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 😀

Insects Day Part 2 - White Faced Darter

The afternoon saw us at Foulshaw and Meathop Mosses.
As we walked across the boardwalk at Foulshaw the first Black Darter appeared.

Earlier in the day we had had Common Hawker at Howe Ridding Wood, but now we were really racking up the species. Common Darter, Emperor, Black Tailed Skimmer and 5 species of Damselfly were soon added. The Emerald Damselfly really showed off including this pair...

We also saw 5 Common Lizard, with one just about hanging about for a photo...

Then Simon told me to stand still, a Darter on the boardwalk. I glanced down to my feet and there was the target dragon - a female White Faced Darter! Wonderful!

The Osprey's were very noisy, with one of the adults bringing a very large fish in at one point. Peregrine was seen towards the crags, and a Hobby shot through low across the Moss.
The final stop was Meathop Moss. Would our final target insect of the day show itself? Yes. Several Large Heath butterflies were present, although not resting long enough for a picture. The most memorable insect here though were half a dozen Oak Eggar moths - very large distinctive day flying moths. Finally, as we walked back to the car, a Tree Pipit called loudly, alerting us to it's presence.
Always good to see the hills in the distance 😊

Overall then, a great day. 20 species of Butterfly and 12 species of Odonata.

Silver Washed Fritillary
High Brown Fritillary
Dark Green Fritillary
Northern Brown Argus
Large Heath
Ringlet
Meadow Brown
Gatekeeper
Small Skipper
Large Skipper
Large White
Small White
Green-veined White
Red Admiral
Peacock
Small Tortoiseshell
Brimstone
Common Blue
Comma
Speckled Wood

White Faced Darter
Black Darter
Common Darter
Common Hawker
Brown Hawker
Emperor
Black Tailed Skimmer
Azure Damselfly
Common Blue Damselfly
Blue Tailed Damselfly
Emerald Damselfly
Large Red Damselfly

Insects Day part 1 - Silver Washed Fritillary

A cracking day in South Cumbria looking for Butterflies and Dragonflies.
First stop was Howe Ridding Wood near Witherslack. Marsh Tits seemed everywhere on the walk through the trees to the reserve.

A female Pied Flycatcher showed briefly as well as GS Woodpecker, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Coal Tit, and Raven overhead.
On entering Howe Ridding Wood after a short climb, we started to walk through promising clearings.
Comma, Ringlet and Meadow Brown seemed to be everywhere...

Then the first Fritillaries appeared. Dark Green Fritillaries showed off well (both male and female), and a single High Brown Fritillary showed off its underwing to the binoculars but not the camera.

Several Common Blue appeared and then a small brown blue with no blue tinging to the upper wing. It sat with wing closed, crawling deep into the undergrowth. Just enough time to get the underwing pattern - Northern Brown Argus.
Frustratingly though, the Fritillary that would be a new butterfly tick didn't appear - however two 'larger' ones flew over fast but didn't stop.  We headed over to nearby Brigsteer Wood next to see if our luck would change.
As we approached the first clearing along the path from Cotes I said to Simon this looks good... and then - boom - a massive female Silver Washed Fritillary flew past and landed showing really well 😊

A few hundred metres further on, two more 'large' Fritillaries appeared - male Silver Washed Fritillary. Wonderful to watch! A Dark Green Fritillary flew through as well and it was noticeable how much larger the Silver Washed Fritillary were.

A great start to the day. Now it was time for the Dragonflies...