2009 A Review of my year.

Looking back at last year's efforts in the birding world,i managed to get myself a total of 4 lifer's and also 4 additions to the ever growing Linc's list.My lifer's were in the form of the superb Glaucous-winged Gull in Teeside,with Black Grouse nearby,a long trek to the south east for the Crested Lark at Dunge and finally the Collared Pratincole at Frampton Marsh.In Linc's it all started with the stonking Alpine Swift at Barton,then the Terek Sandpiper at Gib,with the aforementioned Collared Prat at Frampton and finally the icing on the cake,the drake King Eider at the Witham Mouth.The best find for myself was very early in the year and came in the form of a superb juv. Rough-legged Buzzard on the local patch,sadly only being seen on the one day.The autumn migration never really got going,unlike the previous year,but i still managed another gorgeous Red-flanked Bluetail,this time at Spurn.On the insect front,it was again a very good year for Hairy D at Messingham,with good numbers of Damselfly's also,with the Variable's still breeding in good numbers at their northern outpost in the county at Susworth.Later in the season a personal record count of 32 Common Hawker at Crowle was impressive!.There was a small influx of migrant species,which didn't penetrate the north of the county sadly.On the butterfly front,the best record for me personally,was my finding of a single male Dark-green Fritillary which was holding territory along a drainage ditch at Worlaby and was watched chasing away the local species.He was far from at his best,but still managed to fly ok,no doubt wandering from strong populations in Derbyshire or Yorkshire.Also a big feature of the year,was the large spring invasion of Painted Ladies,which seemed to go on forever and where encountered at every site i visited,with the species hanging on into November and also a good breeding season for 2 of the County's special species namely Large Heath and Grayling.So,all in all not a bad year,lets see how species fair this year and see what the winds bring!.Note the above selection of photos from the year featuring Duke of Burgundy,Hairy Dragonfly,Common Hawker,Ruddy Darter,Dark-green Fritillary and last but not least Common Lizard.