Dragons....And Some Other Interest.

I was off to Birk Bank on Friday, to find the barrier down and the traditional notice posted to let us know gunslingers were out and about. 

Ignoring the notice, I went under the barrier and on to the track to the bog to try to establish the state of play on the dragonfly front heading towards the end of August. To be honest, I thought perhaps the Four-spotted Chaser and Golden-ringed Dragonfly would be things of the past for another year, though last year I found one of the latter here on the very same date as this visit on 26 August, quite late for this species.

Keeled Skimmer Male. Pete Woodruff.

Today, I was pleased to find 2 Keeled Skimmer male, one of which I noted as a bright pruinose individual, this brought about the comment from a contact, of a feeling we now have a healthy population established at Birk Bank.

Black Darter Male/Female. Pete Woodruff.

The darters don't make accurate counting easy, they were most obliging coming to rest on the boardwalk during the time spent there, so for the several sightings of the species, my records read 'at least', 4 Black Darter male and a female. Also seen, 8 Common Darter male, and a female.

  

Common Darter Male. Pete Woodruff.

Other Interest.

One of the reliably seen Common Lizard was at rest on the boardwalk at Birk Bank, it barely moved for a couple of hours until it eventually disappeared.

Common Lizard. Pete Woodruff.

Mesembrina meridian. Pete Woodruff.

Easily recognised by its black body and yellow wing bases, I thought the Noon Fly was a cool looking creature basking on the boardwalk.

 
Harmonia axyridis. Pete Woodruff.

In the garden yesterday and initially had me guessing, Harlequin Ladybird larva.

Conder Pool 2022.

I'm not at liberty to publish numbers of breeding at Conder Pool, but I'm aware of excellent results for the Common Tern, by far the best year ever. Also successes for waders, Avocet, Little Ringed Plover, and Redshank.

Kittewake. Howard Stockdale.

There has also recently been some excellent goodies on and around the pool, with this Kittewake juvenile in the creeks 21 August, to follow 3 Black Tern juvenile 19 August, all preceded by the Temminck's Stint just sneaking in at the end of July to keep birders from near and far very happy for a few days during early August....Conder Pool Rules OK!     

Back In Business!

I rarely if ever plan to be out of birding for four days in a row, but it's been that long since I was out last Thursday, so it was good to be back in business again yesterday.

Common Sandpiper. Pete Woodruff.

Conder Green produced a peak count of 21 Common Sandpiper, with ten birds together in view on one island on Conder Pool....'clik the pik' to count them. A solitary Knot still retaining it's red summer plumage was a nice find, it was with 54 Redshank and 2 Dunlin. The resident summer Wigeon and a Little Egret were also noted.

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock, 2 Mediterranean Gull were seen as an adult and a 2nd summer bird, also 9 Little Egret, and up to 500 Lapwing slowly building up to looking like winter numbers.

At Cockersands, up to 100 Golden Plover and 3 Black-tailed Godwit were in an Abbey Farm field, 7 Whimbrel flew past Plover Scar which was deserted, but 9 Eider were off here. On Slack Lane, 12 Goldfinch briefly seen were mainly juvenile, 3 Whitethroat, and a Dunnock, with a House Martin over. Butterflies seen were 3 Red Admiral, a 'few' Meadow Brown and Small Tortoiseshell. Eight Brown Hare were all in the same field. 

The Conder Pool Common Terns.

Young Common Tern With Redshank July 14 Pete Woodruff

I saw 4 Common Tern - two adult and two young - on Conder Pool yesterday, but despite two visits, failed to see the third young bird. I was beginning to feel uncomfortable about this, but a text message told me all five birds were in the air together 30 minutes after I left....thanks once again to AC for alerting me to this. 

And Finally....

Harlequin Ladybirds. Pete Woodruff.

Wildlife in our garden again recently, 2 Harlequin Ladybird seen mating as a now widespread if not abundant and unwelcome invader.

Garden Wildlife.

I found a Harlequin Ladybird in our garden last week though there's no cause for too much excitement in the discovery. 

Harlequin Ladybird. Pete Woodruff.

There are a few variants of Harlequin Ladybird, my individual above was of the black with red spots H.axyridis spectabilis form, they have been declared the UK’s fastest invading species after reaching almost every corner of the country in just a decade.

These cannibalistic Harlequins were first realised to have reached the UK in 2004 when they were seen in Essex and have since spread as far afield as the tip of Cornwall and the Shetland Islands, making it the fastest alien invasion of the UK on record, and predictions to colonise the country quickly as the worlds most invasive Ladybird have proved to be correct. 

The Harlequin is also believed to be responsible for the decline of at least seven species of native Ladybirds including the popular two-spot which had declined by up to 44% in a survey carried out in 2012.

Common Frog. Pete Woodruff.

No such fame as the Harlequin Ladybird, but two Common Frog have taken up residence in our greenhouse, and we are currently having nightly visits to our garden by two Hedgehog, they have a particular liking for cat food and meal-worms and are a joy to watch as they munch away at their supper.

Red Admiral Marc Heath 

And the most notable butterfly species in our garden this year has been two Red Admiral last Friday. Thanks to Marc for his excellent image. 

I'd sooner be birding!....

And that's what I'm off to do right now. I've seen two reports - one Saturday, one Sunday - of only two young Common Tern being seen on Conder Pool since I saw them there last Friday, hopefully this may just mean the other one was simply keeping it's head down, but I'm not happy about all this until I see for myself within the next thirty minutes.