A Couple Of Hours Escapism.

My couple of hours of escapism on Thursday started at Conder Pool - well where else! - which was pretty much deserted, save up to three visits by the Kingfisher, quite fidgety and moving from it's perch, to the sluice, then to the pontoon where it spent a while before moving on again. 

I didn't even get around to counting the Little Grebe on Conder Pool today, and moved on to Glasson to view the estuary, where the returning vanguard of waders to note were, 220 Curlew, 65 Black-tailed Godwit, and 34 Golden Plover, also a contingent of up to 450 Greylag. Amongst c.400 Black-headed Gull, I found 9 Mediterranean Gull, all were adult save one 2nd winter. 

On Jeremy Lane, the farmer was in a field with his tractor spreading slurry, he was attended by at least 3,000 Black-headed Gull, amongst which I found another 7 Mediterranean Gull. At Cockersand I had only the time to walk from the Lighthouse Cottage to Plover Scar, but was rewarded by finding 2 Wheatear.  

Crossbills.

Crossbill Male. Simon Hawtin.

Following my fortune to find Crossbill at Birk Bank 25 September, I dug out my list of sightings to find I have had just eight over the years. With the exception of one all have been in Bowland, this was 28 years ago in Cumbria and was the most interesting encounter with Crossbills of them all. Below is an account of what created the interest....  

In the late-spring to mid-summer period of 1997 there was an exceptional influx of Crossbills into the North West Regions of Wales/Cheshire/Lancashire/Cumbria and including the Isle of Man, and a total of 1,340 birds were seen at 43 different sites. During this period some long staying Crossbills were at Helsington Barrows near Kendal in Cumbria where John Leedal and I visited on a few occasions, one of which held up to a spectacular 50 Crossbills. John took several photographs over the visits and some of the results developed into something of much interest to us.

Crossbill Female. Ana Minguez.

Eventually I was in touch with an expert in the field and made some comments in an initial letter which read something like...'Through his photographs John Leedal and I have realised the presence of a male individual which displays it's odd distinctly yellowish feathers. In one picture this bird is perched next to a female Crossbill which gives the opportunity to compare and appreciate the greyish-green upperparts of this male, but the main features noted were the distinct yellow crown and mantle, the vent was also distinctly yellow and notably lacking in notches'....

Although 1st winter males are variable in plumage detail, this Crossbill was in due course featured in an annual report in which it was referred to as a possible xanthachroistic male seen on five visits to Helsington Barrows showing yellow feathering around the body, with some hint of red, with the exception of the mantle, back and upperwings which are coloured as female.  

Over the years I've come to appreciate some adult males can resemble females as opposed to being mainly reddish, whilst others appear distinctly orange in tone. Even 14 years on in 2011, this Crossbill at Helsington Barrows in 1997 remains intriguing to me.

Thanks to Simon and Ana for their much appreciated images.

Last Chance Saloon!

My last visit to the bog at Birk Bank on 5 September, brought me to remark that I reckoned it would be the last of the dragonflies to be seen there this year....Well what do you know, I was wrong about that, because my visit there on Thursday produced 4 species of 26 dragons.

Common Darter Birk Bank Bog. Pete Woodruff.

A total of 16 Common Darter were seen, including 5 pairs in tandem.

Black Darter Pairing Birk Bank Bog. Pete Woodruff.

Also 7 Black Darter which were seen as 2 pairs in tandem and 3 male. Two Migrant Hawker flew quite rapid through and over the bog, too rapid for me to be able to rule out Common Hawker being the habitat of an acidic bog in late September.

Common Hawker. Copy Permitted.

Best sighting of the day was the male Emperor Dragonfly still here. This record beats my last years sighting on 19 September by 6 days. 

Two notes to make here re the Emperor records....

1) 'Date is outside the known fight period of Anax imperator'....iRecords 

2) 'Emperors become scarce by early September'....The Dragonflies of Lancashire and North Merseyside. Published in 2015.....How things change in a decade. 

Crossbill.

After getting my fill of dragons, on a wander along the path to Ottergear Bridge and return, it wasn't long before I discovered what an excellent decision I had made.

I was no more than 400 metres from Ottergear Bridge, when I was met by the amazing sight of a male Crossbill. The bird was taking a drink from the run-off in stony area in the centre of this picture. 

But my excitement was short lived as the bird soon took to flight and I discovered it was accompanied by a second bird which I hadn't seen. An educated guess is, that it was an olive/grey female, camouflaged on the ground amongst the grass.

In 35 years when my association with the Forest of Bowland was taking off, I have never seen nor expected to find the Crossbill at Birk Bank/Clougha, and to be honest I know of no records from here either, so this surely has to be a first.

Thanks to Simon Hawtin for his excellent image of the stunning male Crossbill.

And Finally.

Even with just a remote interest in Odonata, I recommend you take a look at Marc Heath's Kent Dragonflies.

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly Marc Heath  

The Show Goes On.

After an unplanned leave of absence from birding for 13 days, it was good to get back out on Monday to catch up with a few things I've been missing recently, but now the show goes on....

On Conder Pool I found 3 Curlew Sandpiper in a mix of 16 Greenshank and a few Redshank, also 10 Little Grebe and 15 Canada Geese, whilst at least 10 Long-tailed Tit passed in procession through the bushes, and a Kestrel hovered overhead for the unsuspecting vole no doubt. But the big surprise was an adult Whooper Swan, although the surprise was lessened when I remembered seeing this bird on the Lune Estuary at Glasson on 9 July.

On my way to Cockersand, I stopped off at Clarkson's Farm to find c.120 Black-headed Gull accompanied by an adult Mediterranean Gull, this bird was marked with a white darvic ring, frustratingly too distant to read, but based on the colour, the best I could come up with, was ringed in the near continent perhaps. Also seen around a small flood in the same field, a Ruff, up to 6 Golden Polver and a similar number of Ringed Polver.

The traditional Cockersand circuit started with a surprise just beyond Bank House Farm, when I counted at least 40 Tree Sparrow. I've not been seeing many Tree Sparrow here the past 2 years, in fact I saw just 2 on 7 April this year, previous to that, I recorded 16 on 16 October 2023. Worth noting the Tree Sparrow is Red Listed, with a BTO report showing a significant decline across the country.

Further into the walk, I found another encouraging sight, that of 100+Linnet. Although the arrival of wintering geese has been noted, it was a bit of a surprise to find just 3 Pink-footed Geese in a field off Slack Lane, from where I heard a Skylark burst briefly into song.

Clouded Yellow Cockersand. Pete Woodruff. 

Butterflies on the day were a pleasing 4 Clouded Yellow, 2 Red Admiral, 2 Speckled Wood, and a Silver Y moth.

Large White Chrysalis. Pete Woodruff.

As I walked along the side of Lighthouse Cottage, I spotted about a dozen chrysalis 'glued' to the whitewashed wall, a bit of searching had me find they were Large White butterfly.

Wheatear 21 September. Pete Woodruff.  

On Sunday, a pleasant walk along Morecambe Promenade at Sandylands, was made all the more pleasant with 3 Wheatear seen along the sea defences.

The Header.

Struggling to find a suitable pik of my own for the header, I remembered Ian's stunning Merveille du Jour, and....Bingo!    

All Things Bright And Beautiful!

I've been off the road and side-lined since my last outing on Tuesday 9 September, with tomorrow being my next chance, that's going to be a 12 day break from birding. Over this period and a little before it, our recording area and beyond has produced some impressive records, some of which are first or peak counts taken from the LDBWS and FBC WhatsApp groups....I've not catalogued them in date order.

Glossy Ibis Conder Pool. Paul Ellis.

Conder Pool has claimed two 1st records and peak counts, with 39 Greenshank and 19 Ruff recently on Conder Pool, also 2 Glossy Ibis put in a first time appearance here. The Little Stint previously posted on B2B, is also included in this list of Conder Pool records.

Curlew Sandpiper Conder Green. Gary Coulburn.

Curlew Sandpiper have been appearing in good number - some in double figures - at several locations including Conder Pool and on the Fylde, where a staggering 57 Buzzard were over Preesall in a vis mig watch. Another staggering record, was that of 24 Yellow Wagtail seen in the Bank End area. Even more amazing about this record, was that a Kestrel on a fence post was surrounded by the spectacle of these wagtails. 

Three Black Tern were on Conder Pool, and a Black Tern was reported flying downstream on the Lune Estuary, and multiple sightings of Hobby have been seen at Conder Green and through Conder Pool.

7 of 29 Mediterranean Gulls Conder Pool 26 June. Pete Woodruff.

Away from the Lune Estuary, two spectacular records were made, 216 Little Egret were noted going to roost at an undisclosed site, and 208 Mediterranean Gull were recorded at Heysham where Grey Phalarope was seen, also seen off the Stone Jetty at Morecambe, and two at Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve.

Last But Certainly Not Least.

If I'm going to draw up a list of amazing events in and around our area, this one has to be included.

Sabine's Gull Off Star Gate Blackpool. Ashley Cooper.

Along with many other seabirds during the recent stormy weather, this juvenile Sabine's Gull flew through Ashley's viewfinder to give him the perfect opportunity to capture it on film. 

My header image is of the same Sabine's Gull, and for me is the photograph of the year....Thanks Ashley, much appreciated. Thanks also to Paul Ellis and Gary Coulburn for the use of their excellent images, they too are much appreciated.

All Things Birds Bright And Beautiful!

And Now For Something A Little Different!

Lune Estuary.

By way of a change, I decided on a different viewpoint to observe the incoming tide on the Lune Estuary, and went to the embankment above the picnic site at Conder Green. This was a first for me, I always view the same stretch on the river from the bowling green at Glasson Dock, but both these locations have plus and minus points, some you win, some you loose.

Until the tide gained height, most of the waders were out of view below the marsh, but once the tide reached the marsh they were out in the open, though then the smaller birds were in the long grass.

On the shoreline I managed to see 4 Greenshank, 6 Black-tailed Godwit, a Ruff, Whimbrel, and Common Sandpiper. Then driven on to the marsh by the tide, a Curlew Sandpiper and Snipe. Overhead a Sparrowhawk, a Buzzard was briefly attacked by a Kestrel, and 3 Migrant Hawker were patrolling the trees.

When I left the area, there was little dry land for the waders to escape to. The group pictured in my header were hanging on in at high tide.

Birk Bank Bog.

Black Darter male. Pete Woodruff.

Thinking it could well be my last chance for the dragons, and the day being at least decent weather-wise, I decided to give Birk Bank a return visit where I found 6 Black Darter, 5 male and a female.

Black Darter female. Pete Woodruff.

Eleven Common Darter were seen as 6 male and 5 female. It was good to find the male Emperor Dragonfly again, still patrolling and checking out the vegetation by the boardwalk.

Common Darter. Pete Woodruff.

I reckon these are the last of the dragons at Birk Bank Bog in '25. 

Guillemot Inner M'cbe Bay.

Scaup Off Broadway 17 January. Pete Woodruff.

 

I met Steve Edmundson at Birk Bank, he reminded me we had met earlier in the year at Morecambe when we were watching the female Scaup off Broadway. Steve told me of a Guillemot he'd seen off Teal Bay during the week. I told him he had been fortunate to find a scarce sea bird for this area of Morecambe Bay, he said he would send me a picture of the bird.

Guillemot Teal Bay 9 September. Steve Edmundson.

Thank you Steve, much appreciated.

Swifts.

When I found the quite amazing record of 60 Swift on passage through Borrowdale in the Lake District on Thursday 11 September, I thought it was a sighting worthy of mention. Even more amazing when I read they were observed over a 2 hour period flying north, which is in the opposite direction of their wintering grounds in Africa. Only a minority of Swifts would still be in Europe during September....Sixty Swift flying north in Northern England in mid-September doesn't sound like a minority in Europe.

Tuesday 2 Sept - Friday 5 Sept.

Not as much action on Conder Pool as my last visit 28 August, but impressive all the same, and didn't loose any ratings in the Hot Spot League as far as I'm concerned. 

I had been at Conder Pool about an hour, and had got back to the motor to move on, when AC knocked on the windscreen to tell me the Spotted Redshank had flown in and joined the company of 10 Greenshank....Thanks Andrew.

Also to note on the pool, 8 Little Grebe and a lone Black-tailed Godwit. I'm convinced this is the same BTG as seen here in previous years, and always alone. A Common Sandpiper was in the creeks.

Within the space of about 15 minutes, a Marsh Harrier, Peregrine Falcon and Buzzard were overhead, along with a good number of hirundine, high like dots in the sky.

Thirty minutes on the canal towpath at Glasson produced 2 Migrant Hawker and 2 Brown Hawker, and along the coastal path 4 Migrant Hawker, with a 'blue butterfly' seen. This was a disappointing sighting in that it was too distant for ID to species, so I was left with a possible third brood Holly Blue, or second brood Common Blue which can last until early September. Other butterflies seen, Painted Lady, 5 Red Admiral, 5 Speckled Wood, and 3 Small Tortoiseshell.

Migrant Hawker.

Migrant Hawker 2 September. Pete Woodruff.

I find the Migrant Hawker one of the easier dragons to observe, their behaviour is often to be seen hovering frequently, hawking along hedgerows, and regularly basking low down on vegetation as mine was today.

Conder Pool Friday 5 September.

I paid my second visit of the week to Conder Pool where the scenery was much changed and reduced in numbers of birds, though I was delighted to find my highest all time count upgraded by the presence of 32 Greenshank on the pool. The only other records of note were, 10 Little Grebe and a lone Ruff.

Birk Bank Friday 5 September.

My visit the bog at Birk Bank was suitably rewarded by recording 14 dragons in the hour spent here. Pick of the bunch was 2 Emperor Dragonfly which were something of a surprise, though I did find two here last year 19 September 2024....Late! 

Black Darter Birk Bank 5 September. Pete Woodruff.

Also seen, 5 Black Darter were all males, and 7 Common Darter were seen as 5 male/2 female. I had two sightings of Buzzard, both of which were seen as two pairs 10 minutes apart, but to be honest I reckon it was just the one 'mewing' pair seen twice.  

Garden Moth.

Seeing what appeared to be a moth through the kitchen window, I dashed out to find it was the most obliging of its kind, giving good views as it lingered a few minutes nectaring on Soapwort.

Hummingbird Hawk-moth

In the header image, we can see the 'Keep Britain Tidy' man with the strimmer at Saltcote Pond has done the right thing this year, leaving the pond side vegetation to flourish, in which case it seems my conversation last year with Glasson Councilors has paid off. 

Conder Pool & Birk Bank.

Conder Pool 27 August.

Having landed at least two first records this week - four in my book - Conder Pool has earned the recognition of one of Lancashire's birding hot spots. This weeks header for B2B bears testament to that claim with a grand total of 46 Little Egret, seen on Conder Pool early Wednesday morning as an all time best count. On the same day, a Little Stint was on Conder Pool.

Little Stint Conder Pool. Tom Parkinson.

The second of four first records in my book at least, I don't recall a Little Stint on Conder Pool before.

Wednesday was a good day, and 31 Greenshank was certainly an all time best count here, and represents first record No 3....All this and more, whilst I was waiting to get my motor fixed 😝

Conder Pool 28 August.

I put in a couple of hours on Thursday to join Mark, a birder I respect, and who is as keen and dedicated as anyone I know for accuracy of the count. During my stay, Mark probably counted through the species a dozen times to come up with a result of 19 Ruff....Yet another all time best count No 4 for Conder Pool. 

There's a Black-tailed Godwit in the video, it thinks it's a Ruff!

Green Sandpiper Conder Pool 28 August. Pete Woodruff.

Other notes on Conder Pool for the little black book, a Green Sandpiper, was seen in pursuit around the pool of a Common Sandpiper, 420 Redshank were accompanied by 22 Greenshank, 4 Snipe, and 15 Little Grebe.

As soon as I set the camera for a video, the Green Sandpiper shot off and disappeared behind an island.

A Whimbrel was in the creeks and was another first in my book at Conder Green. As with the Little Stint on Conder Pool, I don't recall seeing a Whimbrel in the creeks before.

Birk Bank 25 August.

I connected with just three species of dragonflies today, but observed some interesting behavior. Five Keeled Skimmer were seen as two pairs in tandem and a lone female, all the females were noted to be 'old'. It was interesting that a male never let the female out of its sight, following its every move, and hovering around the female whilst she was egg laying and seeing off any other dragon that approached it.

Five Black Darter were seen as 2 pairs in tandem and a lone male. It was fascinating to watch the pair thrashing quite violently whilst egg laying.

The third species seen were 6 Common Darter, they were all males.

And Finally.

More pictures from my inbox....

  

Small Red-eyed Damselfly. Martin Jump.

Martin continues with his luck to find the Small Red-eyed Damselfly, and to achieve excellent results in his images.

Wasp With Green Bottle Prey. Martin Jump.

It's a one word comment here from me....WOW!

Red Admiral. Ian Mitchell.

Buff Ermine. Ian Mitchell.

Ian progresses with his success of butterflies and moths in flight.

Small Tortoiseshell. Pete Woodruff.

And we continue to get some nice butterflies and bumblebees in the garden.

Red-tailed Bumblebee. Pete Woodruff.

Around The Estuary And A Trip Down The A6.

For starters, there was some bird behaviour to be see on my latest visit to Cockersand, nothing too surprising, but interesting just the same.

This silo is situated at Bank House Farm at Cockersand, and as I set off on the circuit, it came into view to reveal up to 60 Swallow. These birds took me by surprise, in that they were obviously feeding on the wing inside the silo, they kept appearing over the rim before dropping back inside. Something of a spectacle when 60 birds were up and down like a yoyos in and out of the silo.

When I returned 2 hours later, having walked along the headland to reach the spot again, in a similar number, Swallows were in the field behind the silo, this time they were feeding low and over Yarrow.

 

For a bird with a mammoth task ahead of it, opportunism at its best I thought, and a flight of c.8,000 to reach the continent of Africa after 6 weeks of virtually non-stop flying....Knocks y'er socks off dun'it!

The Cockersand Circuit.

Truth is, I'd been plodding along for an hour and had seen nothing of note, then all of a sudden 2 Wheatear dropped onto the kissing gate by the abbey. This was followed by another spell of nothingness, until I reached Bank House Farm again to make another check of the area. Well blow me over, there are 2 Yellow Wagtail on the rim of the 'Swallow Silo'.

Painted Lady Cockersand 20 August. Pete Woodruff.

A personally poor year for butterflies continues, though today I raised it to 'moderate', seeing up to 100 'whites' including 3 Green-veined White, 12 Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Red Admiral, a Painted Lady, Speckled Wood, and a Silver Y moth.

Conder Pool.

I was rewarded with my best - and probably everyone elses - all time count of 27 Greenshank on Conder Pool, with 13 Little Grebe counted.

Little Ringed Plover Juvenile Conder Pool 20 August. Pete Woodruff.

Also a juvenile Little Ringed Plover present, and 2 Wigeon were both female and the vanguards of things to come.

Also present, 2 Ruff and 4 Snipe....Not all in the video.

A Trip Down The A6.

Nine years ago on 13 September 2016, I made the same trip down the A6 to Heversham Moss, to see the same two species of birds at the same place as I did this time. That day I saw 2 Wood Sandpiper a Pectoral Sandpiper, a Green Sandpiper, and 22 Ruff.

Wood Sandpiper. Antonio Puigg.

On Fridays visit, I saw a Wood Sandpiper, 20 Ruff, up to 12 Pied Wagtail, and at one point a Sparrowhawk put up all and sundry from the flood, and eventually made one attack at Swallows before being lost to view.

With time on my hands and whilst in the area, I called at Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve and went to the Eric Morecambe Hide. Not the best time of day for birding from this hide if the sun is shining brightly in your face.

Putting in a bit of effort, I estimated the silhouettes to be at least 260 Black-tailed Godwit, 60 Redshank, 8 Knot, 5 Avocet, 5 Snipe, 3 Ruff, and 2 Dunlin. On the inner marsh, 2 Great White Egret and 18 Little Egret.

Migrant Hawker. Pete Woodruff.

Along the path to the hide, a male Migrant Hawker and 5 Speckled Wood, 2 Red Admiral, and a Small Tortoiseshell. 

And Finally.

With favourable weather, there have been opportunities to find and photograph some insects in the garden, particularly on the Alium.

Hoverfly Syrphus sp and Honey Bee. Pete Woodruff.

Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius Pete Woodruff.

Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum Pete Woodruff.

Comings And Goings At CP And Some Other Bits!

On my last visit to Conder Pool in the week, the comings were represented by 17 Greenshank accompanied by 14 Redshank, and building up to look more like winter numbers, were 12 Little Grebe.

The goings were represented by the last of the Common Tern, with a youngster being fed small fry by the adult like there's no tomorrow, it was fishing the creeks at high tide.

Avocet Juvenile. Howard Stockdale.

The last of the Avocet, the juvenile flagged C6 was accompanied by an adult, and the last of the Little Ringed Plover which put in an appearance just as I was about to leave, and showed close in as I filmed a clip of a Ruff.

As far as I'm aware, the last sighting of the lone surviving juvenile Little Ringed Plover, was in the creeks on Wednesday 13 August. Many thanks to Howard Stockdale for his unfailing updates for me on things Conder Pool related.

Other notes from the pool were, 24 Lapwing and a similar number of Pied Wagtail which included juveniles, some of which will no doubt be from underneath the tern platform where the wagtails bred this and in previous years. A lone Common Sandpiper was seen, and a Buzzard overhead was briefly attacked by a Common Tern. From the viewing screen I saw 4 Brown Hawker and a Migrant Hawker past, also 4 Gatekeeper.

A short 15 minute walk from Glasson Dock along the canal towpath, a Brown Hawker and Gatekeeper noted. And at Saltcote Pond, just 4 Common Blue Damselfly, 4 Small Tortoiseshell and a Peacock.

Thanks and congrat's to Howard Stockdale for his fourth header image in as many weeks.

Grisedale Brook.

Golden Ringed Dragonfly Male Grisedale Brook. Pete Woodruff.

In the end, Fridays dragonfly hunt wasn't to be called riveting stuff, but I was keen to see what the situation was downstream on Grisedale Brook to Holme Wood. After a pleasant hour spent, I had to be satisfied with just 3 Golden-ringed Dragonfly and a Common Hawker.

Common Darter Male Grisedale Brook. Pete Woodruff.

I also found 2 Common Darter, and having never seen these here before, they were a species first for me.

Hawthornthwaite Fell/Catshaw Pond.

The visit to Hawthornthwaite was a bit of a non-starter, apart from anything else it was chat'less and therefore - the chat fanatic that I am - very disappointing. But throughout the hour spent here, I did see what could only be described as mid-autumn movement, when a total of at least 30 Meadow Pipit, including 10 as a flock, exploded out of the heather. Otherwise, a Buzzard was seen soaring high overhead. 

Hawthornthwaite Fell Viewed From Catshaw Pond. Pete Woodruff.

For the sake of recording, I christened this small waterbody Catshaw Pond, perhaps it will stick! It has hosted Emperor Dragonfly for the past two years, but I didn't see the Emperor this time, although AC recorded it here last Wednesday 13 August.

Black Darter Birk Bank Bog 13 August. Barbara Southward.

This is Britain's smallest dragonfly, and I reckon the 2 Black Darter seen today, were no more than 30mm in overall length, and were my first for the site.

Thanks to Barbara Southward for permission to publish on B2B this excellent image.

And Finally.

I can't resist ending this post with a splash of glorious technicolour in our garden.

 In full bloom, the stunning Dahlia....Sincerity Rose

Dragons, Butterflies, Raptors And A Couple Of Caterpillars.

An enjoyable wander on a circuit of Fairfield NR Monday afternoon. A well designed and managed reserve with ponds and scrapes to explore, deserving of congratulations to all involved. 

One of the good points about the reserve, is that most of the ponds and scrapes are inaccessible. Obviously a good point, in that it's designed to keep Joe Blogs from trespassing in the area....Well it kept me away!

Emperor Dragonfly. Pete Woodruff.

Dragonflies.

But the first pond I found was called Alder Pool, appropriately named as there was a lone Alder to the north of it. Viewable over a fence through a gap in the hedge, and where I found an Emperor Dragonfly pair, with the male patrolling the pond, and the female eventually ovipositing.

Common Darter. Pete Woodruff.

Also seen were 6 Common Darter, seen as five male but included a female coming close to settle on a twig for a picture. Leaving the reserve, I walked along a short stretch of the canal to find 3 Brown Hawker including a female ovipositing, also a Blue-tailed Damselfly seen.

Common Darter. Pete Woodruff.

I soon rejoined the reserve at the east end, to find another 4 Brown Hawker and 8 Common Darter, these were all seen basking on the fence line.

Raptors.

As I was leaving the reserve, a Buzzard was overhead being mobbed by a Sparrowhawk, an excellent sighting for size comparison and a soaring Buzzard with the flap-flap-glide flight of the hawk.

Butterflies.

Give the perfect weather conditions today and in the near future, my butterfly records continue to be sparse, with just 4 Speckled Wood, a Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell seen in 3 hours here today.

Caterpillars.

I spotted two on the grit track just a couple of metres apart.

Red Admiral Butterfly. Pete Woodruff.

White Ermine Moth. Pete Woodruff.

Garden Butterflies.

Peacock. Pete Woodruff.

Two stunning Peacock were in our garden yesterday with a Red Admiral....

Comma. Pete Woodruff.

....and the Comma - also stunning - in our garden recently was memorable.