Bearded Vulture - Crowden, Derbyshire

We've been following the summer travels of the young female Bearded Vulture as it has traveled across Europe, then the Channel Islands, before finally ending up in the Derbyshire Peak District. The last month has seen regular sightings in the valley north of Crowden, so we arrived at the car park at 7.30am full of anticipation...

Half an hour later we joined a dozen other birders looking at its empty roost spot wondering where it was... The cloud cover kept rising and falling but for the next hour there was no sign.

Solace was taken in the Ring Ouzels though, flying around. A noisy flock of about 20 birds flying south, was then added to by at least 10 more in the nearby Mountain Ash trees. Later on we saw another flock of 20... maybe the first flock again, maybe over 50 birds during the day? Whatever the number they were great to watch. A family of 5 Kestrel, Buzzard and Raven got the eye in for raptors and scavengers...

Then, at 9am, a joint call went out... There she was, circling high in the valley to the north. Wow, definitely worth the patience. What a beast! After about 5 minutes she headed further up valley, so Simon and I decided to lead the way and walk up the valley.  Half an hour later we were near the hill top looking down into the valley when up she came again, this time below us. Beautiful. She then soared higher before eventually landing opposite us on a crag.

Our pictures don't really do her justice, there are much better ones out there. But in the binoculars she was fantastic to watch, that wingspan was outrageous!

As we started to descend a Merlin flashed through rapidly, as well as 8 Red Grouse. The Ring Ouzels continued to fly around as we returned past our first viewpoint.

Wherever she ends up as a category on the British bird list, who knows and who cares. What a wonderful bird to experience in the UK, and in a lovely Peak District valley. Brilliant 😀😀😀

Hic Bibi Dragons

I headed down again to see if a) I could get some better pictures, and b) some scarse dragons have been appearing in Lancashire, so you never know...

Final totals seen were: 6 Brown Hawker, 2 Common Hawker, 1 Emperor, 1 Black Darter, 1 Ruddy Darter, 2 Common Darter, Emerald Damselfly c10, Blue-tailed Damselfly 3, Azure Damselfly c10.

I was pleased with the following pictures 😀

Female Emperor ovipositing...

The Common Hawker kept teasing me with close fly-bys, until one perched very close...

I was pleased to get a better shot of the Black Darter...

Nothing out of the ordinary with the Damselflies but pleased with these of Azure and Emerald Damselfly...

Totals for Dragons and Butterflies this week...

Butterflies:

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Dark-green Fritillary, Wall Brown, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Silver-studded Blue, Common Blue, Brown Argus, Grayling, Small Tortoiseshell, Small Skipper, Peacock, Red Admiral, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Small Copper, Speckled Wood, Comma, Ringlet, Small Heath = 21 species

Dragonflies:

Emperor, Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker, Brown Hawker, Keeled Skimmer, Four-spotted Chaser, Ruddy Darter, Black Darter, Common Darter, Emerald Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly = 13 species

Welsh and English Dragons (part 2 - Hic Bibi)

Whilst enjoying the sun, sea and sand of North Wales I had read about Ruddy Darter at Hic Bibi - a potential Chorley tick. 

Once the car was unpacked, off to Hic Bibi on a hot, sticky afternoon. On the first pond, 2 Brown Hawker, several Common Darter, and some very showy Emerald Damselfly...

The second pond had a couple more Brown Hawker and a single Emperor. The third pond was where the Darters were more numerous and showing well. Firstly a male Black Darter, then a Common Darter (paler red and showing the pale back to the legs)...

The next Darter was a wonderful bright red, reminding me of the Red-veined Darter we'd seen at Ainsdale. A very nice Ruddy Darter, showing off its all black legs...

Before leaving, one of the Brown Hawker was ovipositing - a great opportunity for pictures...

Welsh and English Dragons (part 1)

Thursday 13th was a quiet day for wildlife, the day spent on Newborough Beach again, with numerous Grayling butterflies flitting along above the sand. The Red Arrows were doing a practice display over the beach at lunchtime which was a spectacular surprise!

Friday meant home time, but before we left Anglesey we decided to explore the fens at Cors Erddreiniog.

 A bit cooler and breezier than the last few days, butterflies and dragonflies were a bit harder to come by on this fantastic reserve. Wall Brown were a surprise on the access track, amongst numerous Speckled Wood...

Once into the fens proper we had Southern Hawker and Emperor, and numerous Common Darter on the paths. A couple of Keeled Skimmer flew around us but didn't stop for a picture. Four Spotted Chaser was also seen, but unfortunately all the Damselflies we saw were the commoner species. We will have to return next summer to try again. There were many Common Blue including this pair...

We returned home in the afternoon, ready to then make a stop at Hic Bibi to try and get a local dragonfly tick...

South Stack and Cemlyn Bay - 12th August

Grand tour of Anglesey today, a day off from the beach, although another glorious day 😎

We arrived at South Stack just after 10am and walked down to Ellis's Tower. 3 Chough were feeding at point blank range on the grass. Fantastic! In total we saw 14 Chough before we left...

Also in the heather were a couple of Silver-studded Blues, as well as numerous Grayling and our first Wall Brown's of the trip. The images below show the difference in the underwing pattern - the row of spots on the hindwing of the Wall Brown, not seen on the Grayling...

Offshore several Manx Shearwater moved past, as well as Gannet and Kittiwake. A bonus was a Bottle-nosed Dolphin in the bay to the west of the lighthouse. 

On the heathland we also saw 3 young Wheatear, a family of Stonechat and a Kestrel zooming by with a couple of Raven in tow...

Next stop was Cemlyn Bay. A marvellous sight and sound of Arctic and Sandwich Terns, with good numbers of young birds. Soon we found the Roseate Tern that has been staying here recently, resting quite close on the rocks... Alas it flew before we got photos 🙁 New tick for Simon though 😀

Rhosneigr - Tuesday 11th August

Another glorious sunny day, this time spent at Rhosneigr. In between the chillin' (highlight being a Hummingbird Hawkmoth flying past), a few wanders into the dunes behind the beach. Insect wise, a single Dark-green Fritillary, as well as Common Blue, Little Heath, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Large and Small White. A cool Ichneumon Wasp (I think) also seen...

Rhosneigr

...and the wasp?

And a selection of the amazing flowers found in the dunes... (Will id them when I return home)...

Sunday 9th and Monday 10th August 2020

Another glorious day on the Sunday meant Newborough Forest again 😎 The views of the mountains were again amazing - here is Snowdon in the distance...

An early start meant there were many birds passing along the shore. Sandwich and Little Terns were moving out of the bay, and a dark phase Arctic Skua flew really close offshore looking for trouble. A group of Ringed Plover tried to find a spot to feed but already the beach was too busy.

We decided to go for a walk in the forest, and 2 Red Squirrel showed high in the trees. We spotted some more interesting flowers, and a bit of research identified one of them as the scarce Round-leaved Wintergreen...

Spending all day on the beach is not for me, so whilst the family and dog snoozed I went for a walk exploring the Warren and the dunes system. 

Amazing numbers of Butterflies were everywhere. I lost count of the number of Grayling, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Common Blue - hundreds in total! Highlights though were a photogenic Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary...

... As well as a couple of Dark-green Fritillary, Hummingbird-Hawkmoth, and a couple of Northern/Oak Eggar moths that fluttered around me.

Monday brought the risk of thunderstorms... They were very spectacular later in the day. The morning was chilled in Beaumaris but then after the storms passed, Simon and I took Bertie for an evening walk in Newborough Forest. At last we got amazing views of Red Squirrel - with 3 showing really well near the car park at Llyn Parc Mawr...

Newborough Forest

Day two in North Wales and a family day enjoying the sun, sea and sand of Newborough. Gannets fished offshore, while the occasional Grayling fluttered past along the sand. Many more were seen on short dog-walks in the dunes...

Another good day for butterflies in the warm sun. During the day we had 8 sightings of Dark Green Fritillary and 3 of Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, several Ringlet and numerous Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper and Large Whites. Another new trip tick was a Small Heath by the car park...

An interesting surprise, also near the car park, was a Hooded Crow (or as near a pure one as you maybe find here). Birds have been in the area for a few years now, hybridising with Carrion Crow. This was one of those instances - the Hooded Crow was with a fully black Carrion Crow and another bird with pale grey only on the back...

North Wales - Silver-studded Blue and Brown Argus

First day of a 'well looked forward to' trip to North Wales and Anglesey. To break the 'short' journey, and due to the warm, still weather we stopped off on the south slopes of the Great Orme for butterflies.

First seen were Small and Large White, Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper on the first climb. Next was the first of many Grayling - on the higher slopes they were the default Butterfly, with dozens more seen.

The two main targets were Silver-studded Blue and Brown Argus. We knew that a) the Great Orme subspecies of SS Blue was very small, and b) that it was towards the end of their season. Soon though the first of many 'tiny' blue butterflies appeared. Slightly darker upper wing with a black border meant our first target was bagged. They were all very worn, but it stood out how small they were - especially when compared with a few Common Blue also seen. In total we saw c30 Silver-studded Blues, numbers increasing as we climbed.

The next target was Brown Argus. After a male flew through quickly, again as we climbed further Butterfly numbers increased. Similar in size to Common Blue, the males were straightforward with the Black Spot on the forewings...

It was also good to get some good underwing pattern as well, but they were variable. The first picture below is a classic Brown Argus Underwing...

The 'figure of eight' in the top/middle of the hindwing, and the missing lower spot on the forewing (compared to Common Blue). The next picture shows a Brown Argus with part of the 'figure of eight' very faint...

And for comparison, here is a Common Blue underwing showing the lower additional spot on the forewing...

Additionally seen were 2 Dark Green Fritillary, which zoomed through, and Green-veined White. 

Next stop was Penmon Point on Anglesey. Sandwich and Little Tern, Cormorant and Shah, Guillemot and Razorbill, and dozens of Gannet were on or over the sea. Several Small Copper showed off here, as well as several Oak/Northern Eggar moths...

Final stop of the day was Newborough Forest for a short walk while we waited for our cottage to be ready. Another Oak/Northern Eggar moth flew through rapidly, while Speckled Wood and Gatekeeper seemed to be everywhere. The Gatekeepers showed off here very nicely 😀