Warbler Double Tick......

A trip out today to the home county resulted in Chris and myself landing a couple of lifers in the form of Savi's Warbler and Iberian Chiffchaff.The Savi's was present at Old Moor RSPB reserve near to Barnsley and was dissapointingly only seen very briefly,but the main thing for me was to hear it singing,a very distinct lower pitched song compared to the higher pitched song of Grasshopper Warbler.The bird was inhabiting a reed filled ditch and was sadly difficult to observe.After this good start we travelled the relatively short distance to Potteric,to pay our visit to the Iberian Chiffchaff which we heard before we saw it.At first the bird showed distantly feeding in a Hawthorn hedge and some Oak trees,but eventually came close,being seen down to about 50 feet,singing its little head off,the song being very different to our native Chiffie,the bird was in heavy moult,but looked if anything,more Willow Warbler like with the distinct paler lower mandible to the bill and paler looking legs.After enjoying superb views of this bird we started to explore the rest of this superb reserve,seeing several Orange Tip,six species of Dragonfly(Which included 11 Broad-bodied Chaser),Wasp Beetle and several Forest Bug nymphs,with some nice plants also seen which included Herb Robert and Herb Bennet,two nice woodland plants.A fantastic day out!!.

MSQ...

A visit today to Messingham while Trace was at work,got me some nice sightings over the four hours i was on site,the best of which was 2 1st summer Hobbies watched hawking dragonflies over the car park,giving superb views of their aerial prowess as they caught the damsels and devoured them on the wing,great stuff!!.There was also fairly good numbers of butterflies about,with 11 species recorded,the most common being Brimstone with 7 seen.I also managed to find myself another new species of micro moth,this one being Crambus lathioniellus a species which occurs in grassland.I also managed to find a lovely male White Ermine,see photograph.A lovely few hours in the gorgeous weather again!.

A great day for Butterflies....

A day out with Dave today surveying butterflies in the south of the County got us a great list which included an impressive total of 18 species,with the commonest butterfly of the day being Dingy Skipper.We enjoyed some great oppertunities to photograph some of the rarer species,see above photo's.Also seen today where several day-flying moth species which included Silver-ground Carpet,Common Heath,Latticed Heath,Mother Shipton and Burnet Companion.A great day out in some cracking weather at last!.

Crowle/Thorne Moors NNR.

A visit to this fantastic area today resulted in some great sightings,the best of which was a brilliant count of 10 Hobby watched hawking dragonflies over the moorland,giving excellent views of this species aerial mastery,superb stuff!!.Also seen in this area was,1 Common Tern,female Marsh Harrier,2 Common Buzzard and my first Turtle Dove of the year.Insect highlights included 2 stunning hoverfly species Chrysotoxum cautum and Sericomyia lappona.Mammal sightings included 3 Brown Hare and 1 Fox and Reptiles where represented by 1 Grass Snake(My first at this site) and 3 Common Lizard.

A great day out in some nice weather.

Oriental Beauty....

An early morning visit to Frampton Marsh RSPB reserve in the deep south of the county today to pay homage to Britain's 5th and Lincolnshire's first Oriental Pratincole.The bird was observed feeding on one of the many scrapes and also seen in flight on 3 occasions giving superb views of this elegant,tern-like wader,what a beauty and a real prize for the visiting birders that have travelled to see it.Also seen at this superb reserve,were a gorgeous summer plumaged Curlew Sandpiper feeding with a flock of Dunlin,2 1st summer Little Gulls,a lovely  drake Garganey watched feeding near to the visitor centre and this coupled with excellent views of breeding Avocets,Little-ringed Plovers,summer plumaged Grey Plovers,a female Ruff and nesting Common Terns made for fantastic viewing!.Also seen where the closest Brown Hare's i have ever seen,with two almost in the hide!.
 On the way home after this brilliant start to the day i decided to drop in at Kirkby Moor LWTR,seeing several goodies here also,which included 2 Woodlark,a couple of Common Buzzard,male Adder,Grass Snake and Sloworm.

A great day out with another mega wader seen in the County.

River Eau And MSQ.

A trip out today with Dave firstly to Susworth and then to MSQ,got us a few nice highlights despite the cold,mostly cloudy weather again.The best bird of the day was a 1st summer Whooper Swan in a cereal field at Susworth with 7 Mute Swans.I am guessing this bird hasn't moved due to the cold spring weather or the fact that it's breeding grounds are probably buried under 3 foot of volcanic ash by now!.The only other sightings of note here where several Green-veined White.

 So onto Messingham,where the best sightings were my first Hairy Dragonfly's of the new season and a disappointing 3 species of butterfly which included 4 Orange Tip's,a new species of beetle for myself(Oulema melanopus,see above photo),a species of leaf beetle which feeds on grasses and sometimes cereal crops.We also managed to find several moths which included a couple of Mother Shipton,Common Carpet and a new species of Micro moth for myself(Ancylis badiana,see above photo).Not a bad day,but it was somewhat spoilt by the news from Frampton of the Oriental Pratincole,i just couldn't bring myself to drive all that way through Sunday traffic,oh well it might stay.

Windy Mess And Dot....

A visit again to my favourite spring/summer haunt today in blustery,freezing conditions(4 degrees c when i arrived),resulted in not too many highlights being seen apart from a single Arctic Tern which was seen off by the local Common's and flew off towards Holme lakes.More of the usual fare consisted of 6 Garden Warbler,4 Common Buzzard,male Cuckoo and a single Pink-footed Goose,which was on the sheep fields.
 Insect sightings today where a little thin on the ground to say the least but i still managed to find a nice female Dasysyrphus tricinctus and a new species of micro moth for myself-Pseudococcyx posticana.Butterflies where poorly represented also with only 4 Speckled Wood being seen.
 After this i went home and went out grocery shopping with Trace when i got a text from Mr Drinkall saying he had found a single female Dotterel on Bonby Top,so i went to have a look,quickly dropping her indoors at home!.The bird was quite distant and in heat haze and a gale force wind,but they are always nice to see and when they are on your doorstep,you can't say no!.

A decent few hours,but i am hoping for some warm weather soon.

N.East Linc's....

After hearing that the Great-grey Shrike had been seen again yesterday in the Tetney area,i made the stupid last minute descision to go and look for it,after my planned trip to Crowle/Thorne was aborted due to the crap forecast!.
 So after wandering around checking every hedgerow,bush and fencepost in the area it was to no avail,i bet it was hiding somwhere,tucked up in a nice warm hawthorn keeping out of the gale force easterly laughing at me!.But all was not lost,i managed to see a few decent birds,the best of which was a flock of 30 Arctic Tern flying over my head from the land and out to sea,heading north at a rapid rate of knots(No pun intended),as i got near to the car at Humberston Fitties.Other birds seen included my first Greenshank and Whimbrel of the year,a single female Marsh Harrier(South),2 Common Sandpiper and a male Wheatear.

 Not a bad few hours,i have had worse!.