Friday, 17 July 2026

DST Leconfield, Sunday 12th July 2026

The chance to get out today in some decent weather, saw me heading over to the Army School of Transport and meeting up with Tim and others to carry out part of the weekends bioblitz.

The forecast was spot on, if not a bit too windy, but at least it cooled us down a bit in the strong sunshine.

Some really nice insects were found during the visit which included a new species of Hoverfly for myself and the site, which i found while searching some excellent habitat.

Riponnensia splendens has only been recorded on 3 occasions in East Yorkshire according to the NBN Atlas records, so was a pleasing find.

Other species of Hovers included Eristalinus sepulchralis, Eristalis intricaria, Horticola, Arbustorum, Tenax and Nemorum and Myathropa florea amongst hundreds of Episyrphus balteatus.

A nice Soldier Fly was found in the from of Oxycera rara, but i only managed a record shot unfortunately.

Now we are progressing into the later part of summer, Orthoptera are making an appearance as insects become adult and are far easier to find and ID. So it was really nice to find a female Speckled Bush Cricket basking on a Field Maple leaf. This is the first time i have seen this lovely species in Yorkshire. Other species recorded, included Roesel's-bush Cricket which took a liking to me and bit me on my hand and a profusion of Field Grasshoppers.

Lepidoptera featured heavily in the days sightings, with Marbled White being the star, but several Holly Blues were really nice to see in amongst the commoner species.

Bird wise it was fairly quiet, with Marsh Harrier & Kingfisher being the highlights.

The following are some of my favourite photos from the day.

Hoverfly Species - Eristalinus sepulchralis


Hoverfly Species - Eristalis horticola

Comma

Hoverfly Species - Myathropa florea

Hoverfly Species - Eristalis nemorum


Hoverfly Species - Riponnensia splendens, A New Species For Myself & The Site


Soldier Fly Species - Oxycera rara

Holly Blue

Female Speckled Bush Cricket


Male Field Grasshopper

A Rather Rufous Coloured Female Field Grasshoper


Sunday, 5 July 2026

Local Patching Round-up - June 2026

A short month and only two visits due to the extreme heat, saw another month pass by with some nice sightings from my 2 visits. New for the year species came in the form of a singing male Quail and a Common Tern putting the local patch year list on 142 species. Not too bad a total, with the whole of the autumn to go.

Sunday 7th

Today i covered both Goxhill and East Halton, as has become the norm these days, with 68 species being recorded. The obvious highlight was finding a singing male Quail along the western edge of East Halton Marshes, with a bit of effort, i also managed to see this diminutive species in flight, not an easy species to see in the open.

Other niceties recorded included a cracking Hobby, as it nearly took my head off as i left the car at Goxhill Haven and was watched bombing along at a rapid rate after some unsuspecting prey no doubt. The Falcon theme continued at East Halton with a pair of immature Peregrines playing havoc with the local Corvids, chasing them and dive bombing them, great entertainment to watch, but not so much for the Rooks and Jackdaws which were the targets.

A couple of Waders were hanging on in the form of a single Little-ringed Plover at East Halton Skitter and later a Whimbrel was seen at Goxhill Haven, with the Curlew flock now reduced to 26 birds along Goxhill Marsh.

A nice insect find today on East Halton Marshes, saw me finding a Slender-striped Robberfly, a new species for the local patch.

Saturday 13th

The only real bird highlight on today's visit was a single Common Tern at Goxhill Tilery Ponds. This species is only a passage migrant here, so it was nice to catch up with one for the year list.

Waders have continued to be present in small numbers along the marshes, with 14 Curlew and 18 Lapwing present today, roll on autumn passage when things will certainly change.

Insect wise, i managed to find 2 Wasp Beetles on my travels, with singles found near Goxhill Tilery Ponds and Chapel Field Farm, a scarce species here. Other nice finds, included several species of Hoverfly, with Eristalis arbustorum, Meredon equestris and Dasysyrphus albostriatus being seen, the latter new for my local patch.

Not too bad a month, apart from the heat, next month will be better, as autumn wader migration begins.

Slender-striped Robberfly, East Halton Marshes, 7th.

Biting Stonecrop, Goxhill Haven, 7th.

Male Common-blue Butterfly, Goxhill, 7th.

Wasp Beetle, Goxhill, 13th.

Soldier Fly Species - Black-horned Gem, Goxhill, 13th.

Forest Bug, Goxhill, 13th.

Wasp Beetle, Goxhill, 13th.

Passing Storm, Goxhill Haven, 13th.

Stunning Light Over The Humber, 13th.


Goxhill Tilery Ponds, 13th

Rainbow Looking Towards Barrow, 13th.

Hoverfly Species - Eristalis arbustorum, Goxhill, 13th.

Hoverfly Species - Syrphus ribesii, Goxhill, 13th.

Hoverfly Species - Dasysyrphus albostriatus, Goxhill, 13th.



Hoverfly Species - Meredon equestris, East Halton Skitter, 13th.




Sunday, 28 June 2026

Fabulous Seabirds & Cetaceans, Saturday 27th June 2026

 A change of scenery today, saw me heading for the fantastic seabird mecca that is Flamborough Headland. This internationally important site for nesting and migrating birds on Europe's most northerly area of chalk cliffs is a real pleasure to visit and has become one of my favourite destinations away from the local patch on the Humber.

Today i visited Bempton Cliffs RSPB in the morning, before relocating to Flamborough Head itself for the remainder of the day.

Highlights from the day away from all the lovely local nesting seabirds, saw an adult Peregrine putting on a good show at Bempton, with sea mammals stealing the show at Flamborough, when a pod of at least 8 Bottle-nosed Dolphins put on a fantastic show off the sewatch observatory.

It really is a special place from the amazing sights of thousands of seabirds, to the towering cliffs of the headland and 100's of Grey Seals and visiting Dolphins.

The following are my fave photos and videos from this brilliant day out, all taken with my Google Pixel 10 Pro or my Swarovski ATX85 Telescope and Google Pixel 10 Pro.

Gannet, Bempton RSPB.

Razorbill, Bempton RSPB


An Interesting Cloud Pattern Off Bempton Cliffs RSPB.

Displaying Gannet, Doing Its Sky Pointing Display, Bempton Cliffs RSPB..




Courtship Preening Gannets, Bempton Cliffs RSPB.





Kittiwake With Its Chicks, Bempton Cliffs RSPB.


Guillemot Chick, Bempton Cliffs RSPB.













Selwick's Bay, Flamborough.

The Chalk Tower, Flamborough, The Original Lighthouse.

The Iconic Flamborough Lighthouse





Grey Seals, Cattlemere.

Guillemots On Cliffs Below The Seawatch Observatory, Flamborough.

Grey Seal, Cattlemere.




Puffin Below The Seawatch Observatory.