1 Spanish Imperial Eagle, 2-3 Egyptian Vulture, c162 Griffon Vulture, 1 Peregrine, 6+ Kestrel. Additionally 5 Black Stork, 3+ Raven

Oct 14th –1 Short-toed Eagle, 2-3 Sparrowhawk, 3 Buzzard, 1 Honey Buzzard, 5 Booted Eagle, 1 Griffon Vulture, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Hen Harrier, 1 Peregrine, 6+ Kestrel. Additionally 5-7 Black Stork

Oct 15th – 1-2 Osprey, 3 Short-toed Eagle, 2-3 Buzzard, 1 Honey Buzzard, 1 Booted Eagle, 1 Egyptian Vulture, 1 Hen Harrier, 1 Montagu’s Harrier, 3 Peregrine, 1 Hobby, 4+ Kestrel. Additionally 3 Black Stork, 1 Raven and c60 Chough

Oct 16th – 1 Red Kite, 1-2 Black Kite, 3 Short-toed Eagle, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Buzzard, 1 Honey Buzzard, 2-3 Booted Eagle, 1 Egyptian Vulture, 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 Hen Harrier, 2 Peregrine, 7 Kestrel. Additionally 3 Black Stork, 1 Spoonbill and 3 Raven.

Oct 17th –1+ Black Kite, 7+ Short-toed Eagle, 3+ Sparrowhawk, 4+ Buzzard, 2 Honey Buzzard, 5+ Booted Eagle, 175+ Griffon Vulture, 3 Ruppell’s Vulture, 2 Marsh Harrier, 3-4 Hen Harrier, 1 Montagu’s Harrier, 2+ Peregrine, 1 Hobby, 2 Merlin, 6+ Kestrel. Additionally 7 Black Stork, 1 Raven and 60-70 Chough

Oct 18th –1 Red Kite, 1 Black Kite, 6 Short-toed Eagle, 2+ Sparrowhawk, 1 Goshawk, 3-4 Buzzard, 1 Egyptian Vulture, 2 Griffon Vulture, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Hen Harrier, 1 PALLID HARRIER (2nd for Portugal), 2 Peregrine, 1+ Hobby, 1 Merlin, 6+ Kestrel.

Pallid Harrier

Oct 19th –1 Short-toed Eagle, 1+ Sparrowhawk, 3+ Buzzard, 1 Egyptian Vulture, 2 Hen Harrier, 1 Pallid Harrier, 1 Peregrine, 6+ Kestrel.

Great people also help a lot – thanks to Nadine, Marco, Filipe, Nuno V, Alexandre, Nuno, Paulo, Estrela, Ricardo, Carlos, Susannah and the gang for the laughs, sharing some cracking birds and putting up with my incredibly bad table football skills!

Mixtas and Med Gulls

2011-09-25T21:43:00.000+01:00

After a week in the office it was back into the field for the weekend. Tophill Low, East Yorks again - maybe I need a change of habitat!

The Odonata transect on Saturday turned up some reasonable numbers with 1 Southern Hawker, 3 Brown Hawker, 57 Migrant Hawker (above), 87 Common Darters and 1 Ruddy Darter not to be sniffed at for the time of year. Alas, no Emerald Damselflies could be found.

Moth trapping pretty tedious... the usual end of September species noted. The easiest moth trapping summer for quite a while! Hopefully next year will turn up more in the boxes.

Birding wise, a female Marsh Harrier drifted south on Saturday and 3 Mediterranean Gulls were present on D on Sunday afternoon... 7 or 8 different birds over two weekends... used to be the annual sightings total for the site. A couple of Black-wits briefly on Saturday was the the best of the rest.

Eight-legged beasts aren't the norm for the blog... this Garden Spider posing for Doug Fairweather something new to post.

Taking a break

2011-09-20T22:00:00.000+01:00

Everything loves the sun! Found in a sheltered sunny spot at the weekend, this Great Diving Beetle posed for Doug Fairweather's camera on Saturday at Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire.

Med gull mania

2011-09-18T21:59:00.000+01:00

What to do on a Sunday afternoon? Yorkshire seems to be lacking in birds worth the effort so I took a punt on a hoping a few gulls might be at Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire.

It wasn't disappointing, a good number of Larids passed thru during the day and the turnover yielded some success with an adult Mediterranean Gull, wearing a green darvic, found during the first trawl through the assembled birds. The gulls constantly turned over with birds in and out all the time for 4 hours, 3 different '2nd winter' Meds appeared and a probable '1st winter' moved thru but was picked up late before disappearing from view.

When it is as easy as that... I think I've put my gull spotting retirement on hold. Another cold, wet, miserable winter to look forward too sat in a wooden hut spotting Larids... bring it on! Gull roosting 2011/12 has begun.

Stuff to see... but a lot of effort required

2011-09-17T23:30:00.001+01:00

Typical summer Saturday... occasional showers, sunny spells, plenty of wind.

Tophill Low, East Yorks, once again the destination for some moth trapping fun. Highlight of the day perhaps summed it up

Depressaria heraclei aka Parsnip Moth. Depress(ing) was perhaps rather apt for the day... lots of hard leg work for little reward! Still, probably a new species for the site, not one that will live long in the memory!

The moth trapping typical for September with few moths, but the traps did include the first Large Wainscot and Chestnut of the season, Beautiful China-mark was the first in the traps this summer and a several Burnished Brass brighten proceedings.

Two species typical for the time of year - Frosted Orange and Pink-barred Sallow - below

Birding wise it was not a bad day. Despite little being on the deck, the 'viz mig' involved 29 Dunlins, 15 Meadow Pipits, 9 Skylarks and a Redpoll spp thru by 10am, while BoPs involved 5 Marsh Harriers thru 10am-6pm, 1+ Hobby and a Buzzard (the 3 local birds also present). Larids lacked in number, though a 1st winter Yellow-legged Gull appeared on D early-evening as the gulls built up, prior to moving south.

The dragonfly numbers, rather impressive compared to recent weeks. Below, one of the 4 Ruddy Darters still to be found.

Damselflies appear to have finished for the season, 49 Migrant Hawkers, 2 Southern Hawkers and 125 Common Darters the best of the rest.

Not much else to write about... fungi was pretty dull, inverts not much better... spent too much time looking a galls on leaves... maybe some pictures to come!

Viz migging

2011-09-14T23:52:00.001+01:00

Without going birding it is still impossible not to notice the numbers of Meadow Pipits on the move. During a few short walks around Howden, East Yorks, today I counted over 100, including 64+ during my lunch half hour tour of the park. If only more time could be spent outside instead of staring at a computer screen and bits of paper!

Best not to put the eggs in one basket as Osprey shades it!

2011-09-11T22:54:00.002+01:00

Reasonable weekend at Tophill Low, East Yorks, made better by making the correct guess that Saturday evening's Semi-palmated Sandpiper at Spurn wouldn't be there on Sunday! I'm sure a huge disappointment for those that decided to go and see where it once was!

But a good weekend on the local patch... finally caught up with one of the autumn Ospreys, and the raptor supplement included a sub-adult male Marsh Harrier thru and a new Peregrine in the area, an adult male. The Black-necked Grebe remains on D res, while the trickle of wader passage included 2 Ringed Plover, 2+ Common Sands, several Ruff and the 3 Curlew Sandpipers that still linger. Saturday was pretty dreadful for any gulls being around, but Sunday saw a little movement of Lesser Black-backs thru with 26 'in and out' south, and a 2nd winter Mediterranean Gull appeared briefly early evening before disappearing south.

The weekly new species was added to the Tophill site list. This week Doug Fairweather decided Fluted Birds-nest was the species... taking the fungi site list to 272 with a couple more pending identification. I'm sure our great tutor, Keith Allison, would have been proud we've continued to push the list along at a good pace.

Lots of fungi on the go at the moment. Copper Spike, Grey Knight, Shaggy Inkcap, Coltsfoot rust, Sulphur Tuft, Blue Roundhead, Dog Stinkhorn and Pestle Puffball (the latter two pictured below)

Despite the warmth of Friday night, the moth trapping was at best sundry species only. Albeit we did add Small Wainscot, Brown-spot Pinion and Angle Shades to the year list, the latter species one that has declined in the traps in recent years. The rest of it was made up of Green Carpets, a few Pinion-streaked Snout and the regular Square-spot Rustics.

Angle Shades

Pinion-steaked Snout

Common Blue Damselfly records in mid-September are always noteworthy so one on the wing this week makes you wonder if any can linger on another 7 days. The rest of the transect route involved 4 Southern Hawker, 4 Brown Hawker, 79 Migrant Hawker, 45 Common Darter and a poor site total of 9 Ruddy Darter.

A new one and I missed it...

2011-09-09T23:40:00.000+01:00

Despite prime time mothing coming to an end the Tophill Low stalwarts were at it again. Acleris emargana in the traps, photo from Doug Fairweather while I was away playing Best Man... another newbie for the site... hoping there is time to catch another!!!

Also seems to be a lot of shieldbugs out now... this collection of Hawthorn Shieldbugs showing various instars and adults.

Sitting waiting...

2011-09-08T22:02:00.000+01:00

A long weekend... spent an awful lot of time looking north waiting for anything to fly over! Not much to do other than cloud watch... best of it was a Yellow-legged Gull, a Marsh Harrier, a Greenshank and a few Little Gulls... not much for time in.

Seems as though things have got a little better this week with a few flava Wagtails and stuff appearing. Tophill Low Blog

Elsewhere, the North Sea/North Atlantic blog correspondent was ashore for a few days knocking off numerous Curlew Sandpipers at Blacktoft and a Black-necked Grebe and Hobby at Hornsea Mere... and cursing as much as me that the wind is in the wrong direction! I'm hoping the weather forecast is wrong and it didn't mention more south west winds for the next week!

Time for some blog perusing and plugging... the artwork is brilliant... well worth keeping an eye on... Pink Cuckoos

BoP time

2011-08-29T22:53:00.000+01:00

Tophill Low NR in East Yorks has seen a few birds of prey (BoPs) around in recent days.

So the simple of task of looking at the sky filled today's activities for 6 hours. Not quite as dull as it sounds, 4 Marsh Harriers moved south thru the site as did a couple of Buzzards (+ the site regulars showing on and off) and an immature male Peregrine moved south late-afternoon at great height. A Green Sandpiper dropped in before moving south, 100+ Sand Martin, 530+ Swallow, 125+ House Martin and a few Swifts moved thru and it was a pleasant day watching 'Vis mig' without having to walk in the wind.

Sunshine, showers and things to see

2011-08-28T22:06:00.003+01:00

So with another week of indifferent weather, and the obligatory heavy shower(s) which are now the norm for a weekend, it was a case of making the best of it when the sun shone.

The Saturday morning sun prompted a few Odonata to appear at water, with the regular transect route turning up 13 Common Blue Damselfly, 5 Emerald Dams, 4 Southern Hawkers, a rather poor 6 Migrant Hawkers, 2 Brown Hawkers, 49 Common Darters and 4 Ruddy Darters. However, by early afternoon after a brief thunderstorm everything 'hung up'.

Southern Hawker

One of the few remaining Common Blue Damselflies.

Still plenty emerging... this one of a group of four Common Darters waiting to make their maiden flight.

Hung-up Darters often allow two species for one click of the camera... Ruddy Darter and Common Darter sat waiting for the sun to return.

I assume our struggle to make good Odonata counts is reflected elsewhere... the latest Yorkshire sightings can be found here and click on sightings.

With the arrival of a few Larids, I was tempted to do a bit of birding as that is actually what I'm supposed to be doing when out in the field, I just seem to get side-tracked. The weekend wasn't so bad... one or two adult Mediterranean Gulls put in brief appearances as did a Little Gull, a few Golden Plover on the move and Meadow Pipits heading west in small numbers. Presumably the last few Yellow Wagtails of the year were also noted on Saturday but a few hours listening on Sunday failed to turn up any. Hopefully September will see a little raptor movement - a juvenile Marsh Harrier, immature male Peregrine and a couple of Buzzards passed over though rather worryingly I failed to connect with the Osprey(s) over the weekend. Maybe if some settled weather occurs, might be able to get a good BoP count. More Tophill bird news and other bits and bobs here

The busy period of moth trapping season seemed to pass without being busy. The cool nights not allowing for good numbers though Ypsolopha sequella was a new addition to personal Tophill lists this week and a Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix in the traps a week ago was new for the site.

Ypsolopha sequella above and Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix below

The first Lunar Underwing of the autumn also appeared this weekend.

Some nice bits and pieces of fungi around. Some Bay Polypore was perhaps a little past its best but the Shaggy Inkcaps look rather smart, while Copper Spike is in season and showing well.

Bay Polypore above and Shaggy Inkcap below.

Marsh and Tree Damselbugs made up the weekend interest as nothing of note could be found among the hoverflies. Both blog ticks!

Damselbugs - Marsh above and Tree below.

A weekend with sunshine

2011-08-23T22:34:00.001+01:00

For a change it was actually warm and bright for most of the weekend. There certainly hasn't been enough good hot weekends this summer.

Above, the first Red Underwing of the year posing for a picture after the one last weekend was sat up high on a building. This Orange Swift the best of the trapped macromoths.

Despite the sunshine, the Odonata numbers aren't great... 6 Emerald Damselfly, 17 Migrant Hawkers and 14 Ruddy Darters on the count. Disappointing the way the season turned out after the cracking start but like everyone else you can only see what is there.

The Black-necked Grebe remained... soon be time to start birding again... as the Larids start to increase!

Hoverfly invasion

2011-08-16T23:26:00.000+01:00

I suppose many have noticed the masses of hoverflies around in the last couple of weeks. Good time of the year to get a few additions to the year list and we had a good variety of species without trying too hard on Saturday at Tophill Low NR, East Yorks.

A selection of pictures taken by Doug Fairweather and myself.

Episyrphus balteatus is by the far the most obvious but looking a little harder turns up a variety.

Scaeva pyrastri

Sphaerophoria scripta

Syritta pipiens

And once in a while the scarcer Helophilus trivittatus can be found, albeit only two records of this solitary, migrant species have been noted. The bad photo below is from 2008 and one in July 2011 didn't linger long enough for the 'dipteria paperazzi' to take a picture!

The other Tophill highlight was a late Agapanthia villosoviridescens down the south end. They don't look quite as good as they did in May!

The gloom can be beaten

2011-08-07T23:13:00.005+01:00

Cracking views over D res at Tophill Low NR, East Yorks this weekend. The darkness mid-afternoon Saturday kind of sums up how awkward the weekend weather was. Wetter the weather, the harder it is to find something good... meaning it is more likely I can be found drinking tea and eating a variety of exceedingly good cakes instead of being out in the field.

However, Tophill was like a 'mini' Minsmere this weekend... Ruff, Black-tailed Godwits, Dunlin, Greenshanks et al all present. Fair enough, numbers not hurting the pencil lead as they have done in the past but there are birds if you look. One assumes another Black-necked Grebe was present on Sunday, maybe 2+ in the last week and a '2nd winter' Mediterranean Gull was around early evening. I aged it as a '2nd winter' as it was hard work finding those short primaries so it was in some sort moult, but it was certainly regulation otherwise. I seem to have spent too long over the weekend sat going through the gulls dropping in, maybe the addiction of going through them means I shall be spending many cold nights during the winter going through the birds rather than retiring to the comfort of sitting in front of a nice warm fire!!! One more campaign won't harm!

The latest addition to the Tophill fungi list, species 270 is Coprinellus domesticus found by Doug Fairweather while I was proving I couldn't increase the wader numbers!!!

Difficult to do much on the Odonata front. A couple of Migrant Hawkers, our first of the season, are rather belated. After a great start, species are available to see in small numbers. Just one of those summers when the day's off don't fall on the bright sunny days!

As for the moths, the lights struggled to catch any Large Yellow Underwings which means chances of trapping much else of note inland is either limited or down to good luck. The usual procession of egg boxes came out of the traps on Saturday morning. Interestingly, while we are struggling to catch Large Yellow Underwings, I'm lost as to when the last Angle Shades was in a trap, but Southern Wainscots (below) seem to be appearing in small numbers after a relative absence in recent years. Moths will never cease to surprise, they always seem to pose questions!

Dragonfly quiz

2011-08-04T23:20:00.000+01:00

I've just been playing the photo quiz on here.

Certainly a stunning set of pictures.

10,000 up

2011-08-02T22:49:00.001+01:00

So the blog hits have reached 10,000. THANKS TO EVERYONE who has found the site, hope you found your visit an enjoyable read, and if you fancy telling anyone about it then please do. Everyone who has found it has done so by word of mouth or via links that folk have added to their sites. I never thought my quiet days out would be interesting to so many around the world!!!

A big thank you to Doug Fairweather for adding in photos and noteworthy sightings, and the blog's North Sea reporter for enabling a few more species to be added to species blogged list. I'll add it up at some point, though I think maybe 250+ species have been either mentioned or pictured on the blog since April 1st 2011.

I guess I, well we, should spot on and blog on.

Cold nights are rather autumnal

2011-07-31T23:42:00.000+01:00

Despite yet another cold night, the lights have to be set to keep up the records. With numbers and species trapped at Tophill Low NR hardly challenging the ink left in the pens that were bought to write in the notebooks for the season, there is always the odd surprise. An August Thorn in one of the boxes,the first trapped for 9 years, was the highlight. Unfortunately, it took off before a photo could be taken!

Otherwise it was signs of the end of the season. A couple of Rosy Rustics and a Bulrush Wainscot in the 'target' traps indicative that we'll soon be seeing Red Underwings. Four good weeks left unless it stays warm into September. I'm thinking we've missed the summer!

A Black-necked Grebe on 'D res', a Quail singing east of South Marsh and 11 Little Gulls the best of the birds on Sunday... Saturday was dire!

But the quietness allows for enjoying some entertainment... this one of two Stoats unaware of our presence until they got within a few feet

Emergence of a Common Darter

2011-07-26T22:43:00.004+01:00

From Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire

Searching hard for a tiny reward

2011-07-24T23:19:00.001+01:00

Well the weekend weather continues to put a spanner in the works for Lepidoptera recording. This weekend no rain, just the joys of autumnal temperatures. Fair to say moth trapping was a disaster at Tophill Low in East Yorks. A 2nd generation Purple Thorn was the only moth of note among the 20 trapped!!!

The wind ensured dragonflies were hard to find. Maybe we did see more than most visitors will have seen but 4 Southern Hawkers, a few darters and the odd Emerald Dam - it was hardly worth the time spent searching for them... let alone typing them on here.

So it was desperate measures to find something different, and perhaps new for the site list.

Trying hard, we found these... less than a centimetre in length, ensuring great difficulty to find on a 300 acre site as we saw perhaps 8! I assume a new species for Tophill... Cicadella viridis

The other highlight of the day was viewing of the new Watton Nature Reserve management policy that sees free range sheep and cattle roaming around giving the area a good grazing and tramping down the water edges, perhaps making it more attractive to waders.

The sheep and the cows seemed rather happy going about their work. This young bull looked most narked...

Not a happy chappy!

All the things you can see on a wet weekend!

2011-07-17T23:18:00.001+01:00

So after the Striped Hawkmoth at Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire, how good can a weekend get? Always good is a wet day as it means no-one ventures out!

So what did folk miss?

Emerging Southern Hawkers...

Emerging Common Darter

Good numbers of Little Gulls were present on D res. 37 appeared around lunchtime as rain became torrential before moving south and another 6 appeared an hour later. Interesting the numbers of Little Gulls Tophill gets as reports suggest maybe up to 2000+ are in Bridlington Bay, plus 500 were off Spurn Saturday. Nothing on Sunday! I spent 5 hours dodging showers by sitting overlooking D res, however a small number of Lesser Black-backs moved through south. A Common Sandpiper plummeted down from a height to announce it's prescence by constantly calling, and a Little Egret came in from the southwest, before flying northwest and landing just north of the site.

Good birds are available to some though. The blog's North Sea correspondant was ashore in the week, and able to tick the Blacktoft Sands RSPB Marsh Sandpiper. I couldn't go as it meant breaking my golden rule of twitching... travelling for a bird further away than one I've twitched already... so the extra 200 yard walk meant I had to pass on seeing it!

However, somehow the blog's North Sea correspondant has picked up a job in the Atlantic off the northwest coast of Ireland... Stormies, Sootys, Manxies and Bonxies seem like regular foddy... a Wilson's Petrel drifted past the rig on tow this evening. Be nice to have a day at work like that!

Striped Hawk...

2011-07-17T00:29:00.003+01:00

Knowing the lights were set on Friday night, and having kept track of the weather forecast... heavy rain overnight and the promise of a dull, wet Saturday... I wasn't expecting anything other than 'run of the mill' species in the moth traps at Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire.

A stunning Striped Hawkmoth sitting on an eggbox in one of the traps was a massive surprise... here it is perched up! albeit after some time in the fridge...

A new addition to the Tophill Lepidoptera list that gets added to week in week out.

Apart from the spectacular, the traps held 'the expected' number of moths. A single Diamond-back was the other smart beast, while the first Silky Wainscots of the year helped pad things out along with 4 Southern Wainscots, something we haven't trapped many of in recent years.

But... Striped Hawk! It has been a long time since I've seen Striped Hawk in the UK. Still young, my memory is good and I remember summer evenings in Suffolk back in 1996 when we had Striped and Silver-striped Hawkmoths nectaring on the honeysuckle in the garden at a house near Sizewell power station.

I've no pictures of 'that' Silver Striped Hawk, but to increase 'the list of species mentioned/photographed/listed' on the blog, I'll post a few pics of one that was collected for me to photograph by a friend in the Algarve, Portugal, two years ago.

Who knows, with a bit of luck, and more dispersal of species from where they occur according to outdated surveys... (for those that call themselves environmentalists, who hate this sort of thing... I believe it is called progression) both might, one day, be nectaring on the Tophill buddleias! Until then... it will probably be just Hummingbird Hawkmoths!

Hummer tops the bill

2011-07-10T22:03:00.000+01:00

This one of the 2+ Hummingbird Hawkmoths that were the highlight of a tour of Tophill Low NR, East Yorks on Saturday. Showing well on and off in the evening sun, these by far the best of any moths encountered during the day, with the moth traps reportly turning up nothing more than the norm while I was trying to find a suit suitable for the Little Bro's forthcoming wedding day.

With no count of the Marbled Whites this week, I opted to photograph one instead. I'm sure this isn't the best looking of the number on the wing.

This cracking Comma was at the south end of the site.

Quiet day birding. A Common Sandpiper on D Wall a sign of autumn and a '2nd summer' Little Gull drifted through.

Other than 2 Common Darters, the dragonfly numbers were low... so no more typing on the subject.

Giving a plug

2011-07-05T23:04:00.000+01:00

Just been spending a little time perusing the web and a few sites.

This one in Sweden, Blogbirder, is well worth a look. Plenty of great pictures and an excellent read.

This one from Portugal, Algarvebirdman.com, is built by Simon Wates. I've bumped into Simon a few times in Southern Portugal and he is a mind full of knowledge and knows the area like the back of his hand. Well worth a look... the photos are stunning.

Stunning beetle... stunning wasp

2011-07-05T22:26:00.000+01:00

So while I spent Sunday enjoying the best looking dragonflies that take to the wing, Doug Fairweather was out and about just south of the North Yorkshire Moors.

Taking time off Odonata and Lepidoptera he was busy photographing something which needs to appear on the blog... Lesser Stag Beetle.

Doug has also been trying for ages to get a picture of Chrysis ignita - Ruby-tailed Wasp.

Next time... it won't be sat in the lid of pot!

Emperors and Golden Rings cruising around

2011-07-04T22:42:00.004+01:00

After weeks and weeks of poor Odonata days, warm weather and a change of month altered fortunes with 18 species encountered over the weekend.

A tour of Tophill Low NR in East Yorks, in the company of Doug Fairweather and EY Dragonfly himself, Paul Ashton, turned up plenty. The highlights including Emerald Damselflies, Emperor Dragonflies and c47 Ruddy Darter.

For more cracking photos and the day’s numbers, click on the Yorkshire BDS site here.

Sunday saw me join Paul and Daniel Ashton for a trip up north. First stop was Ganton. Not famous for much but a good spot for photographing both Demoiselles together. Needless to say, with the sun out, and the Beautifuls and Bandeds constantly dancing around, there was little chance of one posing for a picture.

After that we headed onto the North Yorkshire Moors. With good numbers of Keeled Skimmer seen recently at Fen Bog, we opted for Tranmire Bog instead. Excellent little site and no walking required to see Keeled Skimmers – I think it is about 30 strides from where you park the car! However, despite the recent rain, the bog ‘appeared’ rather dry, though we did manage 5 Keeled Skimmers, Broad-bodied Chaser was a site tick, small numbers of Large Red Damselflies flitted around and the Golden-ringed Dragonflies put on a cracking show cruising up and down the stream.

With Cropton Forest providing a change of habitat, and a couple of sheltered pools, a quick hour in the forest added both Brown and Common Hawker to the day list, more Large Reds and more Golden Rings.

Find of the day, picked out by sharp-eyed Daniel, was this Common Hawker larvae.

We ended in Wheeldale. More Golden-ringed Dragons here, and by far the best site to photograph them. Here are the best!

For a summary of the day counts, and more photos, click Ganton, Cropton, Tranmire Bog and Wheeldale on the Yorkshire BDS sightings page.

I haven’t counted up the butterfly species total for the weekend. The highlights though involved a massive 133 Marbled Whites at Tophill Low NR on Saturday, while the moors turned up good numbers of Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, 1 Dark-green Fritillary and an unexpected Marbled White flying around Tranmire Bog.

The lights of the Tophill Low NR moth traps caught lots - but nothing much of real significant interest. The best of the haul included Map-winged Swift, Light Emerald and our annual Orthopygia glaucinalis. Normally we catch one a year, so having two in the traps probably means we won’t be seeing another for 12 months! No new site ticks this weekend, but 2+ Hummingbird Hawkmoths whizzing around was a site year tick for us.

The first Leptura quadrifasciata (Four-banded Longhorn) of the year was at Tophill Low NR on Saturday while a few Rutpela maculata (Black and Yellow Longhorn) were noted.

Finally the birds. Two ‘1st summer’ Little Gulls at Tophill on Saturday and a Little Egret at Tophill Low NR on Sunday the best there. Click here for all the latest Tophill news. Up on the moors, the Crossbills of Cropton Forest on Sunday ‘chipped’ away all afternoon.

Micro moths

2011-06-30T23:09:00.001+01:00

For the first time on here I’m going to dedicate a full post to micro moths.

Everyone sees them. To most, they are I guess, the tiny thing seen flying off through the grass that probably then lands somewhere and they can’t see it again. To Doug Fairweather and I, they are a little challenge to photograph and identify.

It has taken a while to photograph a selection in the field, not the easiest task taking reasonable shots, or sometimes record shots, when they are flying about, but here are some of the species Doug and myself have been seeing in recent weeks at Tophill Low, East Yorkshire. All are common, some are firsts for the site, and one species only had single record documented back in 1997 - until we had a little tour around and found 30+ a few days ago.

Nemophora degeerella

Nemapogon cloacella

Anthophila fabriciana

Agapeta hamana

Pseudargyrotoza conwagana

Celypha lacunana

Orthotaenia undulana

Eucosma cana

Grapholita compositella

Dichrorampha alpinana

Dichrorampha plumbana

Chrysoteuchia culmella

Crambus lathoniellus

Homoeosoma sinuella

Wet my lips

2011-06-29T00:37:00.000+01:00

A cracking summer tune, and for the hottest day of the year that was Sunday, a Quail singing south of the river, audible from South Marsh West, was the highlight of the day at Tophill Low, East Yorkshire.

It was a quick tour round as I wanted to check out waterbodies for Odonata, whilst, as someone noted the small lens on the camera, looking for things that didn't require the bigger gear!

Finally managed to nail an Emperor Dragonfly up here for the year. Having seen a few in Northants earlier in the month, it was about time one was flying around... the hot day producing a lone male whizzing around the East Pond area. Also managed a good number of Black-tailed Skimmers spread from SMW to North Marsh and onwards to the road that runs up to Top Lock. Add in a Hairy Dragonfly at SME, plus one was seen at the north end earlier in the day, meant my quick tour was rather productive... before I needed to wet my lips with a much needed cold beer!

Cracking hoverfly

2011-06-27T21:43:00.000+01:00

With Dipteria lacking somewhat on the blog at the moment, Doug Fairweather noticed this striking Chrysotoxum bicinctum in Ryton, North Yorkshire, on some hogweed. It is definately true that the bigger the beast the more stunning they look!

SHARK!!!

2011-06-26T00:29:00.001+01:00

Not a word often said out loud seriously inland, but shouted at Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire, for the first time since 1998 on Saturday. The picture above, is from records available to me, only the 5th ever Shark, attracted to light, and trapped on site!

Amazing how despite the three decades or so of moth trapping, some species are so elusive, yet are possibly there all the time. Certainly on par with last week's Lime Hawkmoth, and to be honest, a proper good moth. A tick for the regulars, and the first I've seen since living in coastal Suffolk in 1996.

The best of the rest in the traps included a Gothic, Barred Straw, Ghost Moth and the first Eyed-Hawkmoths of the year.

It was quite a good birding day too, with 3 Crossbills, a '1st summer' Med Gull and a '1st summer' Little Gull through the site early-afternoon, with a '2nd summer' Little Gull on site late-afternoon, and the odd Hobby sighting.

The iffy weather of late has allowed us some fungi interest. Found some nice Pholiota flammans and Common Inkcap last weekend, but this cracking Common Stinkhorn was a surprise.

The poor weather means little on the odontata front, a low count involved only 2 Emerald Damselfly, 2 Four-spotted Chaser and 4 Southern Hawkers to note amongst the sundries... disappointing numbers for late June.

Lime Hawkmoth surprise

2011-06-19T12:35:00.002+01:00

A surprise in one of the many moth traps on Saturday morning... a Lime Hawkmoth. I think on typing this is Tophill Low's fifth record in about 30 years of moth trapping. I guess if compared to recent avian scarcities, a Lime Hawk is more of a 'Tophill rare' than Purple Heron, Red-necked Phalarope, American Wigeon... more on a par of Lesser Yellowlegs, though slightly more regularly seen than Collared Pratincole and Nuthatch... only a single record of each!!!

Plenty of other nice bits in the traps as some of the summer stuff comes out - the first Barred Straw of the year, several Green Arches, Pinion-streaked Snout and a few Blacknecks, which are now annual.

With the weather not great for Odonata, we still managed Common Blue, Azure, Blue-tailed, Red-eyed and Emerald Damselflies on the wing, with 3 Southern Hawker, 4 Four-spotted and a single male Broad-bodied Chaser to pass the time.

Little Gulls seem to be around at the minute, still up to 5 in the week, though only 3 '1st summer' birds were on D res late afternoon.

Also the first Rutpela maculata of the year was seen - Black-and-Yellow Longhorn Beetle.

Red-necked Phal brightens the gloom

2011-06-12T21:46:00.001+01:00

Dull day, pretty wet. But the first Red-necked Phalarope at Tophill Low NR, East Yorks, for about 25 years was a cracker and well worth getting a soaking for.

What a stunning little bird. Click here for a picture.

Four Little Gulls over D res mid-afternoon - 3 1st summers and a 2nd summer and the Odonata highlight was my first Black-tailed Skimmer of the year.

Agapanthia appreciation

2011-06-11T23:40:00.000+01:00

It would have been rude not to post these. This stunning Agapanthia villosoviridescens the highlight of the day at Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire. Just outside the WNR hide, this beast was huge!!!

This cracking Hairy Dragonfly was hung up right next to the huge beast above!

Two Emerald Damselflies were noted, one at each end of the site. Disappointing numbers, but on a par for recent years.

The moth traps disappointing... a Lychnis the best of a small overnight haul.

Down in Northamptonshire

2011-06-10T22:19:00.001+01:00

Spent some of last weekend visiting my old friend Nic Orchard, and fortunately that happened to coincide with the fact that part of Yardley Chase, owned by the MOD, was open for the only time this year to the public for guided walks.

It has to be said it is a cracking woodland, and the species list is incredible. Having spent the Saturday evening drooling over a report written by a member of the aptly name ‘Wild Bunch’ who have spent decades recording everything on the site, I was eager to be away.

After permission was granted from the site Commandant, armed with a map, I was sent on my way (with a warning to be back before they locked the huge gate) to go and have a look around whilst everyone else enjoyed their guided tours.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t great but I did manage plenty of damselflies and despite only managing to get around little more than a quarter of the site in the 2 hours before the rain came, I picked up numerous Hairy Dragonfly, Southern Hawker, Emperor, Four-spotted Chaser and Broad-bodied Chaser without having to search.

Wood Whites were particularly numerous, and the Burnet Companion was the first I’d seen in nearly a decade as I don’t seem to go to sites where they occur.

Monday dawned grey, and got greyer, but dragonflies are sometimes easier to spot in bad conditions, so Nic took me on a tour of some of the sites. First stop was Waddenhoe. A pretty little village on the Nene pathway. The site is rather pleasing on the eye and after a little while kicking we turned up some cracking Banded Demoiselles… but no Scarce Chasers.

As it got greyer, we headed into White-legged Damselfly country on the edge of Kettering. Not the most picturesque of places… A14, railway next to the river, but still we managed plenty of White-legged Damselflies, Banded Demoiselles, Red-eyed Damselfly and Four-spotted Chasers.

Although late in the day, it did get warmer so we headed off back to Waddenhoe in the hope of Scarce Chaser. This one posed in the late-afternoon sun.

Not a bad selection given the weather, and add in plenty of Red Kites, Buzzard, Hobby and numerous other common niceties, it was a rather pleasant weekend. Thank to Nic for the invite, I shall have to return again to see if the sun ever shines in that part of the world!!

Here is the Northamptonshire Dragonflies blog... worth a look, and even more so if anyone is heading that way.

Exuvia find reveals Southern Hawker is on the wing

2011-06-08T00:06:00.001+01:00

You don't have to see a dragonfly on the wing to know they have emerged. An exuvia found at Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire, by Doug Fairweather on Friday evening (3rd June) set a new earliest date for Southern Hawker, beating the previous record of 11th June 2006. A follow up visit on Saturday produced another 16 exuvae, and one pre-flight emergent.

Before the weather ended the day dragonfly counting, several Four-spotted Chasers of the form praenublia were noted, along with a single Broad-bodied Chaser and the expected damselflies.

Despite the warm days, the evenings are rather cold and the moth trapping is still pretty average for the time of the year. An Elephant Hawkmoth was in the traps along with the many Treble Lines (photo below) and Heart and Darts.

Birding wise, the day was pretty quiet. The Osprey flying over the car park was just a little too high for a decent photograph. Only the 4th I've seen in 11 years at Tophill... nice when surprises happen!

Keeping it varied

2011-05-30T17:47:00.001+01:00

Checking the pager and the logbooks at Tophill Low Nature Reserve, East Yorkshire Friday, it appeared maybe a few good birds might be around on Saturday. As it was, none of them remained, with no sign of the putative Red-footed Falcon, no Ospreys putting in an appearance, and the Purple Heron seen several times in the week failing to emerge from cover.

The best of it was a drake Garganey on the marshes, one of the local Buzzards, and Hobby chasing Swifts over O res for most of the afternoon in the strong wind. The best of the pictures was one of the North Marsh Reed Warblers, which posed briefly prior to a heavy shower.

As ever, we had the lights out Friday night for the moths. A good variety of macro species for the end of May included Shoulder-striped Wainscot, Figure of 80, Gold Spot and Ghost Moth.

Figure of 80

Gold Spot

Ghost Moth

Two new micros for the site were found and photographed by Doug Fairweather. Two others are waiting to be confirmed.

Denisia similella

Scrobipalpa costella

With the weather, and last week’s huge Azure count in the record books, we opted to take a day off counting Odonata and look for other things, but we did find Large Red Damselflies, Azure Damselflies, Common Blue Damselflies, Blue-tailed Damselflies, Red-eyed Damselflies, Four-spotted and Broad-bodied Chasers without having to look hard.

One of the benefits of not counting meant we could take photographs of other things. Doug capturing this pair of Agapanthia villosoviridescens – aka Golden-bloomed Grey Longhorns – 2 of the 14 seen easily without leaving the path.

Despite the cloud, the sunny spells encouraged the Grass Snakes to bask, this one of six posing happily on one grassy mound.

Amazing Azures

2011-05-25T22:31:00.000+01:00

Saturday at Tophill Low NR, East Yorks, was yet another busy one. The only surprise… the failure to add any new species to the site list!

It was definitely an Odonata day and another record was set for VC61. A count of 2319 Azure Damselflies was the highest total ever counted at one site in the area. The previous best being 1280 on May 23rd 2009, also at Tophill.

The count also turned up 66 Large Red Damselfly, 280 Common Blue Damselfly, 71 Blue-tailed Damselflies, 4 Rd-eyed Damselfly, 7 Hairy Dragonfly, 5 Broad-bodied Chasers (including 1 cracking male in Richard Sears’s garden) and 19 Four-spotted Chaser (including one of the form praenublia).

A few moths in the traps, typical for May, included Small Clouded Brindle, Setaceous Hebrew Character and the first ever-variable Ingrailed Clay.

This Poplar Hawkmoth perhaps the only one I will blog this season… unless I run out of pictures, or I’m stuck because nothing was caught!

A drake Garganey was on Watton NR as was a Dunlin… shame we were there before the Temminck’s!

Glad to see the back of that wind

2011-05-20T00:12:00.001+01:00

Finally, the wind has dropped. Time to be back in the field and a first opportunity this week to count the dragonflies along Leven Canal.

Despite the breeze, and occasional stronger gusty moments, and the sun not shining as much as the weather forecast promised, there was still plenty to see.

I managed to count a minimum of 48 Hairy Dragonflies. Many more females around this week. This picture of one of several pairs in cop.

And this female posed well. Hairys are so easy to kick out of vegetation here as they often sit low down and close to the path and it is difficult not to disturb before allowing a photo opportunity.

The other numbers totalled 8 Large Red Damselfly, 20 Azure Damselfly, 8 Blue-tailed Damselfly, 300+ Red-eyed Damselfly, 16 Four-spotted Chaser (including 2 of the form praenublia. One shown below) and a female type Broad-bodied Chaser.

After the canal, it was onto High Eske and Pulfin Bog Nature Reserves a short walk south along the river. The count there involved a single Large Red Damselfly, 6 Common Blue Damselflies, 32 Azure Damselfly, 3 Blue-tailed Damselflies and 16 Red-eyed Damselflies.

The best of the birds were there to with 5 Common Terns and 2 Goldeneyes still on the lake. 'Terry' the ever present terrapin was also showing well... must be 20 years since I first saw him/her/it!!! A rather huge beast now!

This Drinker moth caterpillar the largest I've seen this year, not long until they will be on the wing.

Good stuff despite the weather

2011-05-16T12:49:00.001+01:00

As ever it was Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire on Saturday for a scout around to see what we could find.

The year’s first Buff Ermine the moth trap highlight, but with cool nights nothing much could really have been expected.

However, keeping up our good run of form, though we left it late in the day, this Pammene regiana found by Doug Fairweather was a new addition to the site list.

With the cloudy skies and occasional heavy showers, it wasn’t a great day for Odonata but we still managed the year’s first Broad-bodied Chaser (an immature male) for the site and the first Hairy Dragonfly since April 24th.

A hiding Hairy Dragonfly

Now this got me thinking. Why hasn’t there been a Hairy record at Tophill Low since then? Despite several visits in good conditions the species hasn’t been recorded. Could it in fact not have actually colonised the site and the ones seen, not only this year but before, are individuals that have wandered from nearby Leven Canal, where the species occurs in the highest population density so far noted in VC61? There is something not quite right here as the numbers from other sites, combined with the three week gap in records at Tophill, would suggest that if Hairy had colonised then they shouldn’t be so difficult to find. I don’t think this is a controversial theory... but then others might decide to take it that way!

The rest of the count, before the final heavy shower ended proceedings, turned up 44 Large Red Damselflies, 1159 Azure Damselflies, 30 Blue-tailed Damselflies, and 5 Four-spotted Chasers, including this emergent.

Birding wise, it was rather dull! A Common Buzzard and a cream crown Marsh Harrier the highlights. Still awaiting a WNR Temminck’s Stint.

One that everyone can spot – it is on a sycamore on the entrance road on the north side of O wood, is this Dryad’s Saddle.

As Spring continues, more and more hoverflies are out. This Anasimyia lineata isn’t a new one for the site but posed quite nicely.

While this Hawthorn Shieldbug (above) was in suitable habitat and the Agapanthia villosoviridescens numbers totalled 5 across the site… I wonder if a new record count can be set this year???

Quiet but enough interest at Spurn

2011-05-14T00:21:00.001+01:00

Spent the day at Spurn watching and waiting patiently. Despite it being a quieter day than others in the week, the day still managed:- 2 Marsh Harriers, one sub-adult male Montagu's Harrier, 1 Wood Sandpiper, 1 Little-Ringed Plover, 1 Sand Martin, 91 House Martin, 1059 Swallows, 6 flava Wagtails amongst other things.

Two or three Brown Argus showed well with the Common Blues, Wall and the odd Brimstone... Yet another quiet day out!

Hairys... they are just great

2011-05-14T00:09:00.001+01:00

I spent Thursday in Hairy Dragonfly mode... it has been a personal battle, since probably 2004/2005 after an elusive hawker-type caught my eye in spring, to prove they existed in the county. All I needed was a photograph! And everytime I saw one... they all whizzed past at high speed... a touch difficult to nail a photo for proof of what I was seeing. Once their existence was finally proved a few years back by Paul Ashton, it has taken until now for me to actually take a semi-decent picture of one...

I suppose now they are common and such a doddle to spot... I guess anyone can take a picture of one and look good!

Eventually made it out with EYDragonfly to Broomfleet Washlands to try and find some Hairy exuvae... turned up a blank but 38 Large Red Damselflies, 38 Variable Damselflies, 5 Azure Damselflies, 1 Common Blue Damselfly, 2 Blue-tailed Damselfly, 1 Hairy Dragonfly and 4 Four-spotted Chasers helped pass the time.

Some of the other pictures...

Large Red Damselflies (above) and Red-eyed Damselfly below

This Pammene aurana was the best of the day-flying moths spotted...

Brown Argus and Common Blue made up the supporting cast.

Red-rumps race through Spurn

2011-05-11T22:08:00.002+01:00

Having not visited Spurn recently for various reasons - with the chance of plenty of birds in the offing, I decided to head east. I spent most of the day sat at the Warren with 'Mr Spurn' Adam Hutt, Garry Taylor et al and a cracking day's birding was had - without actually having to move anywhere!

Maybe c1200+ Swallows raced south with Red-rumped Swallows south at 10.30 and 14.40. The latter I found before Mr Spurn - which is an achievement in itself as he picked out everything else! Too many birds to mention, best to check out the Spurn Bird Obs sightings page for the day's records.

Highlights included 8+ Marsh Harriers south, 1 Hobby south, 1 Buzzard (west), several Little Egrets bloggin, 2 Spotted Flycatchers, 3 Whinchat, a Nightingale in the hand. I'd gone to the Point when the day's Montagu's Harrier went thru!

This Garganey was on Canal Scrape.

Wheatear at the Point.

Brown-tail moth the easiest of the inverts to pick out as the army of caterpillars destroys the leaves of each and every bush once again this year. A Four-spotted Chaser was at the Warren and a Broad-bodied Chaser just eluded the camera at the Point, before disappearing into the Brown-tail infested Blackthorns.

Longhorns bloom

2011-05-10T22:48:00.002+01:00

Another record broken today at Tophill Low NR, East Yorkshire. Three cracking Agapanthia villosoviridescens - aka Golden-Bloomed Grey Longhorn, were showing well around the south end of the site. As with lots of things, these are early out this year, the previous Tophill early date was May 23rd.

Not the best picture but a stunning little beetle all the same.

A Greenshank the best of the birds around and a few Garden Warblers are now in and singing.

Didn't count the dragonflies but Large Red Dam, Common Blue Dam, Azure Dam, Blue-tailed Dam, Red-eyed Dam and a few Four Spotted Chasers all found easily without over stretching myself - still can't find a Hairy at this site.

Common Blues on the wing on the butterfly front but no sign of any Brown Argus on the wing here... yet!

Hairy record hammered

2011-05-09T23:37:00.003+01:00

Another day out, another VC61 (and probably) Yorkshire record bites the dust!

Hairy Dragonflies, for some reason, now seem to be a species of interest in VC61 to a lot of folk since the first ones appeared a few years back at Broomfleet Washlands and in a Beverley garden, before their presence at Tophill Low NR and latterly High Eske/Pulfin Bog NR was confirmed. However, the little watched site of Leven Canal boasts the highest numbers.

A count along the length of the canal today turned up a minimum of 63, shattering last year's impressive maximum of 54. Perhaps a species that was once thought of as scarce, is now actually present in good numbers, and goes unrecorded due to it unobtrusive nature, and a lack of people going out looking!

Leven Canal is also a good place to catch up with Red-eyed Damselfly with 191+ showing well on the lily pads. Everything else was pretty scarce. Only 4 Large Red Damselflies, 3 Azure Damselflies, 4 Blue-tailed Damselflies and
7 Four-spotted Chasers made up the supporting cast. Mind the Quads pose well!

A good number of raptors around with 5 Buzzards south, 2 Hobbies and 2+ Marsh Harriers, while a probable Common Crane flew high NE early-afternoon... just too distant for bins, and I didn't really fancy carrying my scope and tripod for nearly 10kms just in case something flew over!

My first Brown Argus of the year was noted along with plenty of other species, and at least 120 Grass Snakes were showing well... just another typically quiet day out!

Prominent features

2011-05-08T02:31:00.000+01:00

Overcast skies and light rain greeted us at Tophill Low NR, East Yorks, on Saturday morning. Still, a great day to be had and new things to see... just got to put your mind to it and look hard!

With four lights out overnight, despite the overall catch being typical, some nice moth year ticks were trapped.

Plenty of Prominents in the boxes. This Pale Prominent was set up to pose.

Also, a number of Swallow Proms and single Coxcomb and Pebble Proms were caught, a couple of Shears were trapped (causing a minor headache... can't remember catching one in recent times so I need to find my notebooks for the last one!), Rustic Shoulder-Knot and Flame Shoulder made up the best of the rest with a Water Carpet and a Sandy Carpet.

This Buff Tip alongside the path near the visitor centre was the first of the year. Presumably, despite showing well 10cms off the footpath, it was missed by most!

Here are some of the new species of Lepidoptera added to the Tophill list today.

Twenty-plume moth

Micropterix calthella

And one that isn't new... but looks smart enough.

Platyptillia gonodactyla

So which way now? Birds or Dragons? I hear comments about there not being enough bird news/photos on this blog... so I'll go birds first...

Birding wise, 7 Common Terns included a pair using the raft on Watton Nature Reserve. A Greenshank and Common Sandpiper were also present around the south end with 6 LRPs. After that it becomes a struggle... no Temminck's Stints - surely a matter of time! Some flava wagtails over the south end, perhaps local birds. We didn't see any but heard a few. Hopefully some different races to find if an assortment pops up on the res walls in the coming the weeks when time allows to look.

This was just the day's observations, Tophill's latest news can be found by clicking here on the warden's blog, which features sounds of a Martian invasion!

Odonata wise, the wet weather and lack of prolonged sunny spells resulted in a low count of species and numbers with 5 Red-eyed Damselflies the best of the 6 species encountered, albeit a total of 336 individuals of the group, given the weather, was rather good.

With increasing species of Dipteria and Orthoptera on the go now, a few to take pot shots at with the camera today, the blogs of future Saturday events might get more varied and interesting soon! Time will tell I guess.

Yorkshire ticking Caspian at last

2011-05-06T23:59:00.000+01:00

The first of 17 days of holiday saw me at North Cave Wetlands, East Yorkshire in search of the Caspian Gulls I've read about on the pager as the 'Shifts of Doom' finally come to an end. Always hate the last week at work before a break... my mind is usually elsewhere!!!

Here are some of the pics of one of the first-summer Caspian Gulls both in flight and on the deck.

In fact it was a bit of larid afternoon, this first-summer Little Gull showed well...

while a 1st summer Mediterranean Gull appeared mid-afternoon, among the Black-heads, Lesser Black-backs, Herring Gulls and the one Great Black-backed I saw fly through.

Plenty of other birds noted included a cracking full-summer Bar-tailed Godwit, a Peregrine and some Buzzards.

And something I'm not so fond of seeing... the wetland bullies!!!

Don't you just hate hearing folk saying 'Oh... aren't they lovely'

Hairy Variables

2011-05-02T21:32:00.003+01:00

Quick tour of Broomfleet Washlands, East Yorks, this afternoon in a howling gale didn't disappoint. 55+ Variable Damselflies showing well on the south end of the site. Also a male Hairy Dragonfly was whizzing round before disappointingly landing in a tree some 15ft up and avoiding having its photograph taken! 10 Large Reds, 3 Azures, 1 Common Blue, 2 Blue-tailed Dams and 2 teneral Red-eyes made up the rest.

This one showing off the exclamation marks on the antehumerals.

A Wheatear was a Broomfleet tick, while small numbers of Swifts and House Martin joined the many Sand Martins and Swallows hawking over the marsh.

April ends with a new Odonata record

2011-05-01T01:44:00.003+01:00

Anyone who knows anything about Odonata will know… April in VC61 means you might see a Large Red Damselfly if you are lucky. Sometimes, and bearing in mind, they are more often than not the first species to emerge, records show that it is often May before they are on the wing. Seeing more than one species of damselfly, let alone anything Chaser/Hawker wise, in April, is a huge bonus!

Doug Fairweather and I found 5 species on the wing at Tophill Low NR in East Yorkshire on April 28th 2007, but on Saturday we broke that record with an impressive 6 species, counting a total of 481 individual Odonata, though that being some way short of the April high of 532 set in 2007.

Another record fell, the first April Red-eyed Damselflies (at the time of hitting publish). Not sure what that takes off the earliest date.

Teneral Red-eyed Damselfly

The count in full: 305 Large Red Damselfly, 77 Azure Damselfly, 82 Common Blue Damselfly, 6 Blue-tailed Damselfly, 4 Red-eyed Damselfly and 7 Four-spotted Chaser.

Disappointingly, despite 8 hours on site, we failed to connect with any of the Arctic Terns which are going through all the other Yorkshire sites. A Swift over D res and a Whimbrel at WNR the best, with a Green Sandpiper and a single Common Tern noted.

Another moth species was added to the site list with several Adela reaumurella on the wing

However, the moth trapping was best described as being ‘typically April’ with little of note, other than a Waved Umber and a Green Pug in the traps.

Though I do wonder how many visitors failed to notice this dead obvious Waved Umber sat on the door of the WNR hide! Of everything on view, this was showing the best.

Moorland magic

2011-04-30T23:51:00.002+01:00

With Royal Wedding fever gripping the nation… would anyone be out on the North Yorkshire Moors on Friday? The answer… not many! We saw maybe 10 people enjoying the area during the day.

Doug Fairweather and I arrived to view superb scenery… but iffy weather conditions! So surely it wasn’t to be a day for decent birding, lepidoptera etc… It was woolly hats, an assortment of gloves and as many jumpers as you could wear!

I’m not overweight, this is jumper bulk!

The rewards… birding wise it was excellent with over 100 Red Grouse, many Curlews bubbling and plenty of tumbling Lapwings.

We eventually found a pair of Golden Plover. This male demonstrating the distraction technique before singing.

And encountered up to 40 Wheatears.

However, the target was Ring Ouzel. This pair showed well before taking flight so this is a record shot. Two of the three seen during the day.

With the inclement weather, tactics needed to change and instead of lepidoptera showing to us, we had to go looking. The coldness made photographs easier despite the dark clouds.

This one of the 200+ Green Hairstreaks found hanging up.

We also found c500 Common Heaths, although finding one willing to pose was a task.

The effort for looking also turns up other rewards with several Argyrotaenia ljungiana and the odd Adela reaumurella during brief sunny periods.

We also managed to find 2 Wood Tiger caterpillars during the worst of the weather.

In different habitats, eyes pick up different things… here is some lichen that Doug spotted.

Cladonia floerkaena

Peltigera spp

Makes you wonder what it would be like to be there when the sun comes out!

Fairweather on the moors

2011-04-27T22:08:00.000+01:00

Making the most of the bright weather, Doug Fairweather was recently on the moors finding new things for the blog.

Here is a selection of cracking pics from his trip to the hills.

Thanatophilus rugosus - Carrion Beetle

Another beetle which is one of my favourites, I've spent hours chasing these in the past for a decent picture...

Green Tiger Beetle

A number of Green Hairstreaks were on offer...

This Early-purple Orchid is part of a diminishing colony which has suffered over the years, in part due to selfish people stupidly believing they can dig them up and actually get them to grow at home, and now they are just about hanging on, albeit out of sight of the passing public. In the past, people have been caught in the act of digging them up! Twelve months ago, there was just one flowering spike visible from a road. It was stolen within two hours of first being seen and all that was left was a carefully placed sod of grass where it once grew.

It's a shame folk can't just leave well alone... hence the site is withheld.

Odonata records just keep on being broken in VC61

2011-04-25T22:27:00.002+01:00

The amazing start to the 2011 Odonata season continues with a Four-spotted Chaser at Tophill Low NR breaking the VC61 record by 3 days. The previous earliest being singles at Skipworth Common, North Yorkshire and Tophill Low Nature Reserve, East Yorkshire (both VC61 despite being different counties) on 28th April 2007.

Also on the wing, or perhaps better phrased ‘kicked out of the vegetation’ as very little of anything is flying strongly at the moment, included: - 128 Large Red Damselflies, 19 Azure Damselflies, 35 Common Blue Damselflies and 3 Blue-tailed Damselflies.

It appears that the records of Azure, Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damselfly at Tophill Low NR were the first Yorkshire sightings on Saturday, and all new earliest dates for VC61. Also, a new earliest date for Variable Damselfly was set today by EYDragonfly at Broomfleet Washlands, taking 5 days off the previous best of 30th April 2009. Impressive start to the season with 6 species confirmed as being on the wing. Check out the Yorkshire BDS sightings page for more reported sightings.

A drop in temperatures late-afternoon saw plenty of hirundines drop with 270+ Sand Martin, 50+ House Martin and 40+ Swallow over D res. A Brambling was around the car park early-afternoon, a Cuckoo was at the north end of the site, 5+ Common Terns toured around and 10+ flava Wagtails moved north through during the day. For all the latest Tophill news click here

A reasonable number of butterflies saw 114 counted of 9 species, including 1 Small Copper and 5 Red Admirals.

A healthy 15+ Grass Snakes were encountered and a Water Vole took a plunge at East Pond after showing briefly from the viewing area.

But as the vegetation grows, the fungi gets harder to find. Still a few Charcoal Cups to be found and a small amount of Glistening Inkcap the best of it.

Four Damselfies now have new earliest records in VC61

2011-04-24T00:30:00.002+01:00

After cutting a day off the earliest VC61 Large Red Damselfly record last weekend, some 54 were found on Saturday. However, Large Reds were last week’s news... a good search found 4 Azures*, 18 Common Blue* and a single Blue-tailed Damselfly*. These sightings are all 5 days earlier than the previous earliest dates set on 28th April 2007... by Doug Fairweather and me.

Dreadful record shot of Blue-tailed Damselfly

Some hard to focus on Common Blue Damselfly

Difficult day in the sun trying to get good damselfly pictures, this Large Red the best poser.

*note these are all earliest dates for VC61 as far as I know prior to hitting publish*

Highlight of the moths was yet another addition to the site list. Albeit found Friday, when up to 14 were found, but not confirmed until today.

Grapholita jungiella

One of the traps failed to attact any moths overnight. However, as Yorkhire Water and a Tophill home owner allow us to use 3 traps, it wasn't such a disaster with Swallow Prominent, Rivulet, White Ermine, Muslin Moth and Riband Wave added to the year list.

Muslin Moth

Swallow Prominent

Avoiding the traps, but on the wing, Common and Red Twin Spot Carpet were noted in the field.

The butterfly count easily passed 100 individuals with 10 species noted on the wing... Holly Blue proves elusive though! We can't find any at Tophill!

Nothing outstanding birdwise... Peregrine, Whooper Swan, Green Sandpiper... few flava Wagtails flew north during the afternoon... a quiet trickle of migrants.

Anyone good at counting?

2011-04-22T23:25:00.000+01:00

If anyone has any idea of how many insects are in this photo feel free to get in touch!

Good Friday afternoon at Tophill

2011-04-22T23:22:00.001+01:00

A quick tour of Tophill Low late-afternoon in search of damselflies. Only managed to find one free flying Large Red.

Below is a picture of some Large Red Damselfly exuvae.

Disappointingly few to be found despite the species being out for a least a week.

Several species of butterflies encountered including Red Admirals and this Small Copper.

Finally, I found the Cameraria ohridella (Horse Chestnut Leaf Minor) impossible to count in the evening sunshine. Little wonder the leaves don't stay green for long! A slight improvement on my efforts to photograph them last weekend!

266 for the Tophill Fungi List

2011-04-22T00:40:00.000+01:00

One from the weekend that Doug Fairweather has identified...

Pluteus romellii aka Goldleaf Shield.

Yet another new species for the site!

Sky Dancers

2011-04-17T21:26:00.001+01:00

Sunday afternoon was spent down near the Humber at Broomfleet Washlands.

Unfortunately my theory on Large Red Damselflies being out at Tophill Low NR would mean they would be out here was wrong, as despite searching for a couple of hours I found no damselflies and no exuvae.

Throughout the afternoon, a pair of Marsh Harriers danced around in the sky, this picture below doesn’t really do them justice but something I don’t spend enough time enjoying as I’m always looking for something else. The pair put on a cracking display of aerobatics - more than making up for the lack of damselflies.

A distant picture of them high in the sky doesn't really do them justice

Plenty of other common migrants now in and singing. Several Lesser Whitethroats in the thicket at the north end of the site and one or two Cuckoos very vocal.

The Washlands, being off the beaten track, is a quiet place. This Mink, thinking no one was watching swam up Market Weighton Canal and posed on the bank before quietly disappearing into Oxmardyke Marr.

Way out of the local area, the Blog's North Sea contributer reports skeins of Barnacles heading north to their breeding grounds whilst on a tow somewhere in between Orkney and The Minches. Other than Manx Shearwaters, the odd Bonxie and the regular seabirds not much else to see but updates will come in as and when he can get an internet connection.

New earliest date for Large Red Damselfly

2011-04-17T00:38:00.003+01:00

I'm not sure when most folk commence their interest in Odonata for the season. Weather dependent, we start early-mid April. The searching gets you into good habits of looking hard and makes finding them when the season kicks off easier.

And so Saturday morning it took just a matter of minutes of looking at Tophill Low NR to break the VC61 record of the 17th April by a day as Doug Fairweather and I found 8 teneral Large Red Damselflies at the north end of the site. All but one appeared to have emerged this morning and were still to take their maiden flights.

Unfortunately, after a couple of weekends of looking we lost our Yorkshire record as some were reported on the Yorkshire BDS site from VC63 last weekend, knocking 7 days off the previous earliest record. In hindsight, maybe I should've spent last Sunday further inland in VC61!!!

Another moth species was added to the Tophill list from the overnight traps. A Eriocrania subpurpurella was found on top of one of the traps held in place by a little spot of water. Still alive, albeit drenched, it stayed still for a photo but not in an expected stance!

Disappointingly, the moth haul wasn't overly exciting. Getting to the stage of the year when a couple more degrees of warmth overnight is needed to get them going.

Still the first Pebble Prominent of the year was attracted to the bulbs

and a Pine Beauty made up the other highlight.

Another species on the wing is the tiny Cameraria ohridella aka Horse Chestnut Leaf Minor. I'll say not the easiest of species to photograph in natural habitat!!!

Doug Fairweather managed some better ones!

Like the moths, butterfly numbers were down on last week with only 23 noted of 7 species. Holly Blue is proving hard to get at Tophill despite being easily visible in the park of Howden.

Highlight of the birding involved probably my earliest ever site Garganey with 2 drakes on Watton Nature Reserve the highlight for many birders on site due to the Purple Heron no show. An LRP and the usual Buzzards made up the best of avifauna, and perhaps a few more Sedge Warblers were heard.

After struggling last week to photograph Tetrix subulata without the aid of a pot... here is one that wanted to pose!

Peziza problems once again this weekend are causing a headache. No pictures but some I think may be parcelled up and sent to our fungi guru for identification.

Unlike brown Pezizas, Common Eyelash is rather bright and a species that has only occurred on the blog once... so best make it twice.

Topical blog header

2011-04-14T22:59:00.000+01:00

Not one of this year's Large Red Damselflies but they are soon to be on the wing as another seven months (or more) of dragonfly fun is about to begin.

Time for me to plug the Yorkshire Branch of the British Dragonfly Society which features masses of information and an archive of sightings going back several years, plus lots of cracking photos and identification hints.

Also well worth a look is the East Riding Dragonfly Atlas which features mapping of all the species that can be found within VC61, flight periods, earliest and latest dates and historical information on when they were first recorded in the region.

Anyone wishing to submit records can find the contact details for the recorder, Paul Ashton, on the Yorkshire BDS site.

Early Painted Lady

2011-04-14T22:13:00.002+01:00

Doug Fairweather was touring Caulkleys Bank in North Yorkshire when he came across this rather early Painted Lady. A few records now in Yorkshire this spring with sightings at Spurn and North Cave Wetlands in East Yorkshire. Migrants or ones that overwintered???

He also found this splendid Common Morel Morchella esculenta specimen during his visit to the site.

The game of adding to the Tophill species list continues

2011-04-12T00:13:00.004+01:00

A regular weekend sees Doug Fairweather and I trying to add new species to the Tophill Low NR list. It becomes rather fun wondering what the next one might be.

Pictures from Saturday included another selection of new site ticks once Doug had checked them with the literature - which was simple enough as he had the photographs from all the needed angles!!!

First up in one of the moth traps was this Parasyrphus punctulatus.

Each week we’ve been checking specialist habitats for a certain species of fungi and this weekend we came up trumps with 3 Peziza echinospora specimens discovered. One was collected, one inadvertently encountered a size 15 boot and looked a little sad, but one remains and maybe next weekend a few more might well be around. The species is also known as Charcoal Cup.

This was a good example of looking once, looking again, not getting disheartened and carrying on looking until you eventually see the target. The rule I find works for many things provided the habitat is suitable. Just because no one has seen it doesn’t mean it isn’t there does it?!

So having found two species we know aren’t on the Tophill list, we’ll have to look this one up - Tetrix subulata aka Slender Groundhopper. Unfortunately, our photography session with the Tetrix was interrupted by the passing Purple Heron but then the task was fulfilled for the day.

Top by Doug and the one below by me. Need to get these photographed without the glass pot!

Plenty of nice scientific names for some of the readers who enjoy them!

Boredom on Swinemoor

2011-04-11T22:18:00.002+01:00

Quick trip to Swinemoor on the edge of Beverely this evening after escaping work early. Best described as dire!!!

A couple of Little-ringed Plover the only birds of note present.

The quick trip was aborted early to find something more worthwhile to do.

Other than the Purple Heron

2011-04-11T21:00:00.012+01:00

Moving on from the much-appreciated Purple Heron enjoyed by many on Sunday at Tophill Low NR prior to doing it's vanishing act, I took the opportunity to enjoy the sun and play with the camera. I did bother with the Purple Heron... easily viewable on North Lagoon over the hedge for someone my height!

Slightly more showy later-afternoon that the Heron was this elusive Water Rail.

Popping in before leaving and heading north, up to 3 Pink-footed Geese were present over the weekend.

While this Willow Warbler was one of many summer arrivals singing and showing well in the afternoon sunshine.

Unfortunately, I missed the late-afternoon Common Crane but I decided to stop back until late and take in the wagtail roost at the south end. Three Yellow Wagtails the highlight and 33+ Pied Wagtails roosted. I'm still yet to see a Wagtail showing characteristics of Motacilla alba alba this spring despite a few being mooted to be around - everything I've seen so far is M. a. yarrellii. Maybe it's my eyes, or maybe I might see more than a few in the next few weeks.

Also around was a Greenshank flying up and down the site most of the afternoon and 2+ Buzzards were rather showy for most of the time I was there.

Purple patch

2011-04-10T00:41:00.008+01:00

Everything that was great was purple today at Tophill Low NR.

During a conversation with Doug Fairweather on the problems of photographing Groundhoppers in the field, I mentioned 'Oh look there goes a Purple Heron!' The conversation continued 'Bloody thing won't... yer what???' Then we both watched the bird lazily flying south overhead before heading to Watton Nature Reserve and appearing to land. Hot-footing round O res the half mile to the hide, Doug and me found Keith Rotherham sitting comfortably, perhaps a little bemused... until the bird, which was completely out of view, took off and headed back NE over Tophill... the record pics of it in flight in case it vanished!

Nice way to see a great bird... idiot free!

Eventually, it appeared late-afternoon and took up residence on North Lagoon for folk to see. Another record shot of it below.

I'm sure many big lenses will be out tomorrow for better pictures. The 3rd I've seen at Tophill and the first I've found there... (albeit unknown to us, Derrick Venus had it several minutes before on North Lagoon briefly so credit to his eyes)

I have to admit I've not seen a Purple Heron fly over 2 Pink Feet and a White Front before, but that happened today at WNR. I guess I won't see that happen again! On the plastic front, a female Wood Duck was also present.

The best of the other birds included two Common Terns. 2 LRPS, and a Sedge Warbler on the site. A Peregrine flew north late afternoon.

Back to the theme purple. I'm lucky in that I've been allowed, over the last decade or so, to be able to use the moth traps at Tophill. And for all the dull ones I have too catch... now and again you catch your favourites.

Not the best set of pictures... but 'a perfect' Purple Thorn to view is absolutely stunning... my pictures don't do it justice, but it was pretty smart.

However, it was a cool night so not many moths were trapped. The best of the rest included The Streamer

While the first Powdered Quakers and Early Greys of the year appeared in the traps.

The Lepidoptera theme continued for most of the day, with many on the wing. The count as taken from the notebook involved 34 Peacock, 5 Speckled Wood, 8 Green-viened White, 7 Comma and 6 Small Tortoiseshell.

For the latest Tophill news, check out the Tophill Low blog

And the view from the window

2011-04-08T22:56:00.003+01:00

So the best day of the year so far and I find myself doing overtime in the office instead of being out in the field enjoying the sun!

However, the plus point was that I was sat near the window and was able to count 4 Holly Blue and a Brimstone in the staff car park while the Ashes Park in Howden played host to an Orange Tip and another 3 Holly Blue.

The rest of the week has seen me in the office, other than Red Kites on the way into work and numerous Barn Owls on the way out of work it has been rather dull.

My mate and blog contributor, Neil Hart, had a better week connecting with both the Slavonian Grebe at Tophill Low NR and the nearby Osprey at Arram which is proving popular with the 'dudes'. Twitching Ospreys... look up when you are out then you might see!!!

It has been rather warm on an evening of late and I've got a few moths at the window. The Streamer collected tonight is presently chilling in the fridge ready for photos as it is a garden tick, and this, which I think is Amblyptilia acanthadactyla, was taken at light during the small hours of Thursday morning.

What appears when everyone goes home

2011-04-03T22:11:00.005+01:00

A late trip out to Tophill Low NR tonight. Not wanting to sound unsocial but happiness is an empty car park. The Sunday rush had gone and just one regular was around.

A short tour of the south end of the site turned up a Yellow Wagtail which roosted with 26 Pied Wagtails, while 2 Whooper Swans came in from Leven Carrs at dusk and pleasantly trumpeted for several minutes. A Green Sandpiper was calling on SME while a couple of Redshanks, several Oystercatchers and 3 Little-ringed Plovers hurtled around the marshes.

Hiding from a heavy shower, this Long-tailed Tit made up the the photogenic highlight before taking cover from the worsening weather!

Favourable conditions allow us to be busier than usual

2011-04-02T23:51:00.010+01:00

The early morning grey clouds and showers didn't spoil a busy Saturday at Tophill Low NR. A lot of things to see, identifications to sort and plenty of signs of spring - even when the sun wasn't out!

Plenty of moths in the traps. Highlights included Early Thorn (pictured above and below) and a Pine Beauty among the regular expected species.

Pine Beauty

Diurnea fagella was a site first last week. This (below) one of several encountered in and around the traps. Some rather rough surveying uncovered 49 today when we searched both the traps and the trunks of the oak trees at both ends of the site. Unsurprisingly, we didn't find any of the flightless females but it would appear that the species is present in small numbers.

Finally caught up with a 1st summer Little Gull when one appeared on D res early afternoon. Either the same bird that has been appearing or another moving through. Certainly, whilst looking through the gull roost twice this week (Tues and Fri), no Little Gulls have been present, so maybe there are a few going through. A few more migrants in, with singing Willow Warblers, many Chiffchaffs and up to 80+ Sand Martin and a handful of Swallows over D. A few Bramblings remain and a light passage of Meadow Pipits involved a minimum of 20-30 birds moving north from 9.15-10.30 as I birded by ear waiting for fellow moth trappers to arrive!

A few folk obviously turned up for the drake Scaup that has been on D for a while. It was present there around 9am but then disappeared... cunningly hiding away on South Marsh East with assorted Aytha and spending the majority of the time asleep!

Though it did wake up on occasions.

Doug Fairweather and me have had a one Hevella conundrum over the last week. Between us, last weekend we found a number of specimens in new areas of the reserve after finding one last year and they didn't look quite right. Pretty certain though, after collecting and comparing specimens, that they are all Sooty Cup - which means we don't need to send a parcel down south - but if anyone thinks different then please comment. All constructive help appreciated.

A few other nice bits around. This stand of Wood Blewits are showing well by one of the gates, but will be missed by many.

The Scarlet Elf Cups still remain... albeit a little passed their best

The best of the rest, well the only others we found were a small stand of Sulphur Tuft and some St George's Mushrooms.

Many other insects are now on the wing. This Bombylius major pictured by Doug was one of up to 10 we encountered around the site.

Add in up to a dozen Grass Snakes - none which posed, numerous spiders (Doug seems to be on their case at the moment - 'haps I will blog his new photography pot) and a semi-exhaustive search (note emphasis on semi!) for Large Red Damselflies - 15 days 'til they might be out and the only way to break your earliest date is to look earlier - then it turned out to be a busy day.

A lot of fun, but to be honest... did we really see that much? Season is just starting!

Time with the camera

2011-04-01T22:43:00.007+01:00

With the week in the office complete, and not much on the pager locally, I opted for an afternoon with the camera at Tophill Low NR. I work on the idea of the more I practice, the better the pictures might become! Hopefully!

Surprise on arrival as a Greenshank flew north over the car park and D Res calling. Best start checking Swinemoor on an evening when time allows.

Little on show on North Marsh other than the Little Grebes making occasional sorties close enough to the hide to be photographed.

The spring sunshine prompted two Peacocks to bask on the path in sheltered spot. On the way in, a Brimstone was being blown through Watton after venturing out into the wind.

A couple of cracking Slime moulds Enteridium lycoperdon are just passing their best on dead pines just before the middle hide of D Res.

No sign of the drake Scaup on D early evening, though a drake Goosander was again present. A Barn Owl put in an appearance at North Marsh and a Corn Bunting was singing occasionally to the east of the river.

A relaxing start to the last long weekend for a couple of weeks.

Another new species for Tophill Low NR

2011-03-29T23:15:00.004+01:00

One over exposed from me, one under-exposed from Doug Fairweather - but both are of the same Diurnea fagella I pulled out of one of the traps on Saturday morning. The latest new moth for the site. Doug got to the identification before me so credit goes to him. Fair to say, the moth trapping season has started rather well.

Made a dusk visit to Tophill tonight to look at the gulls. Once again failed to pick up a Med Gull, one or two of which have been reported in recent weeks. I must be losing my touch! The drake Scaup of the last few days remains on D Res and a drake Goosander roosted in the gloom.

Despite the coolish weather, a Piperstrelle spp was hawking the car park and a bat spp - sized in between Pip and Noctule, was flying along the edge of the res in front of the car park hide. It didn't have big ears so I can rule 4 species out but I'm rather stuck to what it was. Not my speciality bats in the gloom.

Pink Punksters hit Howden

2011-03-29T22:47:00.003+01:00

Leaving the office is often the highlight of the working day. After the odd flyover in recent years, nice to finally see some Waxwings in a tree on the way to the car park. Sixteen birds on Station Road in Howden above the zebra crossing at 5pm made my walk to the car more cheery than usual.

Yesterday added Corn Bunting to my Howden list (I must add it up sometime). Considering this species was singing and viewable from my usual car parking space, I assume this species was accounted for when the environmental assessment was carried out before the car park was given the go ahead!!! Or whether the office bod who carried it out from textbook learning went 'Good nice and easy - Great Crested Newt - they can be relocated!'

Still waiting to account for some flyover Common Cranes... so close to the Lower Derwent Valley sometime during an outing to the shop I'm going to account for a flyover. Will have to be the case now I can see little sky from the window!

Going back to Sunday, headed out to Faxfleet to take advantage of the first day of Birding Summer Time. Ten Marsh Harriers made their way from Whitton Sands in the Humber/Trent/Ouse complex and on down the Trent east of Blacktoft Sands. Nothing else of note which was rather disappointing, especially as all the Harriers appeared to drift west on the south side of the viewing area.

Also, after last week's Badger, fresh road kill was spotted on Monday morning just north of North Cave. Albeit dead, 2 in a couple of days, a good distance apart, suggests I might see a few during my late-night drives home.

BST

2011-03-27T02:50:00.002+01:00

BIRDING SUMMER TIME is here. I guess the season's new game now properly begins.

Time to enjoy!

100 moths in March...

2011-03-27T00:55:00.007Z

The 3 bright lights set at Tophill Low NR attracted, despite the cold overnight temperatures, a good number of moths on Friday night/Saturday morning.

A shame we missed out due to work commitments of the working week, when warm nights were in the offing, but here are the totals - pulled out order, rather than the 'how you are supposed to do it order' I believe it is called Lepidoptera with a smile!

1 Engrailed, 5 Lead-Coloured Drab, 1 Red Chestnut, 11 Small Quaker, 12 Common Quaker, 7 Twin-spot Quaker, 35 Clouded Drab,46 Hebrew Character, 2 Satellite, 7 Chestnut.

Some of the pics from the traps...

Twin-spot Quaker

The Satellite (Tophill tick for me... I hide my head in embarrassment!)

Common Quaker

This one... Caloptilia stigmatella is probably new for the list. Doug Fairweather lucky enough to get some pics during the specimen's stationary moments!

Birding wise it was pretty quiet. Other than 17 Brambling on the feeders, the regular Pintail and Whooper Swan, and the usual Buzzards the birding fitted in with the day of dullness weatherwise. Bit of a downer to have heard a couple of Common Cranes flew over just before arrival mid-morning, while a Scaup and a Med Gull didn't provide enough of a distraction from tea drinking late on and fungi discussion.

The benefits of the shifts from Hell

2011-03-25T22:42:00.002Z

Whatever the delights of the shift patterns on offer at work... I always try and find some enjoyment from doing them. They always allow for some time in the field. Not really worked the dreaded late shifts for a few years now but several times a week I'll be whizzing around the East Yorkshire countryside in the small hours.

Two tours this week turned up Badger, first one I've seen live since the last time I was on prolonged shifts of doom a few years back. Plenty of deer have been encountered in the headlights and numerous Barn Owls and Tawny Owls have made the drive more interesting. Add this little lot to seeing Red Kites and Buzzards daily, Goshawk was on the wing at one of the well known sites in the week per Neil Hart, Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies then I don't actually have to go birding with my bins to enjoy life.

Also lots of moths on the wing, rather hard to ID at 60mph!!! Shame there is a chill in the air tonight, will deplete the moths coming to light at Tophill Low NR as I type! Though it is cloudy, so we'll have to see in the morning.

Migrants returning

2011-03-20T00:06:00.006Z

Game on... first summer migrants. Having had singing Chiffchaffs on the way into Howden from the staff car park at work for the last 3 mornings, at long last some true summer migrants on offer on Saturday at Tophill Low NR reserve... several Sand Martins and a couple of Little Ringed Plovers on Watton Nature Reserve. Cold days are almost over... but despite the nice sunny day I'm working on another 34 days before my notebook gets busy with birds, moths and dragonflies. And that is me being honestly optimistic!

Moth trapping... well it is still early. After a cold night the usual numbers and species was expected with only Dotted Border, Hebrew Character, Clouded and Lead-coloured Drab (a Tophill mega - 3rd record) attracted to the lights.

Have to say as moths go, this is a pretty drab photo! Lead-coloured (bottom) and Clouded (above)

Hebrew Character is slightly brighter

Despite being out for a while, some smart Scarlet Elf-cups can still be viewed. A selection of some of the specimens on show.

One of my favourite birds is the Shoveler. I've never worked out why. Always real quiet apart from when they display to the females with a display of foul language... the calls have to be worded 'Shit, shit, shit' Having read, go out and listen... it does sound like that is what they call!!! Must be the thought of the commitment of spring!

This male was less than placid... seeing off others

Despite what folk say, you can still see Barn Owls in East Yorkshire. I've not really struggled to see any during the winter, though that is perhaps due to time in the field rather than sitting in, thinking the worst!!!

Flicking through blogs, and there are many, noticed today the arrival of the 2011 intake of old and new Farne Islands wardens. It was 1995 when I left Seahouses Harbour to spend 9 months living on an island... click on the Farne Island Blog to follow the life until December. I'm envious, wish I could go back.

The swinger's pool

2011-03-14T21:25:00.007Z

With a splat, splat, and occasional plop into the pool for some fun, this lot announce themselves with a 'ribbit, ribbit'. These are creatures on a mission. A little light rain and this lot are mad for it.

The direction is water, though I'm not sure why they jump out and bounce around croaking to their pals.

The water is surely the best place to enjoy all the fun...

The one above left the pool to join me in the garage... I'm sure it croaked 'Great night! Can of Fosters mate? No dramas!'

A lot of fun to watch... hours of entertainment with the Common Frog. Makes the soaps look rather tame!

A day of two seasons

2011-03-13T20:58:00.004Z

The morning started grey. A trip to a wood on the Wolds in search of drumming woodpeckers proved to be totally fruitless in the relentless drizzle. Not a single species encountered so a bit of a disaster!

Brightened up in the afternoon so I trundled to the new hide overlooking Watton Nature Reserve in search of a Smew or two to photograph. Only one was present and decided to stay just out of range for a semi-decent photograph.

The best are here...

A Mute Swan flying in off Watton Carrs proved to be the only other photo.

Incidentally, c200 swans were sat in the fields north of Leven Airfield on the Carr land. Several of the birds appeared to be Whoopers but at a distance of maybe 3kms, balancing my scope on a fence post, it was difficult to work out exactly how many Mutes and Whoopers where in the flock.

Knocking on the door of spring

2011-03-12T22:31:00.007Z

The recent trend for Saturday's is for it to be grey and rather cold. Things are improving as today was grey, with occasional bright spells and mild, albeit when sheltered from the breeze.

Unfortunately, unlike other parts of Yorkshire, we didn't manage to get a first summer migrant at Tophill Low NR, but one or two other nice bits and pieces were on offer.

First stop for me was North Marsh to catch up with Tony McLean. Couple of Little Grebes fishing in front of an otherwise quiet hide allowed for a couple of images.

A good sized Grass Snake was on offer, taking to the water for a tour of an island.

A Buzzard spent a while bloggin around the area and some displaying Sparrowhawks put on a nice display to each other.

No doubt Tony managed some more cracking photos! Click here for some nice piccies.

At least one of the Smew remains on WNR and Pochards seem to know what time of the year it is! Plenty of them displaying to admiring females.

Highlight on WNR were the Roe Deer. This one sticking around long enough for a photo.

The best of the rest involved a few Woodcock and Doug Fairweather knocked off our opening butterfly of the year - a Peacock. The moth traps held a Lead-coloured Drab. Not the most inspiring but the second site record I believe.

Winks away

2011-03-09T22:28:00.002Z

The delightful sound of proper geese was the highlight on Saturday. Wandering around Beverley town centre had several small groups of Pink Footed Geese and one large flock heading north, about 200 in all by 11am.

Spend the afternoon at Tophill Low NR. Another grey Saturday. The Smew remained and 4 Goosanders were on D throughout the afternoon. Two Pink-feet flew west with a probable White-fronted Goose.

Soon to be busy Saturday's now... might as well make the most of the quiet times!

Drab times...

2011-02-27T00:27:00.006Z

Eventually made it out to Tophill Low NR, however my appearance was some time later than many others. Grey and dark was the theme for the week, and despite Thursday being glorious, a quick look out the window in the early hours, when the rain was hammering down, suggested I'd be best off turning off the alarm clock.

Despite the forecast, the moth traps were out. All I know from experience is that now we are in Clouded Drab season... and the species is drab... dull... and not really worth getting up to see! Moth, or potential moth enthusiasts, be warned... this is dull moth trapping. In birding terms... tis a bit like day ticking a Dunnock!!!

Check out the the warden's blog for news on what was caught, and all the other Tophill news. My recent posts make it sound like nothing turns up... but put in the time and with a bit of luck, who knows what might appear in view!!!

On the birding front, a '1st winter' female Scaup was on D res, though elusive once eyes where taken off it, as the bird was diving with regularity when observed and rather awkward to see well. However, there does seem to be an increase in Aythya... so Ring-necked Duck is my next prediction within the fortnight! A single Smew was at WNR as was a drake Pintail, but the flock of Egyptian Geese had moved on.

The gull roost featured nothing of interest other than Common Gull and Black-headed Gull. Only 5000 birds, another season almost over, and despite being addicted to looking through the roost when I'm not at work (and when weather allows) I won't miss cold evenings and regular disappointments. After one Glauc and one Iceland, and knowing the history, I have a few months to contemplate retiring... after 11 winters of sitting in the car park hide or middle hide overlooking D res, as the temperatures start to rise in the spring, I can't imagine how cold another winter could be!

Another dull evening at the gull roost

2011-02-20T22:39:00.002Z

Title just about sums it up! Highlight of the day was finding a packet of Viennese Whirls in the Spar in Cranswick that had two extra free! Excellent time was had munching on them and drinking tea in middle hide overlooking D res at Tophill Low NR.

The birds! Well maybe 16000 gulls roosted, 3 Lesser Black-backs hardly worth the 2.5 hours spent looking through them. A drake Pintail and 5 Goosanders made up the rest and fortunately it got dark.

Hope for a better times to come!