VisMig in East Yorkshire

Jackie and I have an annual trip in October to the East Riding of Yorkshire. It's a chance to connect with friends, though in the last few years we break the journey in Lincolnshire, we usually stay near Boston so we can visit RSPB Frampton Marsh and Frieston Shore reserves. 

St. Botolph's Church or known as the "Boston Stump" © Nick Hull

St. Botolph’s Church, "Boston Stump" replaced an earlier Norman church, construction of the present building commenced in 1309 at the east end and was completed by 1390, apart from the tower. The tower construction was started in 1425-1430 but not completed until 1510-1520. The Chancel was originally only designed to be three bays long but was lengthened by two additional bays to the east, possibly because of the growing importance of commercial and religious life of the town.

The view of the church was taken from Frampton Marsh which we visited on the 9th Oct. One of our first thoughts were how dry the reserve was compared to our previous visits and due to that wetland species were low in number.  We decided to walk down to the Seabank viewpoint and view out across the saltmarsh towards the mouth of the River Welland and the Wash.  In retrospect this was the correct decision as on the way we recorded various common small passerines like tits, Robin, Skylark and Reed Bunting.  We also saw the resident Whooper Swan but we always wonder if it was really ok to tick it off for the year, but we needn't have worried as we had two flights, one of fifteen then of three which flew over south. 

Whooper Swan - Frampton Marsh © Nick Hull

From the Seabank VP we had a good few waterfowl out on the saltmarsh which included our first Dark-bellied Brent Geese of the autumn, a large flock of Golden Plover high up in the sky to our southwest.  There was also many flights of Wigeon with other species mixed in flying over in various sized skein's into fields to our east.

Wigeon & Pintail flying over - Frampton Marsh © Nick Hull

On our walk back to the centre a male Stonechat posed so nice atop of a bush I just had to take a few shots on him.

Male Stonechat - Frampton Marsh © Nick Hull

We had lunch in the cafe before we then headed off to Frieston Shore just a short drive from Frampton.  Frieston is another wetland and unlike Frampton it had water, we walked down to the seawall, here we had lots of Wigeon and a couple of good groups of 'alba' Wagtails along the seawall. We added more Whooper Swans, Little Grebe, Shoveler, Teal and a few common waders. We ended our visit with 38 species 2 more than we saw at Frampton. Over all we had a good days birding.

Pair Little Grebe - Friestone RSPB © Nick Hull

Next morning we headed north to Bridlington Links to our lodge though we took a brief break in our journey and visited friends en-route. A few hours later we were resting in the lodge and having lunch before popping back out to get supplies. Our first days birding started at the Flamborough Observatory at 08:00hrs on the 11th.  The ringing team were just arriving back from doing the first net round and over the morning we saw a number of common species in the hand. The best that morning was probably the 18 Lesser Redpoll, some of the males looked really smart with their pink flushed breasts.

Male Lesser Redpoll - Flamborough Observer © Nick Hull

When the the ringing slowed down Jackie and I had a walk around the woodland for an hour or so.  We didn't add much to our day list but we did see a small group of seven Bullfinch and after lunch we decided to head to Hornsea Mere to try for the Ring-necked Duck.

Male Bullfinch enjoying the berries © Nick Hull

On arrival there was good numbers of wildfowl on the Mere though most was very distant. There was a good number of Whooper Swan, Wigeon Tufted, Mallard, Pochard, Teal, Gadwall, Shoveler and Goldeneye, a single Great White Egret and a fly over Glossy Ibis but the Ring-necked Duck we couldn't find. We decided we would return in a day or two when the light was better and headed back to the lodge.

The 12th started early and back to South Landing and the Obs. to see what was caught on the first net rounds.  Again it was a Redpoll morning, but one of the nicest birds caught on the morning was a Treecreeper which was particularly nice to see up close. They also caught a pair of Blackcap, Blackbird, Tree Sparrow a family of Long-tailed Tits and a few Goldcrest.

Treecreeper - Flamborough Obs © Nick Hull

Jackie noticed, as we went off for a walk around the woodland to see if we could find anything new that had arrived that morning or overnight, a single Cowslip on the bank by the Obs. which looked totally out of place for the time of year.

Cowslip - Flamborough Obs © Nick Hull

Again around the woodland it was fairly quiet though there was a slight increase in numbers of Blackbirds and the odd Redwing in the scrubby areas. As it was Sunday we had arranged to meet friends, Derek and Kay, for lunch at the North Star and afterwards had a relaxing afternoon and evening.

The 13th didn't look as though it was going to be much different to previous days so we planned to start at the Obs and see what news came in.  So we headed off and as we reached the Brid Links car park we noticed Keith Clarkson who leads the Visual Migration watch in the mornings. We pulled over to say hello and asked if there was anything moving and he answered and said there was some thrushes moving, so we joined him and for the next four hours or so counted what was passing overhead. 

These are Redwing and Blackbirds going over high © Nick Hull

As the morning progressed we had spells with nothing moving then there would be a flurry or small flock moving over which kept our interest and before we knew it, it was lunch time by which time the movement had more or less stopped for the day. The count of the main species we observed that morning were :- 

Wigeon 115; Teal 4: Short-eared Owl 1 in off sea; Skylark 22; Starling 12; Song Thrush 17; Redwing 4445; Blackbird 99; Fieldfare 444; Brambling 20+.  We drove the short distance back to the lodge to have lunch, we just got out of the van and we both said "Geese" and looking up there was a skein of c35 Barnacle Geese going over and checking the birding news there had been several sighting all around the Flamborough area.  We found out later these were birds that had overshot the Solway Firth and over the next few days they were seen moving back towards the Solway.

Barnacle Geese © Nick Hull

On the 14th we started with vismig on the links but soon it became obvious that there was very little moving so we headed to the Obs.  The ringing station had lots of interest with visitors so along with Jen, a lady we meet annually at the migweek, headed off up the road to the Lawn Bowling Green a Yellow-browed had been seen there,  Almost immediately on our arrival we heard the 'ta-swee' of a Yellow-browed but we failed to be able to locate in the trees.  Heading back to the Obs we arrived just in time as they had another caught in the nets.

Yellow-browed Warbler - Flamborough Obs © Nick Hull

It was off around the woodland to see what else could be found, thrushes were in evidence in all the bushes mainly Redwing and Blackbird and lots of Goldcrest everywhere. Time was getting on so we headed back to the van and went off to Bempton Cliffs to see what we could find there.  It turned out that Bempton couldn't give us much more than we had already seen other than the usual Gannets and gulls along the cliffs Jackie picked out a Peregrine cruising overhead and we had a distant Kestrel in the window of the old RAF building which usually has Little Owl.

Two passing Gannet - Bempton Cliffs RSPB © Nick Hull

15th, we start with vismig at the links other than 401 Redwing; 110 Fieldfare and 40 Starling and calling Tawny Owl little was happening, so we head back to Hornsea had lunch watching the sea which only produced c20 Teal sitting on the sea. Then back to the Mere where there was plenty of waterfowl as usual. There were still a few Whooper Swan and Barnacle Geese and we managed to find the Scaup, a handful of Pochard and three Great White Egret, we heard another Yellow-browed which was somewhere behind us. 

We spent quite some time scanning through the duck but still couldn't find the Ring-billed Duck.  So started having a look through the gulls and a young Scottish lad down on holiday drew our attention to a large gull with a yellow colour ring on it. It was very white headed and with grey mantle and I aged it as a 3CY but it's tertials were masked by a Herring Gull which gave good comparison re head shape. I said I think this is a Caspian Gull and the Scots lad said that there had been two immature seen earlier in the morning. I took my eye off it for just a second to pickup my camera to take a shot of it and it was gone nowhere to be seen, but lucky enough I had the ring code X0A3. So I sent off an e-mail to the project which was in Germany and the details of the birds history came back almost immediately. See below.

Species - (Steppenmowe) Caspian Gull, Larus Cachinnans CR Yellow X0A3

Location Ringed - Hiddensee, Germany

Known History

02-05-2024 Gibratar Point Lincolnshire

13-09-2025 Mablethorpe Lincolnshire 

15-10-2025 Hornsea Mere East Yorkshire.

So it was a nice find by the young birder and was some consolation for missing the Ring-necked Duck again.

On the 16th we met Derek and Kay at Tophill Low we added one species to our Yorkshire list with 7 Red-crested Pochard which were on the main reservoir and we had a Red Kite just before we left, otherwise it was species that we expected and we ended the day with 53 species which was 2 more than we had there back in the spring.

Curlew Tophill Low © Nick Hull

Also here we came across our second species of Waxcap our first was Butter Waxcap in our garden just before we came up to Yorkshire in our garden. This one was Blackening Waxcap Hygrocybe conica.

Blackening Waxcap Hygrocybe conica © Nick Hull

17th started as usual though we were not expecting much of any vismig but when to arrived at the links car par Craig was scanning the sky and as we exited the van he said looks like it's going to be good. So we joined him and like on the 13th the bird were coming over the carpark but slowly started drifting further to our left and were coming over the Middle Dyke area, so we moved up to the ridge around a hundred metres to our left giving us a better view inland and toward the sea to our right.

It soon became obvious that it was going to be a pretty good movement and at times the sky was dotted with Redwing and Fieldfare with lesser numbers of Brambling and a few Redpoll, Blackbirds and Skylark and Chaffinch.  Craig phoned Keith to let him know it was happening at Brid Links as he was checking other locations eventually he joined us and by around 10 o'clock things started to slow down. Our tally of Redwing stood at 10,336, Fieldfare 2159, Brambling 15+ and Pink-footed Geese at just 14.

Pink-footed Geese passing high overhead © Nick Hull

So Jackie and I headed off to South Landing and the Obs to get a coffee and see what had been netted in the morning.  There was lots of people around the ringing station when we arrived where we met David our neighbour who was also on holiday in Yorkshire and whilst Jackie was chatting to Jen, David and I popped down the beach road a little way to see the Tawny Owl, it had been showing pretty well over the last couple of days. We then Jackie and Jen for a walk along the trail to the head but we didn't get all the way because as we approached the Highcliffe Lodge grounds we heard a Yellow-browed Warbler call. I managed to narrow it down as coming from an Holm Oak and eventually we had brief views. It was then we heard another and in fact had two birds calling one in the Holm Oak and one from the Sycamore next to it.  Lunch time was approaching and the hunger was now setting in so back to the cafe, where we said goodbye to David who headed off while Jackie and I tucked into the delight of scrambled egg on toast and Jackie a bacon butty.  After lunch feeling replete Jackie and I headed down to the beach, Jackie on her scooter, we stopped and had views of the Tawny Owl which had moved slightly from where had been earlier.

Tawny Owl - Flamborough South Landing © Nick Hull

Down at the beach we added Oystercatcher, Curlew, Dunlin, Turnstone, Redshank and a male Common Scoter out on the sea, we couldn't see the Purple Sandpiper or the Grey Plover which had been around earlier.  We finish our day at Bempton but without adding anything to our still growing list.

18th, again started at the Links vismig but after a couple of hours it was next to non existent recording only Starling 304; Redwing 1372+; Fieldfare 648+; Blackbird 43, Chaffinch 15; Brambling 6.

Fieldfare & Blackbirds Brid Links © Nick Hull

On to the Obs where we found out we had missed a Ring Ouzel but we did see a very nice Grey Wagtail in the hand.

Grey Wagtail © Nick Hull

Also we saw a Kestrel a species you don't often get the opportunity to see up close very often.

Kestrel  Nick Hull

The ringing station usually closes around 12 o'clock so we went off to RSPB Bempton Cliffs as we had heard that a Ring Ouzel was hanging around on the reserve.  As we approached the car park we had to stop to allow a Red-legged Partridge to cross the road, our first of the year only having seen Grey up until that point.  We parked and headed to the Dell on the way we ran into one of the volunteers and asked him where the best chance of seeing the Ring Ouzel was and he said the ringing hut.  So we quickly, well as quick as Jackie could go, went and joined a crowd at the ringing station.

Immature male Ring Ouzel - Bempton RSPB © Nick Hull

After seeing the Ouzel we went and viewed over the recently cultivated field from the Owl Viewpoint, here we saw our first grounded Brambling in with other finches and a scattering of Redwing and Song Thrush.

Song Thrush - Bempton RSPB © Nick Hull

Redwing - Bempton RSPB © Nick Hull

We left Bempton around 16:00hrs and headed back to the lodge to have a rest and have dinner to leave time for me to go back out to the Obs for a moth night.

Keith Clarkson gave us a brief summary, about the migrant moths that are caught between Flamborough and Filey and weather condition which are usually best, before we went out and checked the traps.  Most of the moths caught in the traps that I looked at were familiar to me but there was two which I've not caught yet at home though one I've seen The Delicate which is fairly common in the Portland trap but it was the Feather Ranunculus that was the first time I've seen one.

The Delicate Mythimna vitellina - Feathered Ranunculus Polymixis lichenea
Green-brindled Crescent Allophyes oxyacanthae - Mottled-Umber Erannis defoliaria

The bottom two I've caught but only one or two in the 13 years I've trapped here in Upton.  So the night went well.

The 19th was our last day birding at Flamborough.  We spent the morning at the South Landing and walked the trail out to the headland and did a little sea-watch from the view point and managed to add a few species which we were missing.  We added Eider, Red-throated Diver, Common Scoter and we managed to pick out the Grey Plover that had been on the beach for a few days along with the Turnstones and Curlews.  We also watch the inshore lifeboat doing their practice launching and re-landing which looked pretty precarious from our vantage point.

RNLI approaching to the landing trailer and an almost submerged Tractor

After spending the morning at the South Landing we had a fairly restful afternoon and explored around the site.  We didn't see anything we hadn't already seen but found a couple of footpaths worth investigating in the future.  

Back to Dorset next day on a very wet day.

Patch excitement plus

September began very wet and the first chance I had to get out was on the 5th to do a reptile survey with Terry.  Whilst walking through some gorse he almost stepped on a Wryneck which lifted off the ground and perched 2m in front of us before flying into gorse to our left.  We went to grill the gorse and we had another brief view as it perched on top before flying off across the heath and disappeared from sight.  I went back next day with Jackie to see if we could find it but with no luck. So we checked out the fields along Soldiers Road and Hartland Moor, where we found Yellow Wagtails and Wheatear opposite the Stud and had Whitethroat and Redstart in the gorse on the heath further along.

Wryneck from my archive © Nick Hull

On the 8th Jackie and I met friends down from London and after lunch at the Halfway Inn went for a walk at Coombe Heath at Arne and was treated to views of an Osprey and a Hobby.

Osprey over Arne © Nick Hull

After our walk at Arne we arrived home and had afternoon coffee and were generally relaxing and I must have snoozed a little when I was woken by my phone giving me an alert and a WhatsApp message saying  five Glossy Ibis had just flown in to Lytchett Fields, so Jackie and I quickly grabbed bins and camera and out the door as quickly as we could.  We were almost there when another message said they were now in the bay off of the Rock Lea VP.  A couple minuted later we were watching the five Glossy Ibis feeding in the evening sunlight out in the bay.

Glossy Ibis - Lytchett Bay © Nick Hull

Next day they were still present and they spent time on the Sherford Pools field and later moved to Lytchett Pools field and were much closer to view and I was able to get some fairly ok shots of them whilst they fed. These were a patch tick for Jackie and myself as we had missed previous birds.

Glossy Ibis © Nick Hull

 

Glossy Ibis © Nick Hull

The rest of the month was pretty uneventful seeing all the regular species. It wasn't until the end of the month we visited Pennington in Hampshire when we added a couple of good autumn migrants with Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper though the views were cut short because of two Peregrines harassing the waders and they all flew off towards Lymington. 

Little Stint with Dunlin © Nick Hull

The only other highlight in September was a butterfly which I personally do not see that regularly these days but over the month had seen them at Swineham, Slepe, Stoborough and had my first on the Lytchett patch for several years that is Wall Brown.

Wall Brown Lasiommata megera butterfly Swineham Point © Nick Hull

The only new moth this month wasn't in the trap but resting on a leaf beside the trap, this was a rather nice Sallow.

The Sallow Xanthia icteritia - © Nick Hull

On the 30th Jackie noticed a fungus growing in the front wildlife garden and asked me what it was and taking a look at it was a little surprised to see three Butter Waxcap Hygrocybe ceracea.  It was a surprise because on my Waxcap id course last autumn I was told they only grow on unimproved ground but it's a great addition to the Lytchett list.

Butter Waxcap Hygrocybe ceracea © Nick Hull

That's it for our September highlights hopefully October will bring a rarity or two.

August

August has been a an odd month with the hot weather, though very nice, didn't help with the wildlife as things seemed to edge off with lesser numbers of everything.  Though we had one or two highlights with the moths with twelve species being the first time I've caught them this year and if accepted one new species for the garden.  

Catching my 4th & 5th Portland Ribbon Wave as a nationally rare species was very nice to find in the trap. Another moth which was a little unusual for me was a Rosy Wave being only my sixth record here and for colour I caught several more Jersey Tiger. Also one or two moths which are considered as migrants Rusty Dot Pearl, Diamond-back Moth,  Rush Veneer, Vestal and White Point.

Portland Ribbon Wave Idaea degeneraria © Nick Hull

Rosy Wave Scopula emutaria © Nick Hull

The new species for the garden moth trap was Scrobipalpa ocellatella I have to say it isn't much of a looker and it is pretty small being a micro.

Beet Moth Scrobipalpa ocellatella © Nick Hull

One other moth that was recorded this time in the garden was our first Hummingbird Hawk-moth which we haven't recorded for a couple of years.

Hummingbird Hawk-moth - Front Garden © Nick Hull

As for butterflies we recorded 14 species during August and the highlight was our first Clouded Yellow for the year in the 16th on the home patch in the scrub patch at Turlin Moor.

Clouded Yellow - Turlin Moor © Nick Hull

As for the Odonata I recorded just six species in August but one of them was a lifer Willow Emerald a damselfly which has been exclusively a south eastern species in the UK but over recent years has started to move and expand its range.  They have been breeding on Hengistbury Head for a few years and last year one was found on Grove Pond at Upton Country Park and was seen again there this year. But Jackie and I had taken the grand kids to Blashford Lakes for a walk and I had been told that Willow Emerald had been seen there this year.  So as we walked the path that took us past the South Ivy hide we came to a slight open area where the sun was warm and there were a few Common Darter, a Migrant Hawker zooming around and one or two Blue-tailed Damselfly. 

Migrant Hawker Aeshna affinis © Nick Hull

After taking a look at everything that moved I eventually found a Willow Emerald which allowed me to take a few shots and allowed the kids to get good close views. To finish our visit a Golden-ringed Dragonfly flew around us before heading off again which Jackie enjoyed as its her favourite and her first this year.

Willow Emerald Chalcolestes viridis © Nick Hull

As for the birding, well August was an awful month for us we only added a single species in August with Wood Sandpiper at Lodmoor, in fact there were two present when we visited, both too far away for a good photograph. 

Wood Sandpiper & Lapwing - Lodmoor © Nick Hull

Otherwise we did have a couple of good days out, one with friends Neil and Michell who live up in Lancashire who we haven't seen for a few years, we had a great day out  catching up and doing a little birding.  Neil had a short list of birds he wanted to see and by the end of the day we had seen all but one.  Woodlark decided to be off the menu but we managed two, maybe three Osprey and we had pretty good views of the male White-tailed Eagle which flew out of the Wareham Channel carrying a good size fish and headed off towards Arne.

Male White-tailed Eagle - Hydes Heath © Nick Hull

Next day Jackie and I with friends went out on a Birdboat with Birds of Poole Harbour heading up the Wareham Channel then back to the Poole quay via Brownsea Lagoon.  As always it was a good trip, we saw 34 species in all the highlight were four Osprey and the male White-tailed Eagle.  The Eagle made an amazing effort crossing from Holton where it was sat in a tree, to Ridge in a powered flight to harass an Osprey for its catch.  The Osprey dropped the fish but the eagle didn't seem to be able to find it so all the effort seemed a bit of a waste of energy.  

Distant hunting Osprey Wareham Channel © Nick Hull

Male White-tailed Eagle powering to catchup with the Osprey © Nick Hull

We had a pair of Sparrowhawk which flew close by to the boat in fact one soared over us for a short time giving excellent views.

Sparrowhawk (No1) Wareham Channel © Nick Hull

Sparrowhawk (No2) Wareham Channel © Nick Hull

As always at this time of year there is always a few terns in the harbour whether they are from the Brownsea breeding colony or migrants passing through they are usually recorded from the boat trip and we saw both Common and Sandwich Tern. The highlight though was when we left Brownsea Lagoon heading for the quay I picked up two Little Tern flying off of the lagoon and they came right past the boat. Little tern though recorded most years in or around Brownsea are very hard to connect with as they never seem to stay for long, so it was probably my best birds of the trip, plus I picked them up first.

Little Tern - Poole Harbour © Nick Hull

Well that sums up August, so I will sign off now with a shot of an Osprey with Corfe Castle in the background.  Roll on September let's hope the weather doesn't stay as wet as it's started and brings a few good birds in for us to enjoy.

Distant Osprey with Corfe Castle in the distance © Nick Hull

July in Search of invertibrates

July is always a strange month as mid summer is a quiet time for birds accept for the odd breeding survey for Nightjar etc. Which this year I decided not to do and have a little break and put a little more effort in on the local patch for inverts.   Ian found two Downland Villa bee-fly Villa cingulate which are a bit of a rarity and the fact they were out of normal habitat here at Lytchett Bay I tried to find them to no avail.  None-the-less you never not see something and with the very hot weather we decided to stay local.

On the 2nd Jackie and I joined friends to visit Winterbourne Downs RSPB reserve in Wiltshire to see if we could see Stone Curlew. It was fortunately a cool morning so there was little heat haze and almost as we arrived at the view point I spotted a Stone Curlew.  I directed the others to where I was looking and they replied "yes got it" then I realised they had a different bird which was to the right of my juvenile. We then managed to pick out another adult which disappeared behind vegetation leaving a single adult and two juveniles in view.

Spot the Stone Curlews © Nick Hull

Walking back to the car park I managed to get a couple of butterflies in the viewfinder one of them being a Ringlet but had no rings. 

Ringless Ringlet - Winterbourne Down © Nick Hull

After we had our fill of Stone Curlews we headed off to Bentley Wood for Purple Emperor Butterflies but we drew a blank. Though we did see a number of other butterfly species including Silver washed Fritillary and Purple Hairstreaks.

Silver-washed Fritillary - Bentley Wood © Nick Hull

On the 3rd we had two of our  teenage grandchildren,  so we decided to go and see if we could find Heath Tiger Beetles. They like to see rare species or local scarce species as they say in their lifetime you never know what will happen and they might not get a chance to see the species in the future.

Obviously when out we try and look for anything that moves and our first find was a Heath Dumble Dor beetle (Trypocopris pyrenaeus) This species is more or less confined to the heathlands of Dorset, Hampshire and Surrey. They are a good size with a shiny blue sheen to their elytra which lacks distinct striae.  

Heath Dumble Dor Trypocopris pyrenaeus © Nick Hull

You may notice a small mite hitching a lift many species of beetle can carry these around and they do them no harm in fact there is some evedence that when the beetle lays her eggs in her chosen dung these mites hop off and help care for the eggs. 

We continued to the area where I have found the Tiger Beetles in the past and with a pretty thorough search we came across three unfortunately the first two took flight and disappeared into the heather.  Then I caught sight of another that pitched in on a sandy patch and were were able to best pretty good views before it to decided to go off into the heather.

Heath Tiger Beetle Cicindela sylvatica © Nick Hull

Heath Tiger beetle are also known as Wood Tiger beetle they are the largest of the British tiger species measuring in up to 18mm.  Their population has declined by around 50% over the last 25years or so.  Like the last species above they are more or less only found in Dorset, Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex.

As we walked back I found several Mottled Beefly (Thyridanthrax fenestratus) These like other beefly are a parasitoid and Mottled's host is Heath Sand-wasp (Ammophila pubescent) and indeed we saw a number of the Heath Sand-wasps along the track too.  Again this species is mainly confined to the lowland heathland in the UK.

Mottled Beefly Thyridanthrax fenestratus © Nick Hull

I thought I would include the Heath Sand Wasp Ammophila pubescent for completeness.  They are slightly smaller than there relative Ammophila sabulosa the Red-banded Sand Wasp but frequents the same lowland heaths they predate of heather feeding moth caterpillars.

Heath Sand Wasp Ammophila pubescent © Nick Hull

By the time we were back at the van the day was pretty hot and we decided to call it a day and head home for lunch.

We visited Blashford Lake HWT reserve on the 8th, it was fairly quiet only the usual summer regular species like Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Common Tern and of course Sand Martin which there were around fifty out front of the Goosander Hide and they were good entertainment flying around feeding then swooping in to their nest holes below the hide.  

Sand Martin flying in to it's nest hole - Blashford Lakes © Nick Hull

When we left the hide we spotted a moth showing rather scarlet underwing as we watched, it flew into a bush and rested up.  It turned out to be our first Jersey Tiger of the year.

Jersey Tiger - Blashford Lakes © Nick Hull

On the 9th Jackie and I had an excursion up to the northern chalk and the Cranborne Chase and Wyke Down in search of Quail.  Well we blanked and the only consolation was we had good views of Corn Bunting and Hobby though we had  brief views of Grey Partridge though the partridge did put on an evening chorus from in the long grass.

Corn Bunting sing from top of an electricity pole © Nick Hull

This is the recording of the Grey Partridge you can hear one calling some distance away then one starts calling much closer.

Two Owls · Grey Partridge

We stayed until the moon started to rise over the wood in the hope we might see an owl but none showed themselves so we called it a day and went home.

Moon rise Wyke Down © Nick Hull

From the 10th to the 16th we stayed local either around the garden at home or around Lytchett Bay mainly due to bruising my ribs when the scope fell from the tripod and I trapped it between my ribs and the van to prevent it dropping on to the hard road.  All I can say is it was very painful for a few days.  So it was just a case of recording inverts around the bay and visiting the garden.  There wasn't anything that really stood out from the usual that we would expect to find.  Though I did find a number of Pantaloon Bees feeding on the Fleabane across the road.

Pantaloon Bee Dasypoda hirtipes © Nick Hull

Also we had a first for the garden though not rare but way overdue to visit the wildlife garden a female Emperor Dragonfly came and rested in the elder for a while giving me time to take a few shots.

female Emperor Dragonfly - Home Garden © Nick Hull

 I ran the moth traps on the night of the 11th and had good numbers of 197 moths of 82 species with 19 species new for the year and two species new for the garden Long-winged Pearl Anania lancealis and Hemp-agrimoney Plume Adaina microdactyla.

Long-winged Pearl Anania lancealis © Nick Hull

Hemp-agrimoney Plume Adaina microdactyla © Nick Hull

On the 17th Jackie's garden group were visiting Bennet's Water Garden in Weymouth and as I had been told it was a good place for Odonata I decided to go as well.  It was an enjoyable morning though we had the odd shower and the sun didn't really come out until after we had left.  

I did see a few Odonata Emperor Dragonfly, Black-tailed Skimmer, Common Darter and Common Blue, Blue-tailed Damselflies and Small Red-eyed Damselfly. Though the Green-eyed Hawker or Norfolk Hawker as it was previously known as couldn't be found.

Small Red-eyed Damselfly - Bennets Water Gardens © Nick Hull

On the 23rd Jackie suggested that we popped to Silverlake again this would be our fourth visit to see if we could connect with Broad Scarlet, Red-veined Darter and Lesser Emperor.  The last of these I did see on our first visit but I wanted to see if I could get a photograph of one.

When we arrived there was very few people around which was good as the dragonflies would not have been disturbed to much. So Jackie and I walked around the lake which originally was a gravel pit. There were lots of Black-tailed Skimmer and Small Red-eyed Damselflies a few Common Blue Damselflies.  Then I picked up a red darter but it flew past but it looked a little like a Common Darter but it didn't land.  As we approached the top end of the lake I picked up a another or same red coloured darter sat on the ground and as I was about to take a shot a voice from further round shouts out there is a Red-veined Darter near where you are.  

Red-veined Darter - Silverlake © Nick Hull

I took a closer look and indeed that was what I was looking at so shot off a few shots, then Jackie and I moved on and it was then we realised that the person that called out to us was Brett, a birding friend from Weymouth.  So we had a catch-up whilst looking for the other species, it didn't take long before we saw a Lesser Emperor and Common Emerald Damselflies and it was about this point when Jackie felt she had done enough and went back to the van for a snack.  

Common Emerald Danselfly Silverlake © Nick Hull

Lesser Emperor - Silverlake © Nick Hull

I continued on with Brett and eventually we saw a bright red darter speed by us and watching it come to rest on bare ground.   We slowly approached and we both were able to get a few shot off of this recently new British breeding species.

Broad Scarlet (Darter) - Silverlake © Nick Hull

On the 28th July we had the grandchildren and it is alway hard to know what to do to keep them occupied.  Well, a few days before I was our on a refresher wasp and bee identification walk on Hartland Moor with the Purbeck Natural History Forum.  During are walk we came across a Nomada Bee which we couldn't identify in the field and it got us chatting and during the conversion Purbeck Nomad Bee came up.  This is a species last recorded at Durlston CP in 1982 and thought to be extinct and it happens that the youngster like Durlston, so that solved a problem.  Well I showed them what we were looking for and off we went searching Wild Carrot and Ragwort it main food plant.  We also searched for the Andrena bee that it parasitise on.  Unfortunately the weather wasn't great it was cool and a bit windy and inverts were hard to find.  

 Eriothrix rufomaculatus - Durlston CP © Nick Hull

Though we did find things, like this Red-sided Eriothrix (Eriothrix rufomaculatus) they are a common fly which parasitise on moths.  We also came across this small picturewing or wingwaver This one was

Four-spot-Wingwaver (Herina lugubris) © Nick Hull

on Wild Carrot where it was living up to its name by waving it's wings. 

We also found a Ichneumon Wasp Ichneumon bucculentus these are another parasitic species which appears to be under recorded though this may be due to Dorset doesn't have a recorder for this group of species.

 Ichneumon bucculentus - Durlston CP © Nick Hull

The only other highlights of the month have been what I call by-catch in the moth trap this can be anything from wasps and Hornets to flies, Shieldbug and various sized beetles which find there way in attracted by the MV/UV lights.  When I find them I like to try and get an identification so I can add them to the garden checklist which grows slowly each year.

Recently I've had a few good finds in that none have been particularly rare or scarce but interesting in that I haven't recorded them before, such as this diving beetle.  It's strange I don't think we think of diving beetles being able to fly but they do very well.  This is Colybetes fuscus and is fairly large species at 15mm -19mm and likes well vegetated lakes and pond. They are a widespread and common species.

Colybetes fuscus - © Nick Hull

Another beetle which I've not come across before though have seen others in the genus was this Rove beetle species at around 25mm it's a good size and similar to the Devil Coachhorse (Ocypus olens) which initially I thought it was going to be. When I had it in the pot and had a close look at it I realised that its jaws were smaller and checking the references narrowed it down to Quedius dilatatus who's common name is Hornet Rove Beetle as they spens much of there early life in Hornet nests and as adult feed on diptera but they also will visit sap-runs on oak and beech trees. Their larvae grow within the nest detritus, eating other insects and, maybe, the dead and dying hornets too. As many as ten adult beetles and larvae may be found in a nest, and while they do not appear to prey on the hornets or their larvae, the nest must be occupied by hornets for the beetles to persist.

Quedius dilatatus Hornet-Rove-Beetle © Nick Hull

The third beetle was a longhorn beetle which I ended up talking to Tony, my beetle expert, and as it would need genital determination to decide which species it was I decided just to aggregate the record so it's either Leiopus nebulosus or Leiopus linnei.  None-the-less it is a truly stunning beetle with amazing long antenna.

Leiopus nebulosus agg. © Nick Hull

Well that sums up July with little in the way of birds but autumn migration has started with waders moving back through and into the harbour it will be interesting what wildlife August brings and how much Jackie and I get to see.