Saltfleetby & Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR, Saturday 21st June 2025

Another visit to this superb NNR, bright and early today, after warden Owen Beaumont had found a singing male Savi's Warbler a few days previously. We also planned to look for Odonata and a separate post on my Dragonfly sightings blog can be found here @ https://LincolnshireOdes.blogspot.com .

After arriving just after dawn, i got my kit together and made my way down to where the Savi's Warbler had been singing and as i neared where the bird had been reported i could hear it singing. After meeting up with Dave H, we settled down to enjoy some really nice scope views of the bird as it sang from relatively the same area. Most of the ID features could be seen through the scope, with the rounded tail and pale edged undertail coverts being visible, along with the diffuse supercilium and slight breast band. This is my first sighting of the species in Lincolnshire and has been a long time coming to be honest, with a twitchable one in the county being absent for many, many years.

After enjoying the lovely Locustella, i spent an hour or so scanning the sea, saltmarsh and surrounding area waiting for Daz to arrive. Some nice birds which were seen from my viewpoint included 2 Barn Owl, a Great-white Egret, 2 Eider which flew south, 100+ Common Scoter sat on the sea and 14 Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits which also flew south.

When Daz finally arrived, we went to explore and look for Odonata. While wandering about, other nice sightings included Pyramidal and Southern-marsh Orchids, Marsh Helleborines and 40+ Small Skipper and overhead 2 Red Kites thermalled slowly south.

By the time lunch time had arrived i was knackered after the early start and it was just too hot, so i called it a day, but i had already been on site for a good 8 hours.

The following are a selection of pics and videos from the visit.

A Phonescoped Shot Of The Male Savi's Warbler

Small Skipper.

A Great View Of Part Of The NNR At Rimac.

Phone Pic Of A Marsh Helleborine.

Phone Pic Of A Pyramidal Orchid.

Messingham Sand Quarries LWTR, Friday 6th June 2025

A visit here in pretty decent conditions, but perhaps a little windy after finishing work, saw some superb insects being found, with another 2 'New' personal species of Hoverfly seen and photographed.

The new Hovers were Helophilus hybridus and Chrysogaster solstitialis, with me thankfully managing to get some nice photos of both species. Other nice species observed during the visit included Chrysotoxum festivum, both colour forms of Volucella bombylans, Platycheirus rosarum, Scaeva selenetica, Cheilosia illustrata, Myathropa florea, Volucella pelluscens, Tropidia scita and Parhelophilus fruitetorum/versicolor.

Flies seemed to be the continuing theme, with some lovely Robberflies being recorded, which included Common-awl and Fan-bristled, with Stiletto Fly Thereva nobilitata, a female Sicus ferrugineus  and my first Black Snipeflies of the year.

Another family of insects i take great interest in, as my regular readers will be aware of, are Orthoptera and today, my first 2 species of Grasshopper were seen. Both were final instar nymphs of Common-green Grasshopper and a personal favourite, Lesser-marsh Grasshopper, with both insects being males.

A few interesting beetles were encountered and included several Garden Chafers, with their metallic green head and thorax and Harlequin Ladybirds seem to be everywhere no doubt after the bumper spring of Greenflies.

Lepidoptera were mainly represented by Moths and Caterpillars, with the nicest sightings including 2 Elephant Hawkmoths, the colourful, but diminutive Micro Moth, Pammene aurana, my first Meadow Browns of the year and a cluster of Small Tortoiseshell larvae.

Finally a species i hadn't seen for quite sometime, was observed today, Bronze Shieldbug, this lovely insect gave some great views and i also managed to find a couple of Red-legged Shieldbugs for good measure.

The following are my favourite photos from the day.

Micro Moth Species Pammene aurana

Bronze Shieldbug

Common-awl Robberfly

Garden Chafer

Final Instar Red-legged Shieldbug

Hoverfly - Chrysogaster solstitialis

Hoverfly - Cheilosia illustrata

Common-awl Robberfly

Brimstone Butterfly Caterpillar

Male Lesser-marsh Grasshopper Nymph

Male Common-green Grasshopper Nymph

Stilletto Fly - Thereva nobilitata

Comma

Meadow Brown

Parhelophilus fruitetorum/versicolor

Small Tortoiseshell Caterpillars

Hoverfly - Chrysotoxum festivum

Scaeva selenetica

Hoverfly - Helophilus pendulus

Sicus ferrugineus, Waiting For An Unsuspecting Victim

Black Snipefly

Hoverfly - Volucella Bombylans

Fan-bristled Robberfly

Hoverfly - Volucella pelluscens

Hoverfly - Parhelophilus fruitetorom/versicolor

Hoverfly - Helophilus hybridus

Hoverfly - Tropidia scita

Elephant Hawkmoth

Spider Species - Pisaura mirablis

Saltfleetby & Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR, Saturday 31st May 2025

A change of scenery today, travelling down the Lincolnshire coast to the Saltfleetby & Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR, basing myself at the Rimac car park. It was a pre-planned trip to look for Odonata mainly, but hoping for a few birds and insects.

I had planned to meet up with fellow birder Darren Wozencroft, but he wasn't coming down until 8.30ish, so after arriving i did some birding first as the temperature was fairly cool for insects.

The first hour or so was pretty productive, with 2 Spoonbills watched flying north overhead, a Hobby seen twice over the Dunes and a Great-white Egret which gave some nice views, to start out on the saltmarsh and then later, closer feeding on the fresh marsh.

When Darren arrived, we went for an explore seeing a few nice insects which included a couple of Wall Butterflies, Common-blue and Large Skippers and i managed to find my first Roesel's-bush Cricket of the new season.

As the temperature rose, we turned our attention to Odonata, but i did manage to find a few more nice insects and we enjoyed more views of now 2 Hobby, as they hawked Dragonflies over the dunes and fresh water marsh.

We also had a singing male Grasshopper Warbler singing out on the developing foreshore.

For an account of the Dragonflies and Damselflies we encountered, please follow this link : https://LincolnshireOdes.blogspot.com 

My favourite photos from the visit are here:

A Great View Of Rimac 

Male Roesel's-bush Cricket Nymph.

Dune Robberfly.

Large Skipper.

Peacock Butterfly Caterpillars

Hoverfly - Eupeodes latifasciatus

The Dipping Pond At Rimac.

Common Red-legged Robberfly

Stiletto Fly-Theriva nobilitata