Thursday, 27 April 2023

The Cattle Egret That Wasn't!

This image was posted on Birds2blog yesterday, along with a claim that it was of 2 Cattle Egret at the east end of Moss Lane. The result of a distant photograph, and not given the attention to my birding required to maintain the status of my being amongst the best. In fact it's a Cattle Egret accompanied by a Little Egret.

To be honest and blunt, I made a complete balls of this record, but the truth is, I'm not too proud to admit an error....ever!

.................................................................

Red-tailed Bumblebee on Verbena Bonariensis. Pete Woodruff.

There has been a good number of Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius on the Berberis in our garden in recent days, all queens and my favourite bumblebee. We have also had 3 Brimstone and an Orange Tip in the garden.

Large Red Damselfly. Ian Mitchell.
 
It was good that Ian Mitchell had seen the female Large Red Damselfly at Foulshaw yesterday. A sure sign that some excellent days of Odonata are on the way.

Thanks to Ian Mitchell for the images, especially the Spotted Redshank in the creeks at Conder Green....Stunning image of a stunning bird.

at

4 comments:

  1. Ian Mitchell27 April 2023 at 20:50

    Fair play to you to admit your Egret error, what a shame they were not both Cattle Egret.

    Disappointed that I have not seen any butterflies in my garden yet but the Orange Tips seem to be flying, I saw 2 at Warton Crag on Sunday and several Peacocks at Foulshaw yesterday. Saw a male Brimstone at my daughter's house on Heysham Road a couple of weeks ago and recorded on iRecord.

    Thanks for the updates.

    All the best - Ian

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pete Woodruff27 April 2023 at 21:31

    Thanks for this Ian, and thanks again for your excellent header image of the Spotted Redshank at Conder Green, a bird I have been hoping to catch up with but have failed to do so yet since its return here recently.

    Regards....Pete.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Richard Pegler28 April 2023 at 11:45

    I am sure that the Egret ID was a miatake that was easily made, Pete, and my admiration for your skills is in no way diminished!

    I too have seen my first damselflies and am pleased to say that they were from our garden mini-pond. I'd not been looking because of the cold wet weather but noticed on Wednesday that a fresh, but dead, Large Red Damselfly was floating on the water. It seems, from the exuviae found, that I'd missed the emergence of eleven specimens, some of which were alive and still present. Things then went downhill when our resident Robin found them and polished off the lot. Another emerged yesterday and the Robin got that too. Not sure if there's anything I can do about that.

    Best wishes - - - Richard

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pete Woodruff28 April 2023 at 12:02

    Thanks for the positive comment re the botched sighting Richard. Sad tale about the loss of your damselflies. Who killed cock Robin in reverse, nature in the raw.

    Regards....Pete.

    ReplyDelete