In between towing out 1.5 billion stranded cars from the soft sand on Ainsdale beach over the last few days (just call me "Mr Plow"), I've been checking the mosses for an hour or so each evening for the last two nights, after Neil Roberts scored with a Black Kite drifting north west at 3pm on Saturday.
No joy for me unfortunately, I fear the raptor is long gone, but at least the fledged broods of local Swallows are perfecting their trapeze artist skills on overhead wires.
Whitethroats are still singing away on Plex with Corn Bunting and Yellowhammer, and the Buzzards are a-circling and hovering.
Few small evening roosts of Curlews, and Raven and Peregrine on Downholland yesterday.
Back on the beach, a steady trickle of Red Admirals and Painted Ladies has been going on for the last few days, with all butterflies heading north east, and one or two Sandwich Terns are beginning to join the gull roosts on Ainsdale, when there's not too many people about.
Off for two days now, so when I've got my computer fixed, it'll be time for some serious birding.
I miss my photo-editing software.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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Hi John, just a few more recent obs. Bronze and green Chafer beetles (June Bugs) swarming in mating assemblies on Crosby dunes over the past week.
Over 40 Buff Tailed Bumble Bees dead or dying recently under their nest in a bird-box on the back wall of my house.
I heard a Grasshopper Warbler 'reeling' last week at Tan House Farm (Rushton's Garden Centre) Windles Green, Thornton.
hi john re.pond daddy blog is there more than one species of marsh orchid in the dunes at the moment
Cheers for the tow, John. Nice to meet you! It was a pretty surreal sight, all those bogged-down cars scattered all over. And the rain! Sheesh. Anyway, 'appen there's terns nesting on one of the pontoons in Preston dock. Is this unusual? I don't remember ever seeing them there before...
I found lots of Painted Lady caterpillars on Crosby dune thistles today, many were fully grown in their grubby looking frass filled leaf tents. There were also many much younger tiny individuals. Given decent weather I reckon a new generation should be flying by mid month.
Birdblog will return tomorrow (Saturday, July 4th), with tales of Red Veined Darters, Little Owls, Green Sands and how all it takes to fix a computer is lots of cold beer, a hammer and blowtorch...speak to you then!
J
Welcome back! ----- though I don't know what a Red Veined Darter is [sounds like a bloke in my boozer] --you've been missed.
I'm off to photograph Red Kites around Rhayader (Gigrin Farm) all next week. I've got a Nikon D200 and Nikon 300mm f4 with 1.4 TC. Has any one been to Gigrin and can they offer me advice on photographing the kites?
Bruce, I've never been to Gigrin but have seen other photographers discussing what's best to photograph the kites (and buzzards and ravens):
http://www.enwp.co.uk/blog/2009/01/gigrin-farm-red-kites.html
http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/bbs.cgi?a=vm&mr=18100&CGISESSID=c719b5babd6e3ad1aa758b30f85c8515&u=8244