DST Leconfield Bioblitz,Saturday 19th August.

A meet up with Tim and several others including fellow birder John Law to take part in another Bioblitz around this cracking site saw us having a pretty decent day.

The main highlight for me was finding another Beewolf after the 3 i saw at Messingham Sand quarries a few weeks ago and certainly proves this species is pushing north in the country.

It was found nectaring on an area of Thistles which were sheltered from the south westerly breeze.

Other nice insects included Lesser-marsh Grasshopper,Roesel's-bush Crickets,Pine Ladybirds and Maiden's Blush Moth,with a good number of Brown Argus also recorded amongst other species.

The following are a selection of photos from the visit:

BeeWolf.

Hairy Shieldbug.

Female Roesel's-bush Cricket Of The Migratory,Macropterous Form,'Diluta'.

Lesser-marsh Grasshopper.

Female Common-blue Butterfly Of The Form 'Caerulescens'.

A Nicely Coloured Male Field Grasshopper.

Local Patching Update,12th & 20th August 2023.

A couple of posts to the local patch here after a poor July weather wise locally and several trips away it was back to the patch and proper birding again.

The following is what i recorded over the visits:

Saturday 12th August

A really good visit today with the Black Swan still present at dawn along with the Mute Swan flock at Winter's.

Other birds here included the lone adult Great-crested Grebe still,8 Little Grebe which included a pair with 2 very small chicks,13 Tufted Duck,12 Gadwall,Green Sandpiper,Greenshank,9 Coot and a Whimbrel which flew south.

A watch from the floodbank saw a few nice birds being logged and these included a flock of 11 Teal,a single Ruff,11 Cormorant and at least 105 Common Terns which were scattered all over the place over the Humber.

A wander down to the Skitter as the tide dropped off saw some nice numbers of mixed waders which included at least 450 Black-tailed Godwit and a massive count for the patch of 421 Avocet.

The latter is by far the largest count i have had here and was really great to see.

Other bits around the Skitter included a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull,3 Common Sands and 34 Curlew.

A walk along the marshes revealed the wanted year tick in the form of 3 juvenile Whinchat flycatching in the sea of thistles,cracking birds and thankfully still an expected passage migrant along this area.

Sunday 20th August

WEBS count Sunday saw a later start than normal as i dropped Mrs R off at work in Brigg.

Winter's was pretty full of birds again as on my last visit with 25 Mute Swan,340 Greylag,22 Teal,5 Gadwall,6 Shoveler,16 Little Grebe,Great-crested Grebe,17 Tufted Duck,7 Coot,3 Snipe,3 Little Egret and a good count of 374 Mallard.

The best bird here though was a cracking juvenile Cuckoo and i wished it well on it's way to Africa.

A watch from the floodbank was a bit of a waste of time with very little over the Humber apart from 2 juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls and at the Skitter a mega count of 2670 Black-tailed Godwit,4 Common Sands,9 Turnstone,59 Avocet and 85 Golden Plover were counted.

The lone Pink-footed Goose was still here also.

A check on the Sea Aster Mining Bee colony saw at least 65 insects prospecting around their burrows just great to see.

A walk along the marshes saw at least 1 Juvenile Whinchat being found and a flock of 4 Ruff dropped in on one of the pools.

A nice couple of visits.

Distant Record Shot Of One Of The Whinchat's,12th.

Black Swan,Winter's Pond,12th.

Tufted Duck Female And Her Brood Along The Floodbank.

Fallow Deer,Revesby Park,11.08.23.

A day out with Lee for our birthday's saw us passing by the Revesby Estate on the way to East Kirkby and as the Fallow Deer were relatively close we pulled over and i took a few shots from the road of these beautiful Deer.

Of course these animals are farmed but i have seen this species in the wild in the woods around Caistor and in the south of the county and also at other stately homes such as Chatsworth.

The following are my favourite pics:

 

MSQ Insects etc.,Thursday 10th August 2023.

 A decent forecast today,albeit a tad breezy,saw me visiting this superb little reserve,the following are my highlights from the visit.

It soon became apparent that there were quite a few Butterflies on the wing as i made my way around the reserve,with the highlight from a personal point of view being 2 2nd gen Holly Blue,with 23 Red Admiral and 15 Brimstone good counts.

Other species and numbers were as follows: 36 Peacock,3 Large White,3 Small White,4 Comma,2 Green-veined White,6 Speckled Wood,13 Meadow Brown,16 Gatekeeper and a Small Copper.

Some lovely views of Common Lizard were also enjoyed,with 4 individual males found,one which allowed a close approach for some nice close up photos.

Bird highlights as i walked included a Great-white Egret roosting on the island near the Wader hide and 2 Green Woodpecker.

As i approached an area of Hemp Agrimony,a largish,brightly coloured and marked Digger Wasp flew past me and began nectaring and it soon became apparent it was,unbelievably a BeeWolf,a species i had not seen in Lincolnshire and not seen since i visited Minsmere in 2020.

This was a total surprise and i managed to find a further 2 insects,my photos were not great unfortunately due to the insects being continually on the move,but you can see the abdominal markings clearly on the pics and the distinct reddish border to the rear of the head.

This species is still very rare in the UK,but is pushing north as are so many other species,it is so called as it is a parasitic species which lines it nest burrow with Honey Bees for its young to feed on.

I carried on looking around the reserve and then came across a lifer and a species i have wanted to see for some time,Corizus hyoscyami or Red & Black Rhopalid.

This species used to be only found on the south coast in the UK,but has been recorded now as far north as Yorkshire,the sighting being a lovely surprise and addition to my life list.

It belongs to the Rhopalidae family of Bugs,closely related to Leather Bugs and feed on Seeds and fruit.

So a pretty good visit considering and a lifer and 2 new species for my Lincolnshire insect list.

Male Brimstone.

Female Field Grasshopper.

BeeWolf,What A Cracking Insect!.

Common Lizard.

Red & Black Rhopalid,What A Beauty!.

Fantastic Filey,Wednesday 9th August 2023.

A visit today with Tracey mainly for a trip out in the continuing nice weather saw us having a lovely day despite the cold northerly wind.

As we made our way along the Brigg it soon became apparent there was quite a swell on the sea,with some impressive breakers hitting the Brigg and we spent some time photographing this impressive sight.

A few birds on Carr Naze included a couple of juvenile Stonechat and a Yellow Wagtail,with a Wheatear bombing past us as we made our way down to the shoreline.

More bird sightings ensued along and off the Brigg,with Arctic and Common Terns present,with a small group of Sandwich Terns fishing in the bay.

The best of the birds here,flew north,a smart Sooty Shearwater,my first of the year.

A small group of Common Scoter,2 Eider,Dunlin,Redshank and a cracking summer plumaged Grey Plover were also seen.

Then it was back to attempting to photograph the waves crashing on the Brigg,an amazing,if not slightly scary sight at times,as huge waves powered over the reefs.

Soon it was time to head home after a really enjoyable walk here,a place we have spent many a happy hour over the years and I'm sure we will be back again soon.

The Snaking Headland Of The Brigg.

The Very Impressive Scenery Here On The Seaward Side Of The Brigg.

A Confiding Moulting Adult Dunlin,Watched Feeding On The Brigg.

Housesteads Roman Fort To Sycamore Gap,Monday 7th August 2023.

A visit today to the amazing Roman fort at Housesteads in Northumberland saw us enjoying the ruins and history of this amazing area which was part of the Roman occupation of this area and Britain and built in AD 124.

The famous wall began construction 2 years earlier in AD 122 and today we walked a 2.5 mile section up to the famous Sycamore Gap and back.

The scenery along here is surprisingly very nice and i was a bit taken aback by it,with the rolling hills and loughs dotted here and there making for a lovely landscape.

It was great to actually walk on a section of the wall and amazing to think that it was built almost 2000 years earlier.

Only one notable bird was seen,a Crossbill as it flew overhead calling.

The following are my favourite photos from our day.

Weardale Looking Towards Langdon Beck.

The Ruins Of Housesteads Roman Fort.

You Can See Hadrian's Wall Snaking Along To The Right Of The Photo.

Crag Lough.

Sycamore Gap.