Cracking Kirkby........

Kirkby Moor LWTR.

Kirkby Moor LWTR.

Gorse Shieldbug,Moor Farm LWTR.

Comma,Moor Farm LWTR.

A trip out today with fellow birder and wildlife enthusiast Chris,saw us heading for the Kirkby-On-Bain area.The journey down looked like we had made a big mistake with thick fog all the way and when we arrived on site at the pits,but after a 2 hour wait it eventually began to clear.Avian highlights here consisted of 1 Little Egret,Kingfisher,3(very noisy)Egyptian Geese,3 Goldeneye and a couple of Chiffies.After we had a quick bite to eat,we made our way over to Kirkby Moor and at last the sun began to properly break through.We had made the journey primarily to see what reptiles we could see here,but it was fairly poor,with only a handfull of Common Lizard and 1 male Adder,but surprisingly today,no Grass Snakes!.I did manage to find a new species for Chris in the form of 3 Palmated Newt(1 male and 2 female) in one of the small ponds.These are a lovely,subtley coloured and marked species when compared to our other 2 native newts,but nice all the same.Insect highlights were provided by an unidentified white Butterfly,probably Small,1 Comma and 3 Peacock and several Bee Fly.Our last port of call was only just up the road at Moor Farm and by this time it was comfortably warm.A good mixture of sightings were enjoyed here and included a couple of mammals in the form of a single Fox and female Muntjac,both giving great views.Bird sightings included 2 Common Buzzard,at least 3 Green Woodies,drumming Great-spot woodie,10 Fieldfare and 3 Redwing,but it was again insects which featured here.Two species of shieldbug were recorded here and included 2 Gorse Shieldbug and a single Pied Shieldbug,the latter another new species for Chris.This site provided us with the most butterfly sightings of the day,with at least 5 Comma and 3 Peacock being seen.So all in all a great day was had again,with some nice varied habitats,weather and great company.