Barton and MSQ,24.06.2012.

Bee Orchid.

Common Broomrape.

Pyramidal Orchid.

Male Common-blue Butterfly.

Fox and Cubs.

After the early morning rain had cleared away,i decided to firstly visit Barton and then move onto Messingham Sand Quarries,this is what i saw.I had decided to visit Barton specifically to try and get some photos of the Bee and Pyramidal Orchids that grow there,the Bee Orchids were in really good numbers with at least 250 spikes,but i could only locate 3 spikes of Pyramidal unfortunately.A bonus here was also quite a few plants of Common Broomrape of which i also maaged some decent efforts with the camera.After enjoying this profusion of wildflowers i drove the short journey to Messingham to see what Dragons and insects could be found.Apart from the expected dragonflies here,a few other niceities were seen which included my first 2 Meadow Browns of the year,Small Copper,male Brimstone and the odd Speckled Wood.A few birds were seen which included a Common Buzzard mewing overhead as it passed over the plantation.Not a bad few hours in the mixed weather today,apart from the blustery wind it was an enjoyable day.

North Yorkshire 17.06.2012.

Fly Orchid.

Fly Orchid.

Degeer's Longhorn Moth.

Red-necked Footman.

Dingy Skipper.

Small pearl-bordered Fritillary.

With the prospect of adding a new Orchid species to our lists and also a species i had always wanted to see,Chris and myself headed to the forests in North Yorkshire.After meeting up with Allan and Jackie we headed to the first site for our target species.Unfortunately the walk to the site was fairly crap,with light drizzle,but things soon improved as we arrived at the destination.After about 15 minutes Allan shouted us over and there it was the stunning Fly Orchid.It soon became apparent that there wasn't just 1 or 2,but literally hundreds along this hillside meadow,with a guesstimate in the region of at least 500 spikes,an amazing sight!.Other species included Common-spotted Orchid and at least 100 spikes of Common Twayblade,this was certainly a special place.On the walk back to the car we enjoyed great views of a 2nd calendar year male Goshawk as it called and mobbed a passing Common Buzzard,a fantastic sight to see and we also had brief views of a Hobby.The next site we visited was nearby in the valley bottom and consisted of 1 small pond and a valley mire and stream and a larger lake.This area was small,but very productive with another new Orchid for myself,Northern-marsh.It was growing in pretty good numbers as well and another bog speciality Butterwort,was also well distributed over this site.Another brief view of what was probably the same Goshawk over the forest and several Siskin added some bird interest.Also seen here were 5 species of Odonata,which included masses of Common-blue Damselfly,lesser numbers of Large-red Damselfly,a single female Emperor,6 Four-spot Chaser and a stunning male Golden-ringed Dragonfly which i managed to catch to show the others.Today was turning out to be a special day!.Finally we visited another meadow area and added some stunning species to our already impressive list for the day and included a cracking moth species,Red-necked Footman!.It was found resting along the verge side in grass and i managed some great photos of this fairly rare and new species for us all.Another nice find here,was another moth species and was found in similar circumstances to the Red-necked Footman,a cracking Beautiful-golden Y,this species is fairly common,but makes up for it in looks.The final highlights of the day came in the form of a superb female Adder,single Dingy Skipper and at least 6 beautiful,Small pearl-bordered Fritillary,the Frits and Dingy being our first of the year and what a gorgeous butterfly the Frits are.So what a day and a big thank you to Allan and Jackie for showing us around these great sites today,it was brilliant!!.

East meets West.........

Brown-tail Moth larvae.

Long Bank,Spurn Point.

Six-spot Burnet Moth larvae.

Roller,by Andy Hood.

With the prospect of adding one of Europes most stunning birds to our lists,Dave and myself headed for Aldborough in East Yorkshire to look for the reported adult Roller that had been residing on the outskirts of this east yorkshire village and as we parked up,all the smiling faces indicated this beauty was still here.On first views,i was just struck by what a beautiful bird this species really is,particularly in flight when the striking combination of blue upperparts,deep blue primaries and secondaries and rusty mantle provided a superb spectacle.When first watching it looked surreal to see such a brightly coloured bird in the english landscape and it brought back memories of the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater which i had the privilege of seeing just up the road at Cowden in July 1989.It spent the majority of the time we watched it catching beetles on the ground,interspersed with visits to a wooden post and overhead telephone wires,but did go for one flight around its chosen field,when i likened the flight to a corvid.So with us enjoying our fill of this cracker,we decided to drive the short distance over to Spurn and spend the remainder of the day there.With no rarities reported here apart from a flyover Serin early on,we had a relaxed few hours seeing 3 Cuckoo which feasted on the Browntail larvae which covered the surrounding hawthorn and buckthorn bushes and as we sat enjoying a pleasant cuppa,Andy the warden let us know about a couple of Pectoral Sandpipers just up the road at Beacon Ponds,which had just been found.And 15 minutes later we were enjoying distant views of this pair of 'Yanks' as they slept and occasionally fed on the edge of the lagoons along with a mixed flock of other waders which included Grey Plover,Dunlin,Ringed Plover and a partially summer plumaged Curlew Sand which flew in and was a nice bonus.Also here we got great views of our most diminutive of terns,the Little Tern and they showed very nicely through the scope as they displayed,fed and bathed,lovely little birds and a pleasure to see and a great end to the day.Insects seen today included several Small Heath,Six-spot Burnet Moth larvae and the afore mentioned Brown Tail larvae.So what a great day out was had today,with one special highlight!.