Falco subbuteo..

A few hours on the patch again today in the same blustery conditions as experienced on Thursday,saw me getting superb views of a juv. Hobby sat in one of the many stubble fields that are now appearing since the harvesting began.I managed great views after hearing it calling as it mobbed a juv. Kestrel and later saw it again interacting with a couple of Kestrel's,great stuff!,it is always a treat to see these super little Falcon's and in recent years i have had the good fortune to encounter them regularly at this time of year on the patch.Other highlights of the raptor kind,included a good count of 21 Common Buzzard,2 Marsh Harrier(Juv and ad.Female),2 Sparrowhawk and 8 Kestrel.There were quite a few passerines about today which included 130 Linnet,90 Goldfinch,25 Meadow Pipit and a Willow Warbler.The only wader's observed were a flock of 9 Snipe.Again,a good few hours enjoyed on the patch!.

Flamboro'...

 After looking at the weather forecast and seeing a few reports on the net of seabirds on the move,we decided to go to Flamborough and have a look on the sea.After putting in 3 hours,their wasn't the expected displacement of birds,but we still managed to add Manx Shearwater,Arctic and Great Skua to the year list and enjoyed superb views of all the commoner species,which included lovely close views of Gannet's,Fulmar and Kittiwake's.Fulmar's are in my top five birds,really stunning as they just effortlessly glide around on the wind,brilliant stuff!.Also seen while watching the sea was a close fly by of an adult Perg,which are always great to see.After looking on the sea,we decided to walk down the Old Fall hedge to Old Fall plantation to see if any migrants had dropped in over night.On the way to the plantation we didn't come across any migrant passerines,but did have a flyover Greenshank.After a chance meeting with one of the local birders he told us that he had just had 1,probably 2 Icterine Warbler's and it wasn't long before we heard one alarm calling,with it's subtle 'Teck' contact call,but seeing it was a different matter,with us only getting brief views as it flew over us and fed in the canopy of a Sycamore.It was nice to hear it call,as i had only ever heard singing birds on spring migration,so was a good piece of experience for the future.Other migrants in this area were at least 10 Willow Warbler,2 Garden Warbler and a single Pied Flycatcher and we enjoyed fantastic views of a family party of Stonechat in the Bay Brambles area.Non bird sightings today comprised of 2 Common Porpoise and a  single Grey Seal on the sea and a couple of Migrant Hawker and Common Darter's around the Old Fall plantation.A nice day out again in the home county.

Patch Raptors...

A few hours around the local patch at Worlaby this afternoon,got me a respectable 5 species of raptor,with lovely views of 2 hunting adult male and juvenile Marsh Harrier and also great views of an immature Peregrine putting on an aerobatic show down at the river.The numbers of species where as follows:8 Common Buzzard,5 Marsh Harrier(2 adult male and 3 juv's),9 Kestrel,the afore mentioned Perg and a single Hobby.Other notable sightings included a single Swift at the river,2 Green Sandpiper in the Soak drain and a single Greenshank around the decoy ponds.A good few hours despite the wind and drizzle.

Semi-p at last and eastern mega!..

An all day effort at Alkborough finally paid off with me catching up with the Semi-palmated Sandpiper,albeit a bit distant,but you could still make out the birds salient features and different feeding action when compared to it's commoner congeners.This is the second record for the County the last being as long ago as 1966 at Wisbech sewage farm.It was first found on Wednesday evening by Neil Drinkall and is the same bird as what was seen at Blacktoft Sands on the 8th August and could also be the bird seen at Port Carlisle in Cumbria.Other birds seen during the visit here included 2 Hobby,2 immature Peregrine's,Wood Sandpiper,Merlin,2 juv. Whinchat and 6 Ruddy Shelduck.There was also a Fulvous-whistling Duck feeding with the local Mallard flock.
 While watching the Semi-p i had a timely phone call from Neil saying a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper had been found just over the river at Patrington Haven and asked if i wanted to go and of course i said yes,well who wouldn't!,so we made the journey to this site,a bit nervous,as would be expected when hoping to see a bird of this rarity and we finally arrived and dashed to the birds chosen roosting area.On arrival it was difficult to pick out as it was hidden behind several Knot and Dunlin,but then the waders all flew up and landed again and to our relief it was still there and in the open now giving decent views and a hell of a lot closer than the Semi-p.We then watched it for about 20 minutes more as it preened and walked about so we could note down it's id. features,such as the gingery crown and pale legs,what a cracking bird!!.It then flew off onto the estuary with a flock of Dunlin.The only other birds of note observed here,where a moulting adult Curlew Sandpiper and a single Green Sandpiper.So what a day,in the end i managed 21 species of wader through the day and 7 species of raptor at Alkborough,2 lifers and the second being totally unexpected,but that's the joy of the hobby,you just don't know what to expect next.

Suffolk Orthoptera....

Female Long-winged Conehead

Female Roesel's-bush Cricket

Male Roesel's-bush Cricket

A visit to Suffolk today to see Willow-emerald Damselfly,had us also seeing some interesting insects apart from the afore-mentioned Damsel's.The best of which was my second sighting of Long-winged Conehead,a lovely species of Cricket!.This species,as many of it's family,are slowly spreading north through the country,it is similar to it's close relative Short-winged Conehead,but this species has a longer,straighter Ovipositer and has black spines on the underside of the hind femora,as well as the males up-turned cerci.Another species observed today,was the very smart Roesel's-bush Cricket and was observed in good numbers in this grazing marsh habitat allowing some great photographic oppertunities.Also observed from the Orthoptera family were Meadow and Field Grasshoppers and Slender Groundhopper.A few notable birds where seen today at this site and included Greenshank,Green Sandpiper,Kingfisher and two flyover Honey Buzzards,which i missed while photographing the damsel's!.A great day out,despite the long drive.

The Moors.....

Female Adder.

Female Bog-bush Cricket.

A whole day to myself today,as Trace was at work all day,so i decided to visit Crowle Moor NNR,one of my favourite dragonfly sites.Bird wise,it was pretty quiet,but i did manage to record 6 Willow Tit,which is always encouraging,with this lovely little tit species declining in most areas.Insects where well represented,with several species of Shield-bugs,9 species of butterfly,which included 3 late Large Skipper and 6 species of Dragonfly,with 3 Bog-bush Cricket also seen.I didn't see any mammals on this visit,the first time for a long time,i havn't seen at least one Roe Deer,but there was plenty of signs of these and Red Deer along the many paths around the reserve.Highlight of the day,apart from the dragons,was a cracking female Adder watched basking along the side of one of the tracks and she gave superb,close views down to about 12 inches while i reeled off as many shots with the camera as i could without disturbing her.The only other reptile seen was 4 Common Lizard,this species being a bit thin on the ground at the sites i have visited this year.A great day out again at this brilliant site.

Horseshoe Point....

Approaching storm,Horseshoe Point

Approaching storm,Horseshoe Point

A visit to this area today and meet up with some of the Grimsby area members of the birdclub,saw us seeing some great birds over the 7 hours i was here.The most impressive sight was the collection of roosting Common,Arctic,Sandwich and Little Terns out on the beach here.They allowed great views,occasionally flushing,but soon settling again and i really enjoyed watching them coming down to bathe in one of the outflows to the sea,with several flocks flying up high and heading south west inland a very interesting piece of behaviour,with the flocks giving much calling as if to keep in touch with each other!.It was particularly nice to see some Little Terns at close range as well,gorgeous little birds!.Other highlights out on the tide edge included 50 Common Scoter and a juvenile Arctic Skua,the skua no doubt attracted by the feeding terns.Also in this area were at least 50 Grey Seals which gave great views and several Episyrphus balteatus watched flying in off the sea,amazing to think a hoverfly migrates!.The biggest surprise,was a queen Median Wasp which i found crawling about on the sand,just showing that this increasing colonist is still arriving here.On the saltmarsh the best birds included a single Wood Sandpiper,with its 'Yip yip' call,Spotted Redshank,6 Greenshank,adult Little Gull(Well done to Chris for picking this out!),several Whimbrel,a young male Peregrine and a single Med Gull feeding on a nearby harvested field with Black-headed Gulls.So all in all a very enjoyable visit,despite getting rained on a few times.

Gibralter Point.....

Common-blue Butterflies

Roosting Common-blue Butterfly

Female Short-winged Conehead

An early start today,to visit this cracking reserve,had me enjoying some great bird and wildlife sightings over the next seven and a half hours.To start with i visited Tennysons Sands to be greeted with an almost Mediterranean sight of 54 Little Egret and 5 Spoonbill all feeding together,talk about brilliant!,this coupled with Wood,Green and Common Sandpiper,breeding Avocet and Little-ringed Plover,made for an excellent showing from the avian world and what a start!.I then wandered up to Jackson's Marsh,seeing at least 20 or 30 roosting Common-blue Butterflies,Roesel's bush-Crickets calling away in the rank grassland here and more Little Egrets and Green Sandpiper.In Syke's Farm,there was plenty of young warblers,which included both Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers and also a lovely juvenile Garden Warbler,these are cracking birds,with their subtle colours.By this time it was getting hot and i walked back to the car to unload some gear and go and look for dragons and butterflies.The best area for the former,was the Mill pond,where i enjoyed excellent views of the increasing Small red-eyed Damselfly,male Emperor,Common and Ruddy Darter and Black-tailed Skimmer.Butterflies where widespread,with a couple of Essex Skipper,Wall and several Peacock.I managed,at last to get some good shots of Short-winged Conehead,with me finding a female in the middle of one of the many paths and she was a beauty!,there was also Lesser-marsh Grasshoppers everywhere and they seemed to be the commonest Grasshopper.Other sightings observed en-route,included a Little Owl sat on a roadside fence post near Ludborough and a Muntjac along the approach road to Gib.An excellent day out despite the travelling.

MSQ....

Brown Argus

Male Brimstone

My second visit in two days to this super reserve,didn't dissappoint,with some great sightings logged.Starting with birds,the best sighting went to 2 Spotted Flycatcher watched in the pine plantation,giving great views of this now scarce summer visitor.Also in the plantation were several juv Goldcrest, Coal Tit,Willow Tit,Chiffchaff,Blackcap and Treecreeper.A bonus while we were waiting for the Flycatchers,was a flyover Hobby,seen briefly as it passed over.Insects where in abundance today,with good numbers of Butterflies,which included my first Painted Lady of the year,20 Brown Argus,Holly Blue and 14 Peacock.Dragonflies where in good numbers also and were represented by 8 species,the commonest being the lovely Brown Hawker.Mammal sightings included a single Stoat and some positive signs of Otter,with some fresh spraints found and they do smell like Violets!.An excellent 4 hours on this brilliant reserve.