Aklborough Flats......

Looking towards Whitton Sand and Yorkshire in the distance.

Nice 'Big' skies when i arrived.

Orb Spider - Araneus diadematus.

Male Common-blue Butterfly.

Male Common Darter.

A change of scenery and my first proper day out birding for a while,saw me heading for this superb area.I had really come to visit with migrating waders in mind and a few species were seen which included at least 8 Greenshank 'Tew tewing' around the reserve,2 Green and a couple of Common Sand and a fairly large flock of a couple of hundred Black-tailed Godwit.Also present was a nice flock of Avocet,which made for a superb sight as they flew when disturbed by a passing raptor and masses of Teal around the reserve with smaller numbers of Shoveler and Mallard.Raptors put on a great show,with the best being a cracking juv. male Peregrine,which mobbed a Common Buzzard at close range to were i was stood on the hillside overlooking the reserve.He later switched his attentions to a flock of Carrion Crow in a dead tree,knocking one off its perch,superb to watch!.2 'Special' birds were seen today,i say special,but they are expected nowadays at this time of year,a couple of Spoonbill.They were feeding when i first saw them in the morning from the hillside,but later they were doing what Spoonbills do best,sleeping.It's only just across the way,were i saw my first Spoonbill at Blacktoft Sands RSPB,back in 1988.Also from the 'Heron' family was a Bittern,seen on 3 occasions in flight,an unexpected bonus.A few insects were seen today around the reserve and Odonata seen,included male Emperor Dragonfly,Migrant Hawker,Ruddy and Common Darter and Common-blue Damselfly,with a few butterflies seen including male Common-blue,Speckled Wood,Green-veined White,Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock.An interesting sighting was a number of shrimps/Prawns watched in one of the tidal dykes and after a bit of searching at home in one of my books,they were identified as Paleomonetes varians,a species which occurs in Esturine habitats and brackish water,sometimes with very low salinity,so would make sense why they are surviving here so well.The only mammal of note was a single Brown Hare and evidence of plenty of Badger activity around the reserve also.A good day with a change of scenery,soon it will be back to the carrs for raptors and owls again.

Tranmire and Fen Bog's,Saturday 11th August.

Wheeldale Moor.

Some of the local girls.

Female Antler Moth.

Male Golden-ringed Dragonfly.

Sericomyia silentis.

An all day out today with Dave,saw us visiting a couple of sites on the beautiful North Yorkshire Moors,resulting in a great days wildlife watching and enjoying the cracking scenery.The first site we visited was Tranmire bogs and the adjacent Wheeldale Moor and this site provided us with some great sightings.Very few birds were seen here,apart from a couple of hunting Sparrowhawks,a single juvvie Grey Wagtail,a couple of lovely Curlew,as they called over the moorland scenery and a Great-spotted Woodie calling in the nearby forest.So it was left to insects,with the highlights being provided by singles of Common Hawker and Black Darter from the world of Dragonflies and a few nice moths in the form of a mating pair of Antler Moths and a lovely Barred Red and lots of the stunning Sericomyia silentis,one of Britains largest Hoverflies.Several bogland plants were found,which included Bog Asphodel and Round-leaved Sundew.A shocking find,was a Fen trap set on a pole crossing one of the many moorland streams,the days of barbaric pastimes still havn't gone!.A chance find on the way to Fen Bog,was a cracking little site near to Bumble Wood and Wheeldale Gills,were a moorland stream had created a ford.Here we managed to find 4 cracking Golden-ringed Dragonfly,3 males and a female.The males were watched sparring,with 1 particular male chasing the other 2 males away from his territory and later chasing the ovipositing female,what great pieces of behaviour to experience with such a stunning species.Also seen here was a Dipper,zooming along the stream,a great sight.So it was off to Fen Bog and after a well earned Icecream,we began to search this superb site.Unfortunately the weather deteriorated and became more cloudy,but we still managed to find a couple of Black Darter,including an exuviae,4 Keeled Skimmer and at least 4 Dark-green Frits,my first of the year.Other nice sightings here included a female Adder,a tiny Common Lizard,3 male Bog-bush Cricket,Tachina grossa,Chrysotoxum bicinctum and a good mixture of Moorland plants,which included Heath-spotted Orchid,Round-leaved Sundew and Butterwort.A few birds were seen here which included,a single Crossbill,a couple of Redpoll and breeding Whinchats.What a great day today with all the great sightings and fantastic scenery and a big thanks to Dave for driving.

Rimac bits and North Cotes high tide highlights....

Female Common Lizard.

Sundown over Northcotes.

Rainbow over Horseshoe Point.

Small-elephant Hawkmoth larva.

Another full day out today enjoying the hobby,saw me firstly heading for Rimac,part of the superb Saltfleetby And Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR and later,Horseshoe Point and North Cotes for the high tide.Highlights from the avian world at Rimac,came in the form of a 'Reeling' Grasshopper Warbler,singing away while i was searching for dragonflies in the large freshwater marsh and a Little-ringed Plover calling as it passed overhead,with little else being seen.Insects were the main focus here,with the best being,4 Essex Skipper and a Small-elephant Hawkmoth Caterpillar,only my second ever sighting of this species.The Essex Skippers were found nectaring on an area of Knapweed,one of the species favoured nectar sources and i think i would have located more individuals if it hadn't been for the gusty south westerly wind.The Small-elephant was found feeding on its foodplant,Lady's Bedstraw and as i previously mentioned,this was only my second time i had observed the species.Other wildlife sightings included a few spikes of Marsh Helleborine still in flower and quite a lot of Pyramidal Orchids showing nicely.I also managed to find a single Clouded Border Moth,a stunning species.So after a nice visit to this great place,i made my way over to Horseshoe Point and North Cotes.After meeting up with the Grimsby lads,we made our way out to the high tide to search through the masses of roosting gulls,terns and waders.We managed to find some great birds over the next three and a half hours,which included 3 Med Gulls(1st calendar year,3rd calendar year and adult),which gave great views and particularly enjoyed watching the juv,a very nice bird!.In amongst the gulls,were at least 400 Common Tern,70 Sandwich Tern and 4 Arctic Skua were watched harassing the gulls and terns offshore,with a hand full of Gannets also being seen.Raptors featured well also,with singles of Hobby,Merlin,Peregrine and Marsh Harrier,watched hunting the huge marsh at Grainthorpe,but the main focus was on the sea and beach and we returned to watching the huge flocks of summer plumaged Knot,Bar-tailed Godwit,Grey Plover,Dunlin,Turnstone and Sanderling,the Grey Plover being particularly appealing.Other niceties included 6 Whimbrel,2 Green Sand,Greenshank and singles of Barn and Little Owl.