Last Chance Saloon!

Not quite the last chance saloon for Odonata, but heading in that direction with the exception of Migrant Hawker being a certainty, and a few others possible.

Golden-ringed Dragonfly Male. Pete Woodruff.

A visit to Birk Bank Bog had me thinking I had probably seen my last Keeled Skimmer for 2024, and having not seen one this time this is even more likely to be the case. But there was a pleasant surprise when 2 Golden-ringed Dragonfly came obligingly close to the boardwalk, also 4 Black Darter were seen as 3 male and a female, with 2 Common Darter male seen.

Southern Hawker Male. Pete Woodruff.

On the same day, I readily took up an invitation to take a tour round a garden in the Lune Valley, here I enjoyed the sight of 2 Southern Hawker patrolling the impressive pond here, a few Common Darter were also seen and included a pair in cop.

Common Hawker Female. Steve Graham.

But the best of the tour came when a female Common Hawker was found basking on Teasel, not surprisingly this was a first for the site.

Butterflies.

Butterflies paid a major part of the day which was good news given the dire situation with Lepidoptera this year.

In this garden and surrounding meadow, 21 Red Admiral, 16 Peacock, a Painted Lady and Comma were seen.

At Birk Bank, 6 Peacock, 3 Red Admiral, and a Small Copper were around the bog. But best was to come, when 4 Purple Hairstreak were in a small Oak at the top of the path from the bog.

In my book, the perfect end to a perfect day. Last Chance Saloon....Are you having a laugh!

Golden-ringed Dragonfly.

The surprise of 2 Golden-ringed Dragonfly found at Birk Bank on 31 August, appears to be the latest in a search through up to 100 records of the species in West Lancashire, and certainly none to be found in September.

The earliest record of Golden-ringed Dragonfly in Lancashire, is of one found 37 years ago on the River Lune at Halton 28 May 1987, this record was regarded at the time as a site outside the range of Golden-ringed Dragonfly. Records show the species numbers peaking in July, before fading away in late August.

Wrong Time Wrong Day....Again!

My third visit in three weeks to Birk Bank, proved conclusively that I'm out of luck when it comes to getting it right regarding the weather. 

Leaving home on Thursday, I was encouraged with some sun and the hope of improvement as the day progressed, but little more than 15 minutes later, on arrival at Birk Bank the grey clouds rolled in, and the wind was no better than chilly. I reckoned I was on a loser again, and with no improvement in the weather, for the whole time spent here I was proved right.

The yellow flowers of the Bog Asphodel have now turned to their orange fruiting colour.

Birk Bank Bog 20 July. Pete Woodruff.

I paid two visits three hours apart to the bog, and given the poor conditions, considered myself fortunate to find one male Keeled Skimmer, a male Common Darter, and the surprising bonus of a Golden-ringed Dragonfly. 

One Keeled Skimmer is the total over the three visits here, and I can only assume the weather conditions are responsible, blistering heat for three weeks, followed by wet and windy for three more weeks, can't be good news for Odonata.

Although Birk Bank didn't look anything like it should do on 20 July, I made a three hour trek around the area. Three Stonechat were seen as a lone female and later on the west side of Ottergear Bridge a pair. A Jay was something of a surprise, 2 Buzzard and 3 Raven were overhead, and a hovering Kestrel were as good as it got. 

On the day before I was at Birk Bank, Ian Mitchell had better luck than me, when he found Purple Hairstreak again in the Oaks by Ottergear Bridge. 

Purple Hairstreak Birk Bank 19 July. Ian Mitchell.

Wherever there are Oak, the Purple Hairstreak can be found mainly in the canopy. In some areas in the south, even one Oak tree can support a colony, though they can be easily be overlooked when searching for their food source of honeydew. The better chance of seeing this butterfly is in the evening of warm summer days.

Birk Bank Bog.  

Out of interest, Ian made a couple of pH water tests on the bog at Birk Bank, and found both samples returned a score of 6. I was as surprised as Ian by the reading, thinking it would be more than 'slightly acidic'. Water in the home is regarded as fit for drinking at a score of between 6.5 and 8.5! 

The Dead Duck!

Excuse the pun title, an American slang used politically in the mid 19 century and basically meaning useless....Rings true in the early 21st century, but politics and religion are barred on B2B.

My last two visits to Birk Bank have been almost useless, but truth is, there are never useless birding days, and Thursdays certainly wasn't one. 

Keeled Skimmer Birk Bank 13 July

I had to try for a video of the male Keeled Skimmer because it was the only dragonfly I saw on the day at Birk Bank or anywhere else, and was the only one seen on my previous visit there on 5 July. If this isn't related to the cloudy and breezy weather, then the hot dry conditions of late have had an impact on odonata....Nothing serious I hope!

Towards the end of the video, the Keeled Skimmer sharply lifts its head and opens its mouth....Quite a gape!

There was no sign of life when I went to Cragg Wood to find zilch on the River Conder. On my return to do a double check at the bog, I met Ian Mitchell who told me he had seen just the one male Keeled Skimmer I had found three hours earlier. In our conversation I told Ian I had found 2 Purple Hairstreak in the Oaks east of Ottergear Bridge. When we parted, Ian said he would take a look in the hope of finding a butterfly he had never seen before....There is evidence that he was successful with his brilliant header image of the Purple Hairstreak.

Common Carder Bee/Cuckoo Bee. Pete Woodruff.

At Birk Bank, a Common Carder Bee, and a faded male Cuckoo Bee which I am unable to identify to species.

Sundew Birk Bank 13 July. Pete Woodruff.

And on the bog, after finding Sundew there in August last year, I found more again on Thursday, this time two plants seen. This plant is noted to be in need of protection. 

Garden Hovers.

Some sunny weather brought hoverfly and a leaf cutter bee of interest into our garden, to keep me entertained and to photograph them with their elaborate scientific names.

Eupeodes corollae on California Poppy

Eupeodes latifasciatus on Chicory

Eristalis arbustorum on Shasta Daisy

Xanthogramma pedissequum on Willow

Eupeodes corollae (right) with Megachile centuncularis (leaf cutter bee) on Elecampane

After The Break!

On a lovely wall to wall sunny day on Thursday, there was nothing more I wanted to do, than to get to do a 3 mile circuit Rigg Lane-Birk Bank-Cragg Wood-Littledale Road-Rigg Lane. There was half a chance of me finding the last Common Darter around the bog, and maybe some winter thrush to be seen.

Well, two visits to Birk Bank Bog, one at the start of the walk, and one at the end, proved my first hope wasn't to be, with not a darter in sight. But as I was leaving the boardwalk, the sound of a loud chattering 'schack-schack-schack' filled the skies above me, and by the time I ended the walk 3 hours later, I had seen the arrival and roaming around a wide area, of at least 365 Fieldfare. Flocks were seen several times in 3 hours estimated at 200/100/60/5 

Mostly seen distant and in flight, the Fieldfare were accompanied by a few noticeably smaller Redwing, this flock were mobile west of Cragg Wood later in the afternoon at 3.00pm.

Couldn't resist a picture of the Robin by the lane to Rushy Lee.

Robin Rushy Lee. Pete Woodruff.

Seeing none today, I heard just one Red Grouse, 3 Raven drifted overhead as did a Kestrel which I saw twice later hovering in hunting mode, and as I wandered along Rigg Lane a small group of Long-tailed Tit were working through the trees.

A brief glimpse of a butterfly in silhouette around the top of this tree on Rigg Lane would have had me thinking Purple Hairstreak had it been mid-summer, presumably a Red Admiral seen.

Epilogue.

It's been almost a month since my last post on B2B, and nearly the same length of time since I last escaped for some birding. On both counts that's the biggest gap since I started this blog 13 years ago on 15 November 2008 Here

I'm hoping to successfully address some issues to avoid any continuation of this situation which may take a while. Meanwhile, 300+Fieldfare around Birk Bank on Thursday certainly helped me on the way to that goal....Watch this space!

Darters On The Bog!

Another pleasant spell at Birk Bank bog. Nothing overwhelming, but with plenty of interest to keep me happy for a couple of hours, not least because I witnessed my first copulating Common Carder-Bee's on the boardwalk....A pity the bees were in shadow.

Common Carder Bees. Pete Woodruff.
 

As always, view the videos Full Screen. 

When I came across this pair, it took a while to work out what was going on, but enquiries confirmed what was pretty obvious to me....I'm grateful to Ben Hargreaves for his expertise help on this one.

There was much activity on the bog, with at least 20 Common Darter seen, including pairing and ovipositing.

Black Darter Immature Male. Pete Woodruff.

Also seen, up to 6 Black Darter were all black males with the exception of an immature male. The best and biggest surprise was a Golden-ringed Dragonfly, probably the last one of the year for me. I'm not aware of any September records in Lancashire for the species.

This Common Lizard was one of four I saw on my last visit here on 12 August.

The trek to Cragg Wood in the hope of finding Purple Hairstreak around the oaks along the way, and Golden-ringed Dragonfly on the River Conder, was the road to nowhere. But I did find a female and juvenile Stonechat, also a Buzzard overhead, with Chiffchaff and Coal Tit seen.  

I noted just thirteen butterflies in four hours, 6 Small Tortoiseshell, 4 Small Copper, 2 Speckled Wood, and a Peacock.

Some much appreciated quality and colour images for B2B. They were sent to me by Martin Jump and Ian Mitchell.

Brimstone. Martin Jump.

One of Martin's many extraordinary images, this one of the Brimstone butterfly coming in to land on Purple Loosestrife. 

Gold Spot. Ian Mitchell.

Fairly common throughout the whole of Britain, but takes nothing away from this attractive and colourful Gold Spot moth in Ian's trap recently. 

Bullseye Around Birk Bank.

An excellent day, when I had the company of Ian in the Birk Bank area on Tuesday, hitting the bullseye with three out of the four targets I had hoped for. A bit of an irony for me, as the one target missed was the Stonechat, but that was mainly because we didn't get on to the top of Birk Bank where they were guaranteed. 

I finally realised on Tuesday, the capacity for the car park at Rigg Lane is 40, and another 6 outside on the lane made 46 cars parked up to pay a visit to Clougha Pike....Lockdown unlocked!

 

We had only been out of the car a few minutes when the day got off to a good start, with the bonus of a Green Woodpecker we hadn't seen on the ground ahead took off to land in a tree, which in turn spooked a Jay that flew off. It's 3 years since my last Green Woodpecker which was at Latterbarrow in Cumbia.

Black-tailed Skimmer Birk Bank Bog. Pete Woodruff. 

                                         

We made two visits to Birk Bank bog, the first showed us a lone male Black-tailed Skimmer, but the second visit at the end of the circuit was rewarded with 3 Keeled Skimmer including a pair coupled.

Purple Hairstreak Ian Stephenson Clik the pik

We set off on the circuit, to soon arrive at a group of Oak's, and eventually found 4 Purple Hairstreak, seen characteristically with wings closed showing the silvery-grey underside. A butterfly easily overlooked as the adult are often in the top of the canopy where they seek honeydew, they can usually be seen more often in the evening of a warm summer's day. 

A stake out by the ford over the stream that is the River Conder flowing out of Cragg Wood, was rewarded by brief views of a Migrant Hawker whizzing upstream, and later by a Golden-ringed Dragonfly flying downstream, both quickly disappearing out of sight. There was a substantial movement of hirundines seen over the fields off Littledale Road, up to 100 Swallow, a few House Martin and single Swift.

Bird sightings were sparse, but a Song Thrush which came to bathe in the ford by Cragg Wood, took top spot behind the woodpecker in my book. Otherwise, singles of Red Grouse, Willow Warbler, Meadow Pipit, and Wren.

Butterflies seen, 6 Small Copper were over the bog, and on the circuit, 8 Meadow Brown, 3 Red Admiral, 3 Small Tortoiseshell, and a Speckled Wood.

Common Tern Juvenile Conder Pool 19 July Howard Stockdale Clik the pik  

Thanks to Howard Stockdale who continues to keep me posted re Conder Pool. The Avocet young in the header image are now three weeks old. 

The Birk Bank Round.

Clik the piks, they are bigger and better....well I think so! 

I made a return to Birk Bank on Tuesday, doing the walk in reverse of the one done last week and starting at the bog, where in three previous visits I found the four species of dragonflies seen today, giving the impression that these are the only ones present to date on the bog at Birk Bank. 

The male and female Keeled Skimmer were mating as I arrived, later the male chased the female around all the time which made occasional pauses to oviposit. Meanwhile a male Broad-bodied Chaser was pursued by the Keeled Skimmer.

Four-spotted Chaser Birk Bank 23 July. Pete Woodruff.

The only Four-spotted Chaser in my four visits here, has persisted in settling on this twig each time I've been here.

On the walk last Monday I had seen 5 Purple Hairstreak in three different Oaks along the way. I was determined to see if I could find more in the many Oaks in the area, but I failed....perhaps my determination wasn't the 100% it needed to be.

The Purple Hairstreak can be found wherever there are Oak trees, the problem is they remain high in the tree canopy causing them to be easily overlooked, their main food source is honeydew. Seeing this handsome butterfly is made easier if a visit is made to the location on a warm summer evening.

Oak Tree Birk Bank. Pete Woodruff.

The Oak ahead of me in the old quarry held at least 2 Purple Hairstreak seen in a 30 minute watch. When I went close up to the tree, I had good views of one butterfly on the lower branches....but do they ever open their wings at rest?

Golden-winged Dragonfly Birk Bank 23 July. Pete Woodruff.

When I arrived at the stream by Cragg Wood, I soon saw 2 Golden-winged Dragonflies, one of which kept returning to rest on the handrail on the small footbridge, having the same habit as the chaser on the twig at the bog.

I watched the dragonflies at the bog to the sound of a singing Willow Warbler, and a Buzzard soaring overhead. At Cragg Cottage, nesting House Martin and 2 Goldfinch noted.

Butterflies seen, uncounted but at least 30 Meadow Brown and 4 Painted Lady, of which I've seen 63 to date.

Albeit a repeat of the last Birk Bank Round on 15 July with nothing new to add, but an excellent day with excellent dragonflies and butterflies.

Gold, Purple, And Some Others Part 2.

Bitten by the Golden bug, I drove up to Grizedale Bridge at SD535490 to find 6 Golden-ringed Dragonfly on a stretch of Grizedale Brook between the bridge and Holme Wood, where I stood a while on the board-walk, staring at the Oaks to eventually see up to 3 Purple Hairstreak. A short walk into Holme Wood for about 200m saw, 4 Grey Wagtail on the brook, a Song Thrush, and a juvenile Robin. As I came out of the wood, a 'mewing' Buzzard was overhead. 

Large Skipper. Pete Woodruff.

Butterflies seen, at least 40 Meadow Brown, 8 Small Skipper, 6 Painted Lady, 6 Small Heath, a Large Skipper, and a Peacock.

I paid a token visit to the bottom end of Hawthornthwaite, apart from the expected few Meadow Pipit, around 6 Sand Martin were seen, a Raven was 'honking' overhead, and a Red Admiral to note.

It was another day not overwhelmed by number, but another excellent day for a bit of quality in the book. 

This post is dedicated to Peter and 'a great spot by Dot', that's what the man said in the e-mail Dot.....Excellent stuff.

Gold, Purple, And Some Others.

On Monday I was reminded of the days when I was accompanied on most of my birding days by my mentor John Leedal. A fern is a fern, and heather is heather, well it is if you're as ignorant as me. But I was out and about with Barry Dyson today. I learned quite a few things I didn't know about, and some of my ignorance was turned into a bit more knowledge.

We sauntered along Rigg Lane, and up Littledale Road, to arrive at the early beginnings of the River Conder by Cragg Wood, to find 3 Golden-ringed Dragonfly patrolling a section of the stream. This dragonfly is unique, in that its breeding habitat is entirely confined to acidic upland streams in areas of blanket bog and moorland heath, little wonder you can find them in this area like we did today. A Small Skipper was seen from the path away from here. 

Purple Hairstreak. Barry Dyson.

We found at least 5 Purple Hairstreak, three were seen in the Oaks around Ottergear Bridge, and by the time we reached the bog at Birk Bank, singletons were seen in two other Oaks along the way. 

At the bog, another Golden-winged Dragonfly, male Keeled Skimmer, 2 Four-spotted Chaser, and an Azure Damselfly.

Butterflies seen, uncounted but at least 30 Meadow Brown, a Red Admiral, and a Green-veined White. I made notes of only three bird species, Willow Warbler were seen along Rigg Lane, a movement of 8 Mistle Thrush, and a Buzzard soaring and 'mewing' overhead Birk Bank.

I had a privileged feeling when this Golden-ringed Dragonfly came to rest on the leg of my tripod, with the young River Conder flowing by over the ford.  

Not overwhelmed by numbers, but an excellent day in excellent company, with quality making up for lack of quantity....Thanks Barry.

Butterflies2blog!

It's been a struggle to find the butterflies so far this summer with no need to go into the reason why. Tomorrow (Thursday) looks good weatherwise so things may change then. Meanwhile, until I have the time to post the second half of my birding experiences for Monday last, here are some excellent images of a trio of butterflies with some brief notes - only one of which you'll find locally if you live in the same area of the world as I do - all of which are taken by one of my men in Kent Marc Heath who I thank very much, which reminds me....I must enquire if my permit needs to be renewed!

White Admiral. Marc Heath.

The White Admiral is a Priority Species for conservation due to the continuation of habitat loss - nothing new there then - it prefers shady woodland and woodland rides in mature woodlands with sunny glades of Bramble, it occurs across southern Britain, spreading rapidly since the 1920's.

Small Blue. Marc Heath.

The Small Blue is the smallest native British butterfly and another Priority Species for conservation, its main habitat are dry sheltered areas of grassland where Kidney Vetch grows. In Scotland it is also in decline though its strongholds remain along the Angus coast and Moray Firth.

Purple Hairstreak. Marc Heath.

The Purple Hairstreak lives in self-contained colonies in woodland where Oak trees occur. In my area of North Lancashire it can/could - for example - be found in Eaves Wood and Gait Barrows NNR the full access of which requires a permit, though it does have public paths. 

I'D SOONER BE BIRDING!