Donington-on-Bain To Biscathorpe Circular, Sunday 26th April 2026

Another chance to get out with Mrs R today, saw us heading to the lovely little village of Donington-on-Bain, nestled in the lovely Lincolnshire Wolds.

After arriving in semi cloudy conditions, we began our walk, but it wasn't long before it was properly sunny, a total turn around to the forecast which was given the previous evening.

The walk takes in some lovely Wold views, including the famous Belmont TV mast and later in the walk the deserted medieval village of Biscathorpe, with its picturesque 19th century church.

You also get some great views of the River Bain and Biscathorpe Lake, before returning to the village.

On the walk we managed a respectable 45 species of birds and this included a nice selection of summer migrants, with 4 Willow Warbler, 2 Garden Warbler, 6 Whitethroat and 5 Sedge Warbler entering the ebird list.

The following photos are a selection from start to finish of this lovely walk.

Donington-on-Bain As You Leave The Village

Belmont TV Mast & The Wolds Landscape.

The River Bain At Biscathorpe

Church Of St.Helen, Biscathorpe

Biscathorpe Lake

Church Of St.Andrew, Donington-on-Bain

Messingham Sand Quarries, Friday 24th April 2026

A visit to this gem of a reserve for a few hours after work, saw a very productive visit being enjoyed, with a proper rarity being found by myself for Lincolnshire.

As on previous visits at this time of year, plenty of insects were on the wing and included several families being involved, but the one BIG find was a Hoverfly.

While walking along the path between the Duck and Wader hides, i just happened to check a sunlit tree trunk and found a Brachyopa species resting. I took several photos trying to get as close as possible to the insect without flushing it, as i know you need to try and photograph the antennal pits on this family among other identification criteria.

After looking at my photos on the back of the camera, i realised due to the two toned scutellum that this maybe Brachyopa bicolour, a species which has not been seen in Lincolnshire before according to the NBN Atlas.

I posted photos of this insect on the Hoverflies page on Facebook and had it confirmed as Brachyopa bicolour by Roger Morris, the author of Hoverflies Of Britain & Ireland.

To say i was chuffed was an understatement and looking at all those trees in years gone by has paid off.

A few other nice sightings included a female Neoasia species, which was either Meticulosa or Tenur, Eristalinus sepulchralis, Dock Bug, Slender Groundhoppers and Gorse Shieldbugs.

Bird wise, 2 first records for the year were seen in the form of a lovely Garden Warbler and a Hobby hawking insects overhead. 

What a cracking reserve this is, despite the poor management of the site.

Female Neoasia Species.

Gorse Shieldbug

Slender Groundhopper

Female Eristalinus sepulchralis

Green-veined White.

Dock Bug

Greater Stichwort

Birch Shieldbug

The Star Of The Show, Brachyopa bicolor

Chatsworth Estate & Edensor, Sunday 19th April 2026

The chance to get out again today with Mrs R, saw us heading again to the beautiful Peak District, this time visiting the lovely Chatsworth Estate.

We parked up at Calton Lees car park and then walked up to the house and then across to the lovely little village of Edensor.

The weather was fairly cold to start, but it soon warmed up into a lovely, if again, slightly windy day.

The scenery is lovely here and we took lots of photos of the estate and surrounding area.

Bird highlights on our walk, went to a female Goshawk, a single Raven, 2 singing male Redstart, 6 Mandarin Ducks, a pair of Goosander and 4 Grey Wagtail, with a total of 42 species recorded.

We also managed some great views of the estates Fallow Deer herd, but they were just too far away for photos.

The following are my favourite photos from our day.

Lovely Views Of the River Wye When We Arrived.

Such An Impressive Sight.

Two Happy Walkers.

Some Lovely Views Across The Estate.

Mrs R, With Paine's Bridge In The Background.

Paine's Bridge With Some Lovely Reflections In The River.

Lovely Edensor

St.Peter's Church Edensor

Some Lovely Cottages In Edensor.

Padley Gorge Circular, Sunday 12th April 2026

A chance to get out again with Mrs R today, saw us heading to the lovely Peak District. Today we planned to carry out a walk which takes in Padley Gorge, Lawrence Field, Mother Cap, Over Owler Tor, Winyard's Nick, Bole Edge Quarry & back through Padley Gorge.

The weather was pretty windy, with sunny periods, but no rain which was great, allowing for some chances to take some nice landscape photos.

Obviously when carrying out this walk, my beloved birds are a big feature and today we managed a few nice sightings which included 6 Pied Flycatcher, Dipper, Grey Wagtail, a pair of Mandarin Ducks, 4 Willow Warbler and a lovely displaying male Curlew.

The walk can be a bit testing in places for people who are not steady on their feet, with a few scrambly bits, but the views are fantastic and well worth the effort.

After finishing our walk and some excellent lunch at The Maynard in Grindleford, we made our way over to lovely Bakewell to finish the day.

The following are my favourite photos from our day.

Padley Gorge

Lawrence Field

Great Views Of The Hope Valley

Higger Tor

Mother Cap

Grey Millstone Quarry

Bole Edge Quarry

Mrs R, Padley Gorge

Bakewell