Caspian Tern

A new Britist tick for me this afternoon with a Caspian Tern on Trent Falls just off Alkborough, very distant so heavily cropped photos!

The return of Ivy Broomrape!

We thought we had lost these in the garden but suddenly two spikes appeared

Orchids and Burnets

I had a walk round our local pond yesterday The Blue Lagoon and was amazed at the amount of wildlife.  Top of the list but no photos were at least three Emperor Dragonflies hawking round the lake and hunting around the brambles.  Bird wise a pair of Great Crested Grebes were carrying chicks on their backs and Little Grebes have also bred. I counted 20 spikes of Marsh Orchids which was a surprise, I have seen Bee Orchids earlier in the summer also  and another surprise was a small colony of Five-spot Burnet moths.  Lots of Buff-tailed Bumblebees and Common Carders also feeding on the grassy bank. Here's a few snaps

Lesser Stitchwort

Five-Spot Burnet

Marsh Orchid

Cinnabar Caterpillars another increasingly rare sight

Centaury

Lady's Bedstraw

Red Soldier beetle on Ragwort

Lesser Stitchwort

This site also holds Grayling Butterflies a nationally scarce species!

Tallinn

Not often we head for the city but pleased we did this time, Tallinn is a beautiful medieval old city with some fabulous architecture...

Lady's Slipper Orchids

We timed our visit to Estonia just right with fantastic weather and more importantly the orchids were at their best with the Lady's Slipper Orchids in pristine condition.

Great Reed Warbler

Great Reed Warbler

A Great Reed Warbler found locally today represents only the 2nd record for North Lincolnshire.  The bird showed fairly well at times but rather distant and into the light so photos not the best.

Estonia's Orchids

Just back from four days spent looking at orchids and in particular The Lady’s Slipper Orchid, something we had wanted to do since our first visit to Estonia a few years ago.  Here’s the first of many images, Wayne's to follow shortly which no doubt will be much better!  We flew to the capital Tallinn picked up a car and drove straight to the port of Virtsu where we took the ferry to Muhu and then drove over the causeway to the Island of Saaremaa.  We spent 3 nights at the Loona Manor Guesthouse in the Vidumae Nature Reserve, I would highly recommend this, a beautiful place where we had in the garden alone; Wryneck, Icterine Warbler, Red-backed Shrike, Cuckoo, Spotted Flycatcher, Wheatear, Garden Warbler, Thrush Nightingale and Common Cranes flying over, not that we were looking at birds we were there for orchids!