Trip to Equador - 2003

  I have no idea what any of these moths are, if you know let me know!   Obviously the first pic is no moth but a tarantula sp, we nearly ran over it - it was crossing the road and  was as big as my hand.
 

Monty about?

Message came through this morning that a Montagues Harrier was seen at Blacktoft Sands RSPB reserve so we shot off to Alkborough to see if it had drifted over the Trent to the flats but alas the only thing new was a Holly Blue butterfly.

Alkborough Flats

A foggy start soon gave way to a beautiful sunny morning down on the flats.  As soon as we opened the car door a singing Corn Bunting could be heard - a first for me at Alkborough - it was up on the top road between Alkborough and West Halton.  The view over the flats always seems most impressive when the sun is out so we stayed to scan over the flats from the hillside before going down on to the flats themselves.  Altogether we saw the following; 1 Buzzard, 112 Pink Footed Geese (on Whitton Sands which is a very late record for this species), 2 Whimbrel, 2 Spotted Redshank, 1 Little Egret, 1 Wheatear - on Sunday we had 3 Wheatear, 1 Ruff, 1 Little Gull and 1 Woodsandpiper.

Corn Bunting

Bolton Abbey - Pied Flys and Redstarts with a few flowers

Wood dog violet

Each year on our wedding anniversary it seems to have become tradition that we go somewhere to see Pied Flycatchers and Redstarts and so with that in mind yesterday on our 10th anniversary we went to Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire.  The birds did not disappoint (if only Wayne had taken his big lens!) the flowers were magnificent (good job I took my little lens!) and the scenery stunning (good job Wayne took his wide angle lens!).

Bird Highlights - 8 Pied Flys, 3 Redstarts, 2 Woodcock, 2 Mandarin Duck, 4 Dippers watched a pair making nest, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Raven, 3 Goosanders, Grey Wagtails, 1 Redkite (Harewood), 1 Hen Harrier (Grassington Moor)

Bluebell
Great wood-rush
Wood Anemone
Water AvensWood-sorrel
Fern sp
Wood sorrel
Primrose
Sweet Cicely
Bird no-shows - Wood Warbler!

Good day for butterflies

Speckled Wood

Wayne not at work today so we decided to do the rounds looking for migrants but first two really good finds only a stones throw from Normanby (but I shalln't say where) - breeding Marsh Harrier and breeding Grey Heron a good start to the day!  Rest of the days' highlights as follows;

Burton Brick Pits - Grasshopper Warbler, Willow Tit, Lesser Whitethroat

Alkborough Village - Male Nuthatch feeding female at nest site

Alkborough Flats - 2 Little Egret, 2 Greenshank

Twigmoor - 3 Buzzards

MSQ - nothing much! however did see Speckled Wood, Orange Tip and Brimstone butterflies.

On arriving home we had a welcoming committee in the front garden - see above photo!

Normanby Park and garden nest box update

CherryBlossom
Cuckoo Flower
Rhododendron
Camelia
Have been confined to barracks for a while with bad back and dodgy legs so with tentative steps this morning I had a stroll in the park.  It is a glorious  morning and the spring shrubs and flowers are in full bloom.  The 2 Nuthatch nests look complete but I fear our third pair may have to come to grief - a male is calling as if his life depends on it but no female is in sight.  I think it is the pair that has been in our garden most of the winter as we now only have a male visiting the feeder and he is also calling in our garden.
On the way home had a mini raptor 'thermal' above the village comprising of 3 Kestrels and 2 Sparrowhawks - it looks like a good raptor day so will keep looking up in hope of the Red Kite which has been seen in the area twice in the last 2 weeks.
So in the garden we have Tree Sparrows nesting in 3 boxes, Blue Tits in 1, Great Tits in 1 maybe 2 and Dunnocks in the ivy at the bottom of the garden.  We also have a male Smooth Newt displaying in the pond but yet to see a female.

Bee and Beetle id - help required

Whilst out at the weekend we came across two insects species which we need help to identify.  The beetle was found at Risby Warren which is sandy heathland (my guess is Violet ground beetle) and the bee was found on the slope between Whitton and Alkborough - if you know their identity it would be great if you would leave a comment.

Easter Migrants

9/4 - Decided to kick the easter weekend off with a full count at Messingham Sand Quarries to see if we could get some new spring migrants.  It was a miserable day weather wise so spent much of the time sheltering in the hide however we still managed to get a total of 81 different species including a record count for the reserve  of 10 Avocets.  Scanning the sheep field at the back of the reserve gave us our first Yellow Wagtails of the year but alas no Wheatears.

11/4 - Off to Barton this morning where we picked up quite a few new migrants including Grasshopper Warbler, Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler, whilst on the river we found 14 Common Scotters.  On the way to Barton a quick stop  at Bagmoor gave us our first Whitethroat of the spring.  The Grasshopper Warbler was the earliest ever record for the Scunthorpe Bird recording area beating the previous record by two days.

12/4 - An hour on Risby Warren this afternoon to look for a reported Ring Ouzel and Black Redstart.  We had excellent views of the male Ring Ouzel but no sign of the Redstart however a Red Kite more than made up for it.  We also had our first Cuckoo of the spring and upto 12 Wheatears.

Alkborough Flats - Spotted Redshank

Quiet on the flats this morning but in amongst the Redshank was this Spotted Redshank.

The last of Namibia

Over the years we have taken many thousands of photos but this photo is my overall favourite - unfortunately Wayne took it not me!  it is a Southern Masked Weaver - remember to click on the photo to see it at its best.

Spotted Thick-kneeSteenbok

Sociable Weaver at nest

Secretary Bird in Etosha NP
Scopion sp found next to my foot!

Ruppells Korhaan

Rosy Faced LovebirdsPython sp in Mahango NP
Terrible photo  but star bird of the holiday - Pels Fishing OwlOstrich chicks