Thor's Cave,Ilam Park & Stunning Dove Dale,Monday 25th May 2020.

Another trip out today into the southern part of the Peak District National Park(White Peak),saw us visiting some fantastic areas.
 First,we visited the amazing Thor's Cave in the Manifold Valley close to the little village of Wetton.This is one of the most impressive caves we have visited and has to be seen to be believed and has been inhabited through millenia,with the cave actually been occupied on and off since the Paleolithic period with remains of at least 7 burials found during archeological digs on the site,with it being used mainly during the Iron Age and Roman times. 
 The woodland around this area was of typical limestone areas,rich in wildflowers and birds,with highlights including 2 singing male Redstart,Spotted Flycatcher,Welsh Poppy,Dog's Mercury,Yellow Archangel,Blue Bell's and the lovely smelling Ramson's.
 After visiting this superb area,we then travelled the short distance over to Ilam Park and walked over to the stepping stones in Dovedale and climbed the very high(Well my old legs certainly thought so)Thorpe Cloud.The views from this mini mountain were breathtaking and certainly worth it,with views around Dovedale and back across to Ilam Park.
 The wildlife was pretty interesting also in the area with 2 more singing male Redstart,Grey Wagtail,Common Buzzrds,Common-blue Butterflies,Brown Argus,Small Heath and wildflowers including Wild Thyme and Common Rock Rose.
 The following are a selection of photos from our day in this beautiful area of the peak District.

Entrance To Manifold Valley.

The Entrance To Thor's Cave.

A View Of The Manifold Valley From The Entrance To Thor's Cave.

Cave Scenery.

Looking Out From Inside The Cave,This View Probably Hasn't Changed In Thousands Of Years.

A Photo Showing The Scale Of The Cave With Mrs R For Comparison.

The Valley Below The Cave,You Can Just see It Top Left.

Wetton.

Ilam Park,With Thorpe Cloud Middle Right.

The River Manifold,Ilam Park.

Ilam Park.

My Partner in Crime.

Bunster Hill.

Dove Dale.

Common-rock Rose.

Views From The Climb Up Thorpe Cloud.

One Of The Locals With An Itch.

Church Of The Holy Cross,Ilam Park.

Church Of The Holy Cross,Ilam Park.

Padley Gorge At Last!,Sunday 17th May 2020.

As the title suggests,i have been meaning to visit this lovely valley just inside the Peak District National Park for some time after hearing so many good things about it and also the fact it still held breeding Wood Warblers,a species i had not seen on its breeding grounds for some time it has to be said.
 So we set off bright and early arriving at the roadside parking place in good time before the hordes from Sheffield arrived.
 As we hadn't visited the site before we covered it all in a big loop,walking as far as Grindleford train station and then back along the gorge to where we had parked.The majority of the woodland was ancient Sessile Oak,with some Beech and other species mixed in making for an impressive sight.
 Numbers of species observed were as follows and included 5 singing male Redstart,2 Spotted Flycatcher,4 male Pied Flycatcher and singles of singing male Tree Pipit,Cuckoo and sadly only 1 male Wood Warbler.The latter though was the real target we had come to see and it showed very nicely,albeit overhead for most of the time and it was really great to hear one singing again,a sound i hadn't heard since finding one in the Humber Bridge viewing area at Barton in the early 2000's.
 The gorge is in a stunning part of the 'Dark Peak' and it was really great to be back in one of our favourite parts of the country.

Mrs R.

Wood Ants With A Caterpillar.

Male Wood Warbler.

Donnington-on-Bain & Biscathorpe,16.05.20.

We had planned today to carry out a circular walk in the heart of the Lincolnshire Wolds between the lovely little village of Donnington-on-Bain and the deserted medieval village of Biscathorpe and after a look at the forthcoming forecast this was where Tracey and myself headed today.
 It was an area which we had both never visited before and to be honest all i had heard about the area was true,it was a very picturesque area,with the lovely rolling hills of the wolds and the bubbling River Bain running along the valley bottom between the two villages.
 We also managed to see some of the local wildlife too which included a few singing male Corn Buntings and the nice sight of a female Roe Deer,which almost walked up to Trace without her even seeing it.
 An added bonus was the excellent Post and Pantry tea rooms which sell a range of lovely local produce,particularly the meat pies which are to die for.
 The following are a selection of photos from our walk in this lovely little part of the Lincolnshire Wolds,one of which we will certainly be visiting again.

St.Andrew's Church,Donington-on-Bain.

Mrs R.

The Towering Belmont Television Mast.

Crowle & Thorne Moors......What A Day Out!....Friday 15th May 2020.

A plan to visit the Crowle And Thorne Moors complex today,to try and obtain some video of both Red Deer and Four-spotted Chasers certainly paid off and i also managed to find a cracking 2nd calendar year male Red-footed Falcon as a bonus.
 The following is a short account of the visit:

As i headed out of Crowle village towards the NNR,i was sure i could see a herd of Red Deer near the car park and sure enough there was,a whopping 54 animals.I was gob smacked how calm and not spooked they were as i parked up and quietly set my scope up and began to record some video with my phone.They seemed pretty settled in my presence and just quietly walked away as i videoed them.Perhaps it was the fact it was only just getting light properly and they were more confident with it being darkish still.
 Also in the field which used to hold the goats,was a lovely Barn Owl hunting,another lovely sight to see.
 As the Deer quietly dispersed,i got all my kit together for my day on the NNR and i began to head off hearing a lovely male Cuckoo as i walked.
 There had been a light ground frost again and i feared for the numbers of Odonata as it may have killed a few as i tramped through the wet grass.
 I passed over the bailey bridge onto Thorne and into gods own county,to the sound of a further 3 male Cuckoo,it was just so peacefull and a real privilege to be out.
 I eventually found some Four-spot Chasers and spent a good 30 minutes videoing and photographing them and i have added some of the photos and video clips on my Dragonfly sightings blog here @ https://LincolnshireOdes.blogspot.com .
 After enjoying the Dragons i walked around to Blue Bridge and sat and had a drink and something to eat.
 A quick scan around,saw a single Hobby hunting low down and perching on a post in the centre of one of the pools and i moved around there to try and get some video.I did achieve a short clip,but not as long as i would have liked.
 It was while i was waiting for the Hobby to return to it's perch of which it didnt,i noticed another bird gliding along low at some distance,which stalled and hovered briefly and i thought to myself 'Thats not a Hobby'.It proceeded to land on top of a Birch and i scoped it at 60x and it didn't have a white cheek patch,it WAS a male Red-footed Falcon.I edged closer as quick as i could and it disappeared again,thankfully though,after about 20 minutes,i relocated the bird,again perched.A very fast walk,almost run,saw me getting relatively close to the bird as it just sat there eating a Four-spot Chaser...at this moment i was in raptures,what a cracking bird and i had found it!.I saw it a further 2 times,the last at about ten past eleven,when it was in the company of a Hobby,where they were perched fairly close together.What a superb encounter and a new species for my self found list.
 In all the hurrying about,i had thankfully got some decent video footage,which will certainly confirm things enough for the YNU records committee.
 The rest of the visit was just totally relaxed after my nice little find and i look forward with anticipation to my next visit and more nice finds hopefully.

Red Deer,Crowle Moor.

Red Deer,Crowle Moor.

The Limstone Road,Thorne Moors.

Messingham Insects,14.05.20.

A trip to the reserve today,primarily to record Odonata,saw some nice Insects being recorded,the following are a selection of my best photographs from the visit.

Snipe Fly Species - Rhagio scolopaceous

Cranefly Species - Tipula vernalis.

Sawfly Species - Tenthredo temula.

Hoverfly Species - Myathropa florea.

Fly Species - Graphomya maculata.

Fly Species - Pherbina coryleti

Alder Fly - Sialis lutaria

East Halton/Goxhill,Back To The Humber Patch At Last!.....13.05.20.

After a very long 7 weeks not visiting here due to the virus restrictions and after the relaxation of this now,i paid the Humber patch a visit,the following is what i saw.
 Winter's Pond held a few nice birds first thing,with 40+ Sand Martin,7 Whimbrel on the pasture and a patch tick in the form of a Muntjac observed near the pond at the rear of the site.The latter was a surprise,as i did not think i would see one here for some reason,but they are spreading around the country rapidly.
 I walked along the mitigation site next and was treated to 2 species new for the patch year list,Greenshank and Little-ringed Plover,both observed on the wet areas as expected.Also on the mitigation site were 8 Roe Deer and 2 Brown Hare,all of which showed brilliantly.
 I then walked along the beck and along Chapel Field Road then up to East Marsh Road,with nothing unusual being seen,but just the usual common birds and summer migrants,brilliant to watch.
 At Goxhill Haven,a lovely flock of 19 Turnstone gave some superb views and a chance to get some photos and video.They really are lovely little waders and it is incredible to think that these birds are en-route to arctic Canada to breed.
 A good look around Dawson City didn't reveal any avian surprises unfortunately,but some nice insects were seen and included Hoverflies Rhingia campestris,Syritta pipiens,Helophilus pendulus and the common Fly Mesembrina meridiana.
 A male Cuckoo was heard but not seen between Dawson and the Skitter and along the sea wall near to Winter's a lovely flock of 18 Dunlin and 13 'Tundrae' Ringed Plover were watched.The latter are the arctic race of our common Ringed Plover and are smaller and darker plumaged than our native birds,really nice to see.
 So today was a welcome return here and hopefully now i can make my usual weekly visits again now to my beloved patch.

Roe Deer On The Mitigation Site.

The Mitigation Site And East Halton Skitter.

Dawson City LWTR.

Hoverfly Sp. Syritta pipiens,Dawson City LWTR.

Hoverfly Sp. Rhingia campestris,Dawson City LWTR.

Hoverfly Sp. Rhingia campestris,Dawson City LWTR.

Hoverfly Sp. Helophilus pendulus,Dawson City LWTR.

Fly Sp. Mesembrina meridiana,Dawson City LWTR.

Dawson City LWTR.

Firecrest Corner Looking Lovely,Goxhill Marsh.

Winter's Pond,East Halton.

The Village Patch,27th April,10th and 12th May 2020.

Another compilation of three visits here,with as always,some nice birds and wildlife observed only ten minutes from my door step.

27th April

A few nice birds today included a female Wheatear at the sewage works,which flew onto the horse paddocks at the back of the works,my second record here this spring and third bird.
 A little further on a new species for the year was found in the form of a singing male Grasshopper Warbler,which did not show well at all unfortunately,but was great to hear locally.
 The local Barn Owl was watched hunting along Skeggar Beck and the breeding waders and Sand Martins are settling down to business.

10th May

An afternoon visit in horrible weather for the time of year,with a freezing northerly wind and rain proved to be very fruitfull,with three year ticks for the patch in the form of 2 Whimbrel,5 Dunlin and a cracking Hobby.
 The waders had no doubt dropped in due to the weather conditions and i'm hoping the Hobby could end up being a local breeding bird.

12th May

Another great visit and an early start today in much better conditions,albeit with a ground frost!.
 The Barn Owl was seen again hunting along the beck again this morning and also a Hobby was seen hunting the Sand Martin colony on two occasions,perhaps the same bird as on the 10th.
 One new for the year species for here,came in the form of a singing male Reed Warbler.
 A few nice mammal sightings included a female Roe Deer,2 Fox and a Brown Hare.
 It was great to see some young birds today also,with broods of Mallard,Lapwing and Moorhen seen.