Saltburn-by the Sea & Wonderfull Whitby,Saturday 27th June 2020.

We had planned to walk today from Staithes on the North Yorkshire coast to Runswick Bay,but due to the showery weather we abondoned the idea and visited Saltburn & Whitby instead,the following are a few photos from our day in this lovely part of the world.All The Following Photos Are Taken With My New Samsung S10.

Saltburn-by-the Sea,Our First Visit Here.

Some Very Colourful Beach Huts At Saltburn.

Looking Towards Sandsend From Whitby.

The Iconic Promenade At Whitby,Leading To The Harbour Mouth.

St.Mary's Church.

The Ruins Of Whitby Abbey,What A Fantastic Situation For An Abbey.

Crowle Moor NNR,26.06.20.

An Early Start Arriving At 3.30am,Saw This Lovely Scene.

Phonescoped Image Of A Small Herd Of Red Deer Stags,Taken With My Samsung S10 And Swarovski ATX85 Telescope.

Red Deer Stag.

Red Deer Stag.

Young Red Deer Stags.

Heath Bumble-Bee.

Buff Ermine Moth Caterpillar.

Meadow-plant Bugs.

Hundreds Of These Peacock Butterfly Caterpillars Were Encountered On Today's Visit.

Soldier Fly Species - Broad Centurion.

Quite A Few Grasshoppers Were Observed Today,Including This Female Common-green Grasshopper.

Male Field Grasshopper Nymph.

I managed To Find At Least 5 Of These Stunning Little Purple-bordered Gold Moths On Today's Visit.

Female Bog-bush Cricket,A cracking Little Species,With 3 Recorded Today.

One Of The Summer Months Star Species Around The Reserve,The Large Heath.At Least 20 Were Observed On Today's Visit.

Asian Desert Warbler & Beautiful Northumberland,Friday 19th June 2020.

After hearing news that a Asian Desert Warbler had been found on Lindisfarne on the Northumberland coast on Monday 22nd,it was a long few days at work hoping it would stay until Friday when i could make the trip up to see this mega warbler.
 So Thursday night,Tracey and myself checked the bird news and it was still present,being seen around 7pm,so that was it,the twitch was on.
 Next morning we were up bright and early for the long journey north,which was certainly tense until Tim rang us when we were approaching Alnwick to say the bird was present...thank god for that! and that Jacqui & him were on their way north also.
 We arrived at our destination,parking in the car park at the Snook on the beautiful island of Lindisfarne,a place we have been to several times in the past,got the gear together and made our way to where the bird was.
 After a tense few minutes,i was then onto the bird and we both clapped eyes on our first Asian Desert Warbler,what a little cracker and also hearing it singing was superb.The song was totally un-Sylvia like and really unique,what a great privilege to see this lovely little bird which should be residing in Mongolia instead of a foggy and windswept Northumberland coast.
 After watching the bird for some time,we then went to meet Tim and Jac to show them where the bird was and by now it had become more flighty and went missing for a while,until it was thankfully re-found so they could both see it.
 After enjoying our fill of the bird we then went looking for other wildlife on the island,managing to see at least 3 Dark-green Fritillary,a Garden Tiger Caterpillar and a profusion of wild flowers,including Northern Marsh and Common-spotted Orchids and Marsh Helleborines.
 After running out of time,due to the high tide being due,we headed off the island visiting lovely Bamburgh and Seahouses on the journey home.
 The Asian Desert Warbler was a new bird for all of us and puts my life list at a decent 477 species,not bad for a birder who hasn't really twitched that much outside of Yorkshire & Lincolnshire.It also added to Trace's growing list of rare birds she has now seen which also includes Purple Swamphen,Blyth's-reed Warbler and Rosy Starling.

Asian Desert Warbler,Note The Striking Pallid,Sandy Appearance And Piercing Yellow Eye.

You Can See The Distinct White Sides To The Tail In This Shot.

Big Skies On Lindisfarne,With Some Lovely Views When The Fog Cleared.

The Snook Tower & House.

Northern-marsh Orchid.

Northern-marsh Orchid.

Dark-green Fritillary,Found By Mrs R.

Bamburgh Castle,What An Impressive Construction.

Female Eider,Seahouses.

Rosy Pastor,Collingham,West Yorkshire,Monday 15th June 2020.

After seeing this cracking bird was still present this morning and it only being an hour from home,myself and Mrs R decided to pay the bird a visit.
 On arrival at Star Carr farm,the bird was seen pretty much straight away,being watched in one of several Cherry trees as he gorged himself on the ripening fruit.He gave us a bit of a run around at first,being seen in several areas,partially obscured by leaves,but eventually we gained some fantastic views out in the open as he preened his immaculate plumage,what a gorgeous bird these are.
 This is only my second adult after seeing a male in the early 2000's in a Louth garden,what a beautiful bird.
 There has been a large influx of the species into western Europe this spring with flocks of up to 20 birds being seen in Austria and France and perhaps as many as 40 individuals being recorded in the UK.The whole population of this species is thought to be nomadic,moving with food availablity,as happens with Waxwings and the Crossbill species visiting our shores,what a sight it must be to witness a large flock of these asian crackers!.

Barton Bits,Sunday 14th June 2020.

A visit to Barton for a few hours this evening with the birthday girl,saw us enjoying some lovely views of Wildflowers and another visit to see the confiding male Blyth's-reed Warbler at Far-ings certainly entertained us on his 7th day in residence.
 The following are a few photos and a video from the visit.

 

Common-spotted Orchid.

Common Broomrape.

Pyramidal Orchid.

Far-ings,East Pit.

The South Tower Of The Humber Bridge,Covered In A Sea Fret.

A Lovely View Of The Reserve.

Blyth's-reed Warbler,what a poser!,Sunday June 7th & Thursday June 11th 2020.

A well timed phone call from Tim and then a message from Graham about this superb find at Barton by Graham,of a singing male Blyth's-reed Warbler,had me dashing over to Barton to add this rare Acro to my Lincolnshire list and more importantly to see a singing bird,as my only previous record was of an autumn migrant at Spurn on October 10th 2007.
 The bird was found straight away on arrival,as a small crowd was present and it gave pretty good views in it's chosen little area of Hawthorns,Rose Bushes and Reed.I'm of the opinion the bird would have shown much better,if certain members of the birding community from over the river were not pressing it all the time and getting too close,so is life and the behaviour of some so called experienced birders wasn't great.
 The bird was a fantastic mimic,copying species such as Bee-eater,Quail,Redstart,Chaffinch,Greenfinch and even a Marsh Frog in amongst it's varied repertoire,making for some superb entertainment while we all had the chance to study the birds salient features.
 Eventually i had enjoyed my fill of sights and sounds of the bird and i was very content on how it had shown eventually and i made my way home.
 Fast forward 4 days and amazingly he was still present and i made an early morning visit,arriving just after dawn and this certainly paid divedends,as the bird showed incredibly well and close!.Only one other person was present,Barnsley based bird photographer Peter Garrity and we both enjoyed a fantastic performance from this super little bird,with us both getting some great photos and video footage of him between us.
 I hope this little songster manages a safe journey back to his wintering grounds in the Indian Subcontinent and eventually finds a mate on his travels.
 This is my first record of Blyth's for Lincolnshire and also the first record for the Barton Pits area and i beleive the 4th record for Lincolnshire,what a brilliantly entertaining bird.

Record Shot,7th June.

Record Shot,7th June.