September 2011 - Butterflies, Dragonflies, Ladybirds and Treecreeper!

Saturday 24th: Had a walk around my local wood in the morning sunshine. Came across a flock of Blue and Long-tailed Tits. Amongst the flock were two Treecreepers. These birds are always a special treat to see and even more to photograph. For such a small bird, they are quick on their feet as they scramble up the bark of a tree - never down. I did see one of them flutter down the ground and then start climbing.

Aside from that flock, not much else. Most birds are either molting or coming to the end of their Summer-moult so tend to keep themselves hidden. But what I did notice was a large number of Ladybirds. These were the resident variety of 7-spots. No Harlequins seen.

 With Autumn now upon us, this is the best time of year to seek-out those elusive fungi. Below is a photo of the Cauliflower fungus (Sparassis crispa).

Later in the back garden I came across an unusual Moth; Angle Shades  (Phlogophora meticulosa). After taking photos, we placed it on a bush where it has stayed all afternoon and was still there at 6pm!

Oh...and Mel got stung again (the second this season) by a Wasp!

The garden provides cover and residence to a large population of House Sparrows. At the last count a few weeks ago, there was 109. Clearly not all of these live in the conifers, but may do, with others from surrounding gardens taking advantage of the variety on food on offer here. Nationally, they may be on the RSPB's Red List, with very low numbers in London, but here they are most definitely on OUR Green List!

Wednesday 21st: My first outing since recovering from sciatica problems with my back. So it was just a local trip up the road to Hatfield Moor and hopefully not too much time on my feet. Fairly uneventful overall. The highlights being 2 Hobbies that flew overhead, with one returning about 20 minutes later - unfortunately no photos. A good view of a GreenWoodpecker through binoculars while Sandra used the scope to get an even better view and later a Great-spotted Woodpecker. Still, quite a number of Emperor and Red Darter Dragonflies about with various other kinds. The ground is damp as would be expected after the rain that we've had recently and various Mushrooms\Toadstools were evident.

 Above: Just one of many Speckled-Wood Butterflies seen at Hatfield Moor (south).

 Above: This Small Copper Butterfly was the only one seen.

Above: Red Darter, as usual, this was the most numerous of the Dragonfly family.

Above: Gadwall in flight.

Above: Shaggy Ink Cap (Coprinus comatus)

Above: Silky Nolanea (Nolanea sericea).

 Above: Woolly Milk Cap (Lactarius torminosus).

Above: Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria).

February 2011 - Local Patch.

A walk through two local woods recently, yielded a surprising host of birds. A bright sunny day always helps and though cold, that big yellow ball in the blue sky made for good conditions for us and the birds! Across the road from our estate is a small wood...well, a wooded area beside Cantley Road. In fact on older maps, it is known as Church Plantation.

Earlier this year or late last year Sandra had seen 30+ Redwings here and she was keen to see if they were still in residence. Luckily they were. We're not sure exactly how many but we did see quite a few, 20+. Unless you are almost on top of them, they are not very photogenic as they spend most of their time on the ground amongst the leaf litter and so blend in remarkably well! I did get a few good pics as can be seen here.

A Chaffinch was very obliging and supplied an unusual shot from below. Blue and great Tits along with a few Long-tailed Tits were seen. We did see a Nuthatch but my photo doesn't do it justice as I was shooting into the Sun. A pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers were conspicuous by their red underparts.

Once out of the wood we walked across the vast expanse of lawn between the flats the wood. Soaring high above was a Common Buzzard. Against the blue sky it made for a pleasant sight. A couple of passers-by were quite interested in what we had seen and asked if we were looking for Waxwings. We were but so far had drawn a blank. I did point-out the Buzzard overhead and that got an "aha!" from the pair.

Walking all the way down the road for about 2 miles, didn't produce anything in the way of birds but after a quick stop at my place we continued on to Kirk Moor Plantation Wood. Here in the mid-afternoon Sun we got superb views of a Treecreeper, so good that I didn't even take photos! At the other end of the Wood by the Pub, high up the top of Silver Birch and Alders were a small flock of what we believe we Lesser Redpolls but on examining the photos, I am 90% sure that there are a couple of Linnets mixed in with them! A great day walking around our local patch and still plenty more to see!

November 2009 - Treecreeper

Wednesday 4th: Went for a stroll around the local wood in the afternoon to check-out what was around. As luck would have it, the first bird I encountered was a Treecreeper. Now there's nothing uncommon about a Treecreeper in our local wood, in fact when it's a fine day, if you look and listen long enough, one will appear on a tree. The knack is finding the correct tree! I did have video of it climbing the back of the tree, but unfortunately it is no more. So these three images, which are stills taken from the video are all that is remain.

September 2009 - Potteric Carr NR, in search of Kingfisher!

Monday 28th: A pleasant sunny day so after work I drove across the road to PCNR in search of Kingfisher. Now I only had 2 hours of sunlight left but the Kingfisher had made one particular Hide area his own territory so the chances of getting a positive sighting were high. I had decided that I would stay in the Hide for the duration. Loads of Canada Geese, a family of Moorhens, Mallards, Chaffinches, a Robin, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Treecreeper (highlight of the visit), various members of the Tit family, 5 Magpies, 2 Dunnocks, 6 Pheasants, a probable Sparrowhawk flying overhead and 4 Grey Squirrels not to mention a Water Rat....but no Kingfisher! Though a fellow birder did tell me that there was an Osprey at Sprotbrough Flash and that it had been there a few days. I would have to arrange time off work to go and see this elusive raptor.