Normanby Nature

Talk on Uganda's Birds and Gorilla's tonight

2012-01-12T15:47:00.000Z

A little late notice I know but Wayne is doing a talk/digital image show tonight for the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust at St Hugh's Church Hall, Ashby Rd, Scunthorpe at 7.30. On Monday (16th) we are also doing a talk on Sri Lanka at the Scunthorpe Museum again starting at 7.15 all welcome to both talks.

Tonight’s Sky

2012-01-09T19:54:00.001Z

The sky is so brilliant tonight that we tried a bit of digiscoping - not so easy as everything is moving so fast! so here’s our attempt at the Moon and Jupiter.

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn – can be seen in early January 2012 and all except Mercury can be seen for part of the night throughout January 2012 - here is Jupiter with three of its moons showing

Great White Egret and Great Grey Shrike

2011-12-31T17:27:00.001Z

A great day! Finally saw my first Great White Egret in the Scunthorpe recording area today plus Great Grey Shrike also in Scunthorpe recording area.

SEASONS GREETINGS

2011-12-24T17:03:00.001Z

NORMANBY NATURE WISHES ALL OUR VIEWERS A VERY MERRY AND PEACEFUL CHRISTMAS AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR

Tundra Bean Geese and Eurasian White-fronted Geese on the Humber

2011-12-24T15:47:00.001Z

Another excellent winter for wild geese on the Humber from Read’s Island to Alkborough Flats, with around 120 White-fronted Geese and several groups of Tundra Bean Geese totalling around 60 and roughly 1600 Pink-Feet..so first image below shows 1 White front with Tundra Beans and the second solely Bean’s.

Sri Lanka - a summary

2011-12-18T17:14:00.001Z

A stunning Island with fabulous food, people, scenery, mammals and of course birds - if you need any further info about our trip contact me otherwise just go and see for yourself you will not be disappointed!

A few flowers and foliage of Sri Lanka

2011-12-15T17:24:00.001Z

The Sacred Temple of Tooth - Shri Dalada Maligawa

2011-12-15T16:56:00.001Z

There are very few sacred places remaining, where the Buddhist world can actually worship. The Sacred Temple of Tooth in Sri Lanka being probably one of those very special places. This magnificently decorated palace enshrines the sacred left upper canine tooth relic of Lord Buddha, which rests on a solid gold lotus flower, encased in jewel caskets that sit on a throne. The tooth is on view to the public twice a day and we were lucky to go to a viewing in the evening.

As with all temples shoes are left outside..

The casket containing the tooth

A few more Sri Lankan birds..

2011-12-15T16:32:00.001Z

Black-headed Oriole

White Bellied Drongo

Sri Lankan Green Pigeon

Red-vented Bulbul

White-rumped Munia

Yellow Billed Babbler

Black Bulbul

Black-throated Munia

Red-wattled Lapwing

Painted Stork

Barred Button Quail

Brown Shrike

Red-vented Bulbul

Peafowl

Pintail Snipe

Shikra

Stone Curlew

Sinharaja

2011-12-09T15:51:00.001Z

What can I say about Sinharaja - well it’s very hot and humid, it’s full of leeches and it has one of the bumpiest windiest roads leading up to it but it has fantastic birding!

Yellow Naped Woodpecker

Crested Treeswift

Green Imperial Pigeon

The track up to Sinharaja (Wayne and Chaminda)

Chaminda feeding the chickens! Jungle Fowl were never this easy in Thailand.

Blue Magpie

Changeable Hawk Eagle

Leeched again!

Hill Myna

There’s nothing like a good cup of tea…

2011-12-07T20:42:00.001Z

…and us English know a good one from a bad one and I can confirm that in all our travels around the world Sri Lanka out performs everyone in the tea stakes! So….

Tea at the Blue Magpie Lodge, Sinharaja where not only did they produce the best cup of tea in Sri Lanka but also the best “rice and curry”

Tea Plantation at Nuwara Eliya

Tour of the tea factory!

This was unbelievable - a tea grinding machine made over a hundred years ago in a town ten miles from where we live in the UK!!

Lunch at the Blue Magpie Lodge

Indian Pitta

2011-12-06T20:27:00.001Z

Totally unlike any Pitta I have seen - this one seemed to love posing for the camera, normally Pittas skulk around in the dark and you get a fleeting glimpse if you’re lucky.

Sri Lankan Elephant

2011-12-06T20:05:00.001Z

Whilst smaller than their African counterparts the Sri Lankan Elephants are the largest of the Asian Elephants - these images were all taken in Yala NP.

Barbets and Parrots

2011-12-04T14:03:00.001Z

Ceylon Hanging Parrot

Plum Headed Parakeet

Yellow-fronted Barbet

Brown-headed Barbet

Layards Parakeet

Young Layards Parakeet which crashed dived in front of us!

Sri Lanka Little Barbet

Indian Flying Fox

2011-12-04T12:29:00.001Z

Can never get over the size of these fruit eating bats - this large roost must have contained close to a thousand bats.

Ceylon Grey Hornbill video and Malabar Pied Hornbill

2011-12-04T12:22:00.001Z

Sri Lanka has just two Hornbills - the endemic Ceylon/Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill and the Malabar Pied Hornbill

Malabar Pied Hornbills

Tissamarahama and Bundala NP

2011-12-02T16:07:00.001Z

Tissa is a lovely area with a beautiful man made reservoir teaming with Water Hyacinth and birds whilst Bundala is a vast area covered in waders - we could have had a week in this area alone.

Cotton Pygmy Goose

Lesser Whistling duck

Purple Heron

Small Pratincole

Great Thick knee

Whilst in Bundala NP our guide had a call from the Park HQ to say they had found a bird on the beach and could we identify it - we were amazed to find this Brown Skua in a dusbin completely oiled up. A lifer for our guide and Park Rangers although I doubt if it survived.

Black Bittern

Yellow Bittern

Indian Pond Heron

Darter

Pheasant Tailed JacanaPacific Golden Plover

Yellow Wattled Lapwing

At first glance a Painted Stork but..

2011-12-02T14:39:00.001Z

look a little closer and ?

Reptiles

2011-12-01T15:32:00.001Z

We saw ten species of reptile including the following - not sure what species the frogs are but both were found in rain forest.

Green Garden Lizard

Water Monitor

Land Monitor

Soft-shelled Terrapin

Kangaroo Lizard

Indian Rock Python

Green Vine Snake

Bee-eaters and Kingfishers

2011-12-01T15:06:00.001Z

White-breasted Kingfisher

Blue-tailed Bee-eater

Common Kingfisher

Little Green Bee-eater

Chestnut-headed Bee-eater

Owls of Sri Lanka

2011-11-29T19:00:00.001Z

Never before have we had so many views of day time roosts of Owls and all of course all thanks to Chaminda’s local knowledge - in total we saw 6 species of Owl and the Sri Lanka Frogmouth.

Serendib Scops Owl

Chestnut-backed Owlet

Indian Scops Owl

Jungle Owlet

Brown Wood-owl

Brown Fish-owl

Ceylon Frogmouths

Ceylon Frogmouth on nest.

Scaly Thrush Video

2011-11-29T17:07:00.001Z

Poor quality but a true skulker of the forest floor and too close really for digiscoping.

Sri Lanka Scaly Thrush

Sri Lankan Endemics

2011-11-28T20:34:00.001Z

Well the title gives it away, we have been to Sri Lanka with an aim of seeing all 33 endemic bird species and happily we did see them all and even managed to photograph a few of them…. thanks go to our guide Chaminda Dilruk without whom we wouldn’t have stood a chance. We made all our arrangements through A. Baur & Co but Chaminda can be contacted direct at prcdilruk@sitnet.lk or prcdilruk@yahoo.com we can’t recommend him too highly - expert birder and all round organiser. So here’s all the endemics we managed to photograph;

1. Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill

2. Serendib Scops Owl

3. Sri Lanka Scaly Thrush

4. Yellow-fronted Barbet

5. Chestnut-backed Owlet

6. Crimson-backed Woodpecker

7. Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot

8. Sri Lanka Blue Magpie

9. Layard’s Parakeet

10. Sri Lanka Crested Drongo

11. Sri Lanka Green Pigeon

12. Sri Lanka Jungle Fowl (chicken!)

13. Sri Lanka Small Barbet

14. White-faced Starling

15. Green-billed Coucal

Another clue…

2011-11-26T17:35:00.001Z

as to where we have been whilst I continue to sort through images - Since the Serendib Scops Owl Otus thilohoffmanni was discovered in 2001 it has been observed in the rainforests of ? by many people. Now nearly every birdwatcher living in, visiting or planning to visit the island looks forward somehow to seeing this attractive little creature. Endemic to ?, the species is so secretive that it eluded all avifaunal surveys of the country, begun by the Dutch more than 200 years ago. How many ornithologists and other birdwatchers must have explored the island’s rainforests across the decades unaware that a spectacular bird unknown to science was perched not far from them!

Just back ....

2011-11-24T13:29:00.001Z

Just returned from a fabulous two weeks birding trip where we picked up all 33 endemic birds and the odd cat - many photos to follow shortly!

Lesser Yellow Legs in the Scunthorpe Reporting Area

2011-10-30T16:44:00.001Z

Found today by Wayne and Neil this North American wader is a first for the Scunthorpe Reporting Area - very distant so poor shots I’m afraid.

Note size comparison when compared to Redshank - Lesser Yellow Legs on the left.

Autumn Roundup

2011-10-23T18:30:00.001+01:00

The Shadoxhurst Garden mob are up so the pressure was on to find some good birds and it started with one of my favourite birds of all time sitting on our aerial - the Mistle Thrush, not rare or scarce but a good bird never the less. We set off for the Humber and east of Read’s Island we had a good flock of 984 Avocets being chased around by a Peregrine and a couple of Marsh Harriers over the Island. Further on up at Far Ings we then had good (but not good enough for photos) of the Ferruginous Duck which seems to have settled in for the autumn and also a nice fly by Bittern.

On Ness Pit the Alkborough Chiloe Widgeon was showing well - not a wild bird but nice to see

and whilst looking for a Jack Snipe could only find a Common Snipe.

In Normanby Park at the moment we have plenty of Goldfinch and Siskins plus a small flock of Crossbills commuting to and from Little Normanby.

Late Hornet activity

2011-10-13T16:43:00.001+01:00

Still having Hornet activity both in the Park and the garden but it can only be a matter of time before the cold kills them off - not that it’s cold we are still experiencing a slight Indian summer but I saw my first Redwings on Monday and the Jays in the Park are frantically gathering up Acorns and Sweet Chestnuts. We seem to have had a small influx of Goldcrests overnight with one in the garden and a smattering throughout the Park.

Autumn in Normanby Park contd.

2011-10-13T16:27:00.001+01:00

Nothing to do with nature but definitely autumn colours!

Autumn in the Park

2011-10-12T13:17:00.001+01:00

Finally we have some proper rain - it was pouring down this morning so I, my camera and my binoculars all got drenched but I saw something I have never seen before - a Stoat at least 3 metres up a Beech tree being mobbed by Nuthatches, Great Tits/Blue Tits, Blackbirds and a Song thrush. It was too dark to get any photos but the colours of the Stoat and the Nuthatches looked spectacular against the autumn leaves. Quite what the Stoat was doing up the tree is a mystery to me and as I say I have never seen this behaviour before.

Grey Phalarope - Alkborough Flats

2011-10-09T19:33:00.001+01:00

A call from Neil this afternoon to say he had found this brilliant Grey Phalarope - tricky to photograph as it never stayed still and it was blowing a gale as usual.

Ferruginous Duck - Far Ings, Barton

2011-10-08T20:24:00.001+01:00

After missing out on White Rumped Sandpiper and Buff Breasted Sandpiper shots at Alkborough recently the Nikon P6000 is back in action with a £20 screen off Ebay and a DIY video on Youtube. A call from Graham alerted us to this male Ferruginous Duck in moult and despite dull rainy weather the photos aren’t too bad and as an added bonus two Water Rails were on show in front of the hide.

Red Deer Rutting Season

2011-10-05T18:09:00.001+01:00

Well it’s that time of year again when the battle of the stags gets underway in the Park. Already the battle seems to be have won by one contender and he seems to have won a large group of females with no real fight on his hand. The remaining stags seem to be haggling over a small group of females and were fighting this afternoon - most images are heavily cropped as the deer are very easily spooked (a large lens is required!) All the videos are taken with a Panasonic FZ100 at 24x optical zoom (600mm in old terms).

This Stag is scent marking and indeed the whole area smells heavily musk….

Sunset over Alkborough Flats and yet another Crane but not a Sandhill!

2011-09-27T20:42:00.001+01:00

Dramatic sunset over Alkborough tonight and whilst taking photos a Common Crane flew in to roost - digiscoped videos at end of post taken with Canon S95 as the Nikon p6000 usually used for digiscoping has gone caput at only 2 years old! Some of the sunsets are also digiscoped and are all displayed in time order.

Sandhill Crane - Loch of Strathbeg

2011-09-25T12:46:00.001+01:00

It’s not often we do a big twitch these days but yesterday’s call of the Sandhill Crane up in Scotland at the RSPB’s Loch of Strathbeg was just too strong for Wayne to resist. So with Karen and Simon we left at midnight to reach the Crane at 7.00 just in time to see it leaving its roost and heading off to feed in surrounding fields. It definitely gave us the run around but thanks to the three RSPB ladies constantly using their local knowledge to keep a track of it and then communicating updates to visitors we were never far behind it.

Sandhill Crane short videos

2011-09-25T12:43:00.001+01:00

This next video is only three seconds but is on as you can hear the Crane calling as it flys.

Sandhill Crane Flight Shots

2011-09-25T11:45:00.001+01:00

Sabine’s Gull - Leadenham, Lincolnshire

2011-09-19T11:25:00.001+01:00

A scruffy looking 1st winter Sabine’s Gull on a smelly landfill site.

2nd Summer Long Tailed Skua

2011-09-15T09:49:00.001+01:00

A few dramas at home mean I’m not getting out at the minute so a bit of creative swiping is the only means of a blog post at the moment! so… I wish I had seen and photographed this bird but I didn’t - this was taken on the beach at Dungeness by my brother aka http://theshadoxhurstgarden.blogspot.com/ for more images click on the link!

Chicken of the Woods?

2011-09-08T14:28:00.001+01:00

Found this down by the fishing lake in the park and think it is Chicken of the Woods(Sulphur Polypore) - does anybody know?

A fair view butterflies out this morning, mainly Red Admirals and Small Whites but also this lonely Small Copper and a Comma in the garden. Also in the park this morning was a solitary Hornet chasing the bees in the walled garden - no photos as it was just too fast!

More record counts and a Crane!

2011-09-04T19:06:00.001+01:00

Yet another record count of Avocets on the Humber up at Read’s Island yesterday - a staggering amount of 1458! This morning’s waders included 23 Curlew Sandpipers, 5 Little Stint, 88 Bar-Tailed Godwits, 82 Knot, 2 Whimbrel and 2 Spotted Redshank.

The River Ancholme is covered in green algae at the moment and is finding its way out on to the Humber making interesting green stripes as it goes. All the following images were taken with my Father’s new Panasonic FZ100 - its 24x zoom certainly came in handy for the distant Common Crane down on Bonby Carrs this afternoon.

Looking east towards the Humber Bridge

and looking West back towards Read’s Island.

Spot the Crane..

Read’s Island’s Waders

2011-08-25T20:47:00.001+01:00

Another beautiful evening up at Read’s Island - and in amongst thousands of small waders comprising mainly Ring Plover and Dunlin were 35 Knot, 1 Sanderling, 1 Little Stint, 10 Curlew Sandpipers, 4 Ruff,1 Grey Plover and 4 Turnstone. Also 5 Common Scoter and 3 Pintail on the river and 37 Fallow Deer out on the Island.

Red Deer Stags

2011-08-23T10:45:00.001+01:00

It’s not often you can get near the Red Deer stags in the Park but this week they have formed a tight group and have become fairly approachable. It seems they are having a pre-rut ‘love-in’ before they knock six bells out of each other in October. No sign yet of their winter coats or neck manes but with a distinct autumnal feel in the air this morning it can only be a matter of time.

Record Counts for the Scunthorpe Reporting Area

2011-08-21T19:45:00.001+01:00

Not one but two record Counts for the area this week, firstly a record high of 1271 Avocets on Read's Island this morning and secondly 18 Spoonbills at Alkborough Flats in the week (15 this afternoon). Also at Alkborough this afternoon 6 Ruddy Shelducks and a hybrid Ruddy/Common Shelduck and at Read's Island 12 Curlew Sandpipers, 1 Ruff, 491 Ringed Plovers, 6 Bar-Tailed Godwits, 5 Grey Plover, 435 Dunlin and 763Curlew - I fear Autumn is here!

Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner

2011-08-18T11:23:00.001+01:00

Well it’s back in the Park again but doesn’t seem quite so advanced as last year - if you look at the images taken last year http://normanbynature.blogspot.com/2010/07/trees-in-park.html which were 3 weeks earlier than today I’m sure the damage is not as great. Last year the whole tree just looked brown where as you can see from the image I took this morning the trees still look pretty healthy - fingers crossed someone will find a way to deal with this intrusive non-native species which by the way is a little micro moth which I still have yet to see.

Buff-Breasted Sandpipers

2011-08-14T22:55:00.001+01:00

Spent the day at Gibralter Point where we had a lovely day but didn’t see much so decided to call in at Horse Shoe Point on the way home for the high tide roost of Terns. It turned in to one of those evenings that will stay in the memory for a long time - the light and the weather couldn’t have been better and as we walked out on the beach we could see Terns beginning to congregate and eventually we estimated 2000 Common Terns, 3 Little Terns , 1 Black Tern, 2 Little Stints and thousand of Ringer Plover, Dunlin, Godwits, Knot and there right in front of us 2 Buff Breasted Sandpipers standing out in perfect light just waiting to have stunning photos taken alas within a minute of me trying to send texts and Wayne trying to delete a full memory card we lost them and despite two hours of searching the beach and neighbouring ploughed field where hundreds of Golden Plover were roosting we never saw them again - moral of the story forget the phone, always have space on your memory card and never take your eye off the bird.

The thin white line in the distance is a mass of Common Terns and Gulls.

Pond Species Update

2011-08-11T15:30:00.001+01:00

Couldn't believe it this morning first a Humming Bird Hawkmoth feeding in the garden on Buddleia and Geraniums and then a Southern Hawker dragonfly spending 5 minutes hawking up and down the pond catching insects - no photos are they were both far too quick for me! The garden is also alive with Hover Flies and Bumble Bees which just love the Japanese Anenomies and Rudbeckia. Our rockery is coming a long well with the first of the plants to flower - a bit of a surprise as it is a white Gentian but it is suppose to be a blue one which should flower is April!

Gentiana Acaulis Rannoch - or not!

Arum Lilly

Japanese Anemone

Rudbeckia

Cosmos

As you can see the pond is beginning to clear of algae with just one central patch left - the rest is slowly starting to clear and we are starting to be able to see the bottom of the pond - clearly we need many more plants in the water to provide oxygen and we still have lots of marginals from the old pond to put back in but its slowly coming along.

Hobby

2011-08-09T21:32:00.001+01:00

Messingham Sand Quarry’s Summer Flowers

2011-08-09T15:44:00.001+01:00

The reserve at Messingham is looking truly wonderful at the moment with a wildflower display around every corner- thanks in the main to the hard work of John Davidson and John Petyt who due to an unfortunate turn of events are no longer in the roles of voluntary wardens of the reserve. So if you want to see it at its best go now as in my opinion the Lincolnshire Trust who manage the reserve will not have the experience or expertise to maintain it in its present state.

Yarrow - Achillea millefolium

Sneezewort - Achillea ptarmica

Heathers with Hawkweed in the background

Narrow Leaved Hawkweed - Hieracium umbellatum

Tansy - Tanacetum vulgare

Great Willowherb - Epilobium hirsutum

Hemp Agrimony - Eupatorium cannabinum

Ragwort with a Cinnabar Caterpillar feeding on it - they absorb the bitter tasting alkaloids that make ragwort distasteful to animals and become distasteful to birds as a result. The bright colours are a warning to birds not to eat them.

Field Scabious - Knautia arvensis

Common Fleabane - Pulicaria dysenterica

Hedge Bindweed - Calystegia sepium

Red Admiral butterfly on Hemp Agrimony - seems to me to have been a poor year for butterflies except for Red Admirals and these are probably continental ones not our own.

Purple Loosestrife - Lythrum salicaria

Pond landscaping..

2011-08-01T19:48:00.001+01:00

..has begun, most of the liner has been hidden under a layer of soil and we are starting to put back everything saved out of the old pond including up to 20 baby Smooth Newts we didn’t know we had. Planting up will be the next stage and putting some paths in - a stone bench has already gone in to a prime morning position for pond watching. It has only been two days since we filled the pond and already we have had a new species - a Whirligig Beetle which we never had in the old pond probably due to a small water surface area.

one of many diving beetles I have yet to identify!

Smooth Newt Tadpole

An easy one to identify the Great Diving Beetle

The Pond..

2011-07-30T21:13:00.001+01:00

Well digging has finished - we got bucket loads of broken glass, rubble and bricks out of the crater and after a lot of levelling and smoothing a layer of sand has gone in…

next went the old underlay from the old pond..

and then the new underlay..

and finally the liner - I think we may have been a little generous with our calculations!

and so to the water, a mixture of rain water, old pond water and tap water it has taken four hours to fill

but is beginning to take shape - landscaping starts tomorrow.

Creating a Garden Pond - progress so far

2011-07-24T16:54:00.001+01:00

Well as you can see the new pond is progressing - hampered by old electricity cables and land drains we have managed to dig a new pond 6m x 8m roughly twice the size of the old pond so hopefully twice as much wildlife! Amazingly only ten minutes ago I kid you not we had an Osprey fly straight over the new pond admittedly at height but what a fantastic garden tick and again minutes after the Osprey went through 2 Crossbills also flew over.

Normanby Nature at last!

2011-07-18T11:43:00.002+01:00

Well after 2 years of blogging I have finally managed to put together a post which actually fits in with the blog summary above ie Normanby, Garden and Nature! So here we go - the first two images was how part of my garden looked last week and the following images show the devastation of the weekend - we have decided the pond isn’t big enough so we have taken out the raised bed and existing pond to make way for the new pond but this has meant we have had to dig up some of the patio which is where the fun begins…..

Wayne emptying the old pond
…under one of the patio slabs we found this mouse nest - the female shot off and left 8 tiny babies shivering so we collected the nest and babies up and put them into our Bumble Bee box and placed it close by in a border - 5 minutes later the female is back and one by one takes all the babies out of the box and back under the remaining patio, she then continues removing all of the nest out of the box and takes that also under the patio - so all’s well with the mice back to the pond!

For four months now our pond has been invaded and wrecked by two local Mallard ducks from Normanby Park - they have eaten virtually all the plants and probably all the pondlife or so we thought - as Wayne was draining the pond he found this adult Smooth Newt together with 3 Frogs, 1 Toad, 1 Giant Diving Beetle, 7 baby Newts and dozens of Water Snails - everything taken out of the pond has been saved ready to go into the new pond including most of the water, sludge and plants

The last image above was taken of the rescued Newt which is now in a tank - I shall post further images of the new pond as we progress - could be a long job!

Marsh Sandpiper at Alkborough Flats

2011-07-11T22:31:00.001+01:00

Moulting adult Marsh Sandpiper at Alkborough Flats this evening gave everyone the run abouts - flying to an area difficult to view and so had to be re-found from the hill side half a mile away! Poor light with many feet shaking the hide equals naff photos.

Dales Landscapes

2011-07-01T22:47:00.001+01:00

The final posting of the Dales - as usual I absolutely loved it and can’t wait to go back - you can never have enough of this wonderful landscape.

Limestone pavement with Pen-y-ghent in the background

Gayle

Muker in Swaledale

Malham Cove

2011-07-01T22:38:00.001+01:00

Once again Peregrines have nested at the Cove and we saw plenty of the three fledglings and the adults flying around the top - no photos as far too distant.

Wild Thyme and Heath Bedstraw or is it! could be Limestone Bedstraw!

Malham Cove

Betony and Salad Burnet

Meadows from Malham to Janet’s Foss

2011-07-01T22:35:00.001+01:00

Meadow Cranesbill

Crosswort

Forget-me-not sp

Hedge Woundwort

Greater Knapweed

Water Avens

Would love to know what this is - the only one in a large meadow

Viaducts!

2011-07-01T22:24:00.001+01:00

Nothing to do with nature but stunning all the same… Ribbleshead Viaduct

Dentdale

Janet’s Foss and Gordale Scar

2011-07-01T22:19:00.001+01:00

Butterbur

Janet’s Foss

Gordale Scar

The Yorkshire Dales - Malham Tarn

2011-07-01T22:10:00.001+01:00

Just back from 4 wonderful days in the Yorkshire Dales, my favourite place on the planet! Sorting out the flowers is a nightmare and we could have spent weeks identifying them all - a good reason to go back.

Common Butterwort

Birdseye Primrose

Lousewort

Marsh Orchid

Cottongrass sp

Common Spotted Orchid

Monkshood

No idea what this is - if you know please let me know.

Common Spotted-Orchid - Dactylorhiza fuchsii and Common Poppy - Papaver rhoeas

2011-06-20T18:49:00.001+01:00

Burnt-tip Orchids - Orchis ustulata

2011-06-20T16:14:00.001+01:00

Once again timing is everything and once again I got it wrong - the first five images were taken on the 9th June 2007 and the last image was taken this morning - spot the difference!

and it’s not even in focus!

A load of old Ferns

2011-06-17T15:16:00.001+01:00

It has occurred to me that this blog is suppose to be about our garden as well as nature(birds!) so here’s what we did to our front garden a number of years back. Our front garden has a number of problems but the number one problem is cats and the fact that they poo all over it, so we turned all the beds over to ferns in a bid to cut out any bit of spare ground for them to dig in - I hasten to add that we don’t have a cat which makes it even more annoying and one of the eight that roam around here has also just had a nest full of Blackbird chicks in the front garden so they are not flavour of the month. Anyway back to Ferns, we have around 20 different species so don’t assume all the images below are the same! I have been trying to get some half decent images for weeks now but it is always windy and today is no exception so I know most of them are not sharp but if I waited much longer they would be covered in snow - speaking of which all the Ferns survived the winter except our one and only Tree Fern - our own fault we should have protected it

Now imagine if we had eight of these cats - they would soon see off the locals - taken in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa not Normanby.

Stormy skies over Alkborough’s Spoonbill

2011-06-15T21:56:00.002+01:00

A dramatic storm built up all around Alkborough Flats this evening putting the visiting Spoonbill in fantastic light.

Messingham’s Buglife

2011-06-14T16:50:00.001+01:00

Bumped into an Entomologist from Buglife surveying insects at Messingham today - a mind of information but unfortunately all of which went over my head! However I did id the following female Black-Tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) drying in the sun and a lonesome Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris) - he on the other hand had a list of insects as long as your arm, one of which was a fly which he wasn’t expecting this far north and which he was quite excited about, if only I could remember its name!

Bee Orchids, Common Broomrape and Biting Stonecrop

2011-06-12T19:37:00.002+01:00

Found on a local roadside this morning….
Bee Orchids
Common Broomrape

Biting Stonecrop

Magical Messingham Sand Quarries

2011-06-09T14:21:00.002+01:00

Spent a wonderful couple of hours this morning watching first a shoal of fish which were probably Rudd and then two battleships came cruising in (see third video below) which I think were either Tench or some sort of Carp?(Just been told they're Bream so completely wrong) But then we had half an hour in total, watching two Otters playing and fishing in front of the Duck Hide – now I know nothing about Otters so if someone can perhaps age/sex the pair it would be great – one was much paler than the other and had a bright pink nose – at one stage a large Eel was caught and they then disappeared only to re-appear ten minutes later.

White-Throated Robin - Hartlepool, UK

2011-06-08T19:44:00.001+01:00

Only Wayne could make it there and back before work - he has finally pulled this one back on me, I first watched a pair feeding chicks in a nest in Turkey 1990 and this female doesn’t come close! So as far as I’m concerned he’s still one behind. Sorry about the quality of the video I can’t work the editing out in movie maker so lots of empty pavement.

Tulip Tree - Liriodendron tulipifera

2011-06-08T12:16:00.001+01:00

Good stroll round the Park this morning - my favourite tree is in flower and after a couple of weeks of not seeing the Spotted Fycatcher they were both back at the nest site taking in nest material so thankfully all is well.

Golden Oriole at Alkborough Flats

2011-06-06T16:43:00.001+01:00

Oh dear, dreading Wayne coming home from work I’m going to have to tell him that I have heard and seen a Golden Oriole in the woods above Alkborough Flats this morning courtesy of Graham (thank you Graham sorry you didn’t see it!).

Breeding Curlews

2011-06-05T18:45:00.001+01:00

No photos as the weather continues to be blowing a gale with nothing keeping still! Highlight of the weekend has to be finding a family of breeding Curlew within the Scunthorpe Reporting Area and I'm pretty sure I know of another pair just need to check them out - today we decided not to go to Spurn and see Icterine Warbler, Rosefinch, Golden Oriole, Marsh Warbler but instead find our own birds at Humberston - so we saw a Little Egret and a Corn Bunting and for the third time we didn't see the White Tailed Eagle hanging out on the Wolds. Friday evening also saw us on a wild goose chase - searching out a Marsh Warbler at Messingham which turned out to be a Reed Warbler.
HOT OFF THE PRESS - Barn Owl hunting in paddock at end of our garden as I type! first Barn Owl I have seen since the dreadful winter - at least one has survived and the way it was hunting and shot off with prey it must be feeding young not far away.

Fox Cub

2011-05-30T10:29:00.001+01:00

Yesterday was another very windy day where we saw virtually nothing however did bump into the Cranes again flying in a different area to where we saw them last week and we also came across a family of Foxes - here’s one cub trying to fend for itself.

Spring flowers in the Park

2011-05-26T21:33:00.001+01:00

As usual in spring Normanby Park’s flowers are looking stunning….

and even the dead stuff has its uses - this dead tree currently has Great Tit, Blue Tit and Treecreeper nesting in the crevices which just goes to show the importance of leaving dead trees. Am getting sightly worried about my Spotted Flycatchers as I have only seen them once since their arrival, can’t understand why they aren’t at the nest site maybe they’re still feeding up after their epic journey - if only they knew the worry they cause!

Spring at Alkborough Flats

2011-05-26T19:02:00.002+01:00

A selection of digishots all taken by Neil Drinkall at Alkborough this spring. Today I paid a visit to the new little reserve I mentioned in my post dated 8th May 2011 - I’m still not going to name the site as it has still not been officially launched - a great visit this morning with family broods of Redshank, Lapwing and Oystercatcher running around and several pairs of Avocet, Ringed Plover and Little Ringed Plover, 3 Dunlin, 2 Grey Partridge a quick visit from a Common Tern and all serenaded by YellowHammers, Lesser Whitethroats, Linnets, a couple of Bullfinch and a rare sight(for me in Normanby anyway) a Green Finch!

Common Cranes - North Lincs

2011-05-25T21:49:00.003+01:00

Had a call tonight to see a pair of Common Cranes within the Scunthorpe Bird Reporting area - always great to see Common Cranes and also to hear their wonderful call.

Marsh Cinquefoil - Potentilla palustris

2011-05-24T16:52:00.001+01:00

Had these beautiful flowers pointed out to me by John the warden at Messingham this morning - I had gone to see if the Pom Skua was still there (it wasn’t) - I had stood at this little marsh only on Sunday and had completely overlooked these! Sadly my brood of 9 Shelducks is now down to 6 - chief culprit Pomarine Skua?

Royal Fern uncurling!

A couple more of Messingham’s Pom Skua

2011-05-23T22:45:00.002+01:00

Flight shots taken by Wayne this evening of the Scunthorpe area’s first spring record of Pomarine Skua

Pomarine Skua at Messingham Sand Quarries

2011-05-23T22:02:00.002+01:00

Fabulous find at Messingham this evening by Karen and Simon Spavin - photos below by Neil Drinkall - as far as we know this is an excellent first spring record for the Scunthorpe area, blown inland by today's strong westerly gales - Wayne’s photos to follow shortly.
First image is sat on a Coot’s nest having taken all the eggs - also took Black Headed Gull’s eggs - it had better not get my Shelduck chicks.

Messingham’s broods

2011-05-21T20:33:00.001+01:00

Lots of successful families seen at Messingham Sand Quarries today including these Shelduck chicks which must qualify as the cutest ever, lets hope the Pike don’t get them,

and here’s our Willow Tit family again not yet left the nest although another family of Willow Tits have fledged on the reserve. Also seen today were 4 superb Hobbys, 1 Peregrine and a pair of Spotted Flycatchers.

Timing is everything..

2011-05-21T20:00:00.001+01:00

and this is what happens when you get it wrong - stunning flowers that are just past their best! found in a local wood whilst desperately listening for Golden Orioles see http://theshadoxhurstgarden.blogspot.com/

Early Purple Orchid/Orchis mascula

Yellow Pimpernel/ Lysimachia nemorum

Bugle/ Ajuga reptans

Yellow Archangel/Lamiastrum galeobdolon

Sanicle/Sanicula europaea

Skunk Cabbage - before & afters

2011-05-17T13:44:00.001+01:00

Well spring is quickly moving on in the Park particularly where the Skunk Cabbage is concerned - here are a few before and after shots - I can see now where the name Skunk Cabbage comes from, it was particularly pungent this morning and the leaves are certainly cabbage size.

14/03/2011 - 17/5/2011

24/3/2011 - 17/5/2011

4/4/2011 - 17/5/2011

Hornet - what’s going on?

2011-05-17T11:58:00.001+01:00

First sighting for me this spring of Hornet in Normanby Park this morning - I have no idea what’s going on here so if any does know please leave a comment. I thought Hornet’s made a large paper nest like Wasps but then why is this Hornet excavating this hole in the ground?

Willow Tits

2011-05-15T16:17:00.001+01:00

Willow Tits have been in sharp decline for some years now and so despite the harsh winter it has been great to track down 5 pairs at Messingham Sand Quarries. Earlier in the spring we identified five pairs and found two nest sites and today we watched as one pair were continually taking food in to one of the nest. This nest site was specifically set up by the reserve’s Wardens in as much as they put in the stump of an old Birch and started the excavation of a hole which has now been fully excavated by the Willow Tits and fingers crossed will successfully rear their brood. All these images were digiscoped some 300 metres away so fear not we did not disturb the birds!

Spotted Flycatchers are back!

2011-05-13T20:31:00.002+01:00

Although we went on a twitch today to see a Broad-Billed Sandpiper it was no where near as exciting as finding my (I consider them my own) 2 Spotted Flycatchers back from their African travels and back at the same nest box in Normanby Park as last year - so the worry now begins, will they be successful or will one of the 50+ Squirrels find them! Also not quite as exciting but blooming good was the discovery of a third Nuthatch nest also in the Park.
NB. Photo taken 17/6/10

Wader round up - Prat, Avo, Woody and Broad-Billed

2011-05-13T20:20:00.001+01:00

A few images taken recently of some good wader species for this area anyway! In sequence firstly the Collared Pratincole which took up residence around Immingham for a while and has since been seen down in my Brother’s neck of the woods Dungeness. Next a few images from our new wetland area(see last post) Avocet with Redshank and next Wood Sandpiper and the last 3 images taken today on a little twitch to the Idle Valley aka Lound for this Broad-Billed Sandpiper.

A rare day

2011-05-08T09:45:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was one of those rare days when your faith in human nature is restored - a while ago we heard that a local (in the Scunthorpe bird reporting area) landowner had given over a piece of land to be converted in to a wetland for birds so yesterday evening we went to investigate. Without giving too much a way we could instantly see the area from a distance and having finally found our way to it bumped straight into the landowner herself together with her sister. With usual trepidation we asked if it would be ok to view the wetland from the road side - the response couldn't have been more positive - this lovely lady couldn't be more keen for people to come and visit however at the moment the site is not officially opened which is why I am not at this stage saying where the land is or the name of the landowner. She has set aside a good piece of land and asked English Nature to come and convert to a wetland area - so a hide (not yet open) has been erected, wetland created which has been lined with clay so even in this long period of drought has remained wet and a purpose built Sand Martin nest site has been created which has already been found and is currently being excavated by a number of Sand Martins.
So what was on the wetland I can hear everyone asking: 2 Wood Sandpipers, 6 Dunlin, 3 Redshank, 1 Greenshank, 4 pairs Avocet, 5 Little Ringed Plover, 4 Black Terns, pair of Shelduck, several pairs of Lapwing with chicks, 1 Ringed Plover and the obligatory Canada Geese. It was a magical evening watching the Black Terns bathing whilst listening to the enthusiasm of this lady and the obvious sheer pleasure she is getting - she was delighted when we showed her through our scope the Wood Sandpiper and Lapwing chicks which she had no idea were there. She tells us that a piece will be going in the local newspapers shortly to announce its opening - luckilly the area is sufficiently remote to have no noise disturbance from people or traffic as it is not sited near a main road - it is on a single lane track and only has small car park. I can feel lots of visits coming on to this fabulous new habitat and hopefully we shall bump into this wonderful custodian again.

Bluebells and Ramsons

2011-05-04T19:54:00.001+01:00

As with the previous post on Soloman’s Seal the same problems arise when taking shots of the Bluebells and Ramsons. I have been waiting for the wind to calm down for 5 days now and in that time the Bluebells and Ramsons are really just past their best - again they were taking in Normanby Park this evening.

Soloman’s Seal

2011-05-04T19:37:00.001+01:00

I love this plant with its graceful arching stems but just can’t seem to get any good shots - its still windy so getting anything sharp is near impossible and the light never seems right for white flowers, so every year I take dozens of shots which go straight into the recycle bin - these are the best of a bad bunch taken this evening in Normanby Park.

BTO North Lincs Summer Bird Race

2011-05-01T20:16:00.000+01:00

Following an invite on the Lincolnshire Bird Club web site to participate in the North Lincs Summer Bird Race, we decided to fore go our annual parish bird race and take part in the BTO Breeding Atlas survey for area SE90 which basically covers Messingham Sand Quarry/Twigmoor/Broughton and various other bits and pieces - the aim of the race is to record as many breeding species as you can find in a 24 hour period. So yesterday was the day - out by 1.30am and home at 10.00pm! in other words a long day and all done in a fierce easterly wind. Surprisingly our first bird at 2.45am was a calling Oystercatcher followed by Tawny Owl sadly our only owl species despite spending a large amount of time in the plantation at Messingham for Long Eared Owl and scouring suitable farmland for Barn Owl and Little Owl. We had some good migrants passing through; Whimbrel, Wood Sandpiper, Arctic Tern and one bird which came down to pure homework by Wayne using Google Earth to find suitable habitat Grasshopper Warbler! In the end we had a total of 94 species - 88 of breeding status which wasn't bad considering the howling gale blowing all day.
The biggest disappointment of the day has to be around sites 1. Twigmoor once home to breeding Tree Pipit, Redstart and Nightingale but sadly now home to grazing sheep and dog walkers 2. Ashbyville a site regularly use to turning up good passage migrants now home to a housing estate, fishermen and ski jets 3. Kirton Quarry previously home to breeding Ringed and Little Ringed Plover now home to a couple of hundred(honestly) 4x4 off roaders tearing round.

Adela reaumurella - Long Horn Moth

2011-04-28T21:34:00.001+01:00

I recently put out a plea to id these flys well how daft am I they aren’t a fly but a day time flying micro moth - many thanks to http://devilbirder.blogspot.com/ and John Davidson for their expertise,

226th Birthday of John James Audubon

2011-04-26T21:19:00.001+01:00

Only seems right that if Google are celebrating (its their banner I’ve pinched above) then a blog dedicated to birding should too so here’s a few facts pinched from Wikipedia!

“Audubon's influence on ornithology and natural history was far reaching. Nearly all later ornithological works were inspired by his artistry and high standards. Charles Darwin quoted Audubon three times in On the Origin of Species and also in later works. Despite some errors in field observations, he made a significant contribution to the understanding of bird anatomy and behavior through his field notes. Birds of America is still considered one of the greatest examples of book art. Audubon discovered 25 new species and 12 new subspecies. He was elected to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Linnaean Society, and the Royal Society in recognition of his contributions.”

We were very lucky to be given a copy of “The Audubon’s Society Baby Elephant Portfolio Birds of America” - a beautiful book if not a little heavy at 8Kg if you ever get a chance to browse a copy then do so you wont regret it.

Tawny Pipit in Lincolnshire

2011-04-25T18:48:00.001+01:00

A quick twitch to see this lovely Tawny Pipit at Tetney Lock this morning - very hard to photograph as constantly hidden amongst the grass and dandelions but did manage this very short video clip when it flew up onto the fence to dry off after a quick bath.

Tawny Pipit at Tetney Lock, Lincs 25/4/11

Fly ID required please

2011-04-23T11:50:00.001+01:00

A quick visit in to Normanby Park this morning to track down the Nuthatch nest yet again (successful this time!) led me to clouds of these wonderful flies dancing among the trees - I know they aren’t St Marks flies which are due any day now so what are they?

Wayne had an early 4.30 start back at Messingham this morning to do a full Warbler count as it seems to be one of the best springs certainly in my memory for both numbers and earliest dates for migrants - he counted 37 Reed Warbler, 12 Sedge Warbler, 6 Garden Warbler and and 2 Lesser Whitethroat.

Fly ID required

“The Birds” today in the Scunthorpe Area

2011-04-22T22:33:00.003+01:00

Lots of migrants today but no photos as either too foggy or too sunny so music instead - my favourite album of the moment by Elbow and this track in particular appropriately named The Birds - the last 3 minutes are incredible.
We started the day at Bagmoor where we had our first Swift of the year and a large falcon over the tip which we put down as a Lanner(probably a falconers brought in to chase the Gulls off). Along the road side plenty of Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats and Willow Warblers all trying to out do each other vocally. On to Barton where we had unprecedented numbers of Grasshopper Warblers, Lesser Whitethroats, Sedge Warblers and a couple of Bearded Tits along with our first Common Terns of the year. Later in the day a trip to Messingham with a short stop off at Normanby Enterprise where a couple of Wheatears, a Green Sandpiper, a Cuckoo and Little Ringed Plovers put in an appearance. At Messingham 12 Black Terns gave a great display over the main lake serenaded by a Cuckoo and in the late evening a fantastic aerial display by our first Hobby of the year hawking insects over the Grebe lake plus our earliest ever Garden Warbler, also seen on the sheep field at the back of the reserve a Little Ringed Plover and Yellow Wagtail.
A quick stop off at home gave us our first ever Common Whitethroat in the garden and a pair of Nuthatches are still persistently visiting and calling in the garden but we are still unable to track down the nest site.

Around Scunthorpe today....

2011-04-16T17:21:00.001+01:00

No photos but plenty of birds including our first Cuckoos - 1 at Normanby Enterprise and 1 at Messingham, 8 Wheatears around Messingham, 4 Yellow Wagtails and Whitethroat at Butterwick Hale. On Thursday I also had a Little Gull at Normanby Enterprise.

Whilst at Messingham we also experienced a "first" in the form of a Black-Headed Gull being grabbed and pulled completely under the water by a huge Pike - immediately the whole Gull flock started mobbing the area and eventually the Pike let go and the stricken Gull managed to swim to safety but was unable to fly clear - its wings were not broken so it must have suffered some serious injury to its underparts - interestingly the rest of the Gull colony continued to mob the injured Gull.

Messingham Sand Quarries day list

2011-04-09T20:13:00.001+01:00

Spent close on 8 hours at Messingham today going for a day list to beat all day lists - in the end we saw a total of 80 species highlights include 26 Chiffchaffs, 12 Willow Warblers, 1 Reed Warbler, 13 Blackcaps, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Peregrine and best of all 4 pairs of Willow Tits - it was a beautiful day with lovely blue skies and seemingly endless Buzzards and Marsh Harriers of course we were probably seeing the same ones all day. However one of our target birds was Wheatear which we didn’t have at MSQ but we did find this one on the way home at Black Bank.

Slavonian Grebe - Water’s Edge, Barton

2011-04-09T19:40:00.001+01:00

I love this bird so that’s why there are too many pictures on - we went to see it yesterday evening and this morning it turned up at Blacktoft Sands as did coincidently my Mother and Father, so we shall have to see what their photos are like we may have competition!

The Life and Times of a Skunk Cabbage

2011-04-04T15:56:00.002+01:00

I have been photographing the Skunk Cabbage in Normanby Park over the past few days/weeks culminating in the shots at the end of this post - every spring I get sucked in to taking loads of images of these stunning plants and I know I have put far too many images in this one post but they are stunning. If you want to see them in all their glory you’ll need to be quick, as you can see from the last image they’re on their way out.

Inspirational talks, housing developments with exciting road names and Badgers

2011-03-30T20:43:00.001+01:00

Finally last night after many expectant years I saw my first live Badger - it came across the road in front of the car and it now is completely clear to me why I have only ever seen dead ones - they are too slow! But don't worry we didn't run it over, it scurried into the hedgerow - it nicely finished off a really good evening as we had been to the Lincolnshire Bird Club's AGM and had the good fortune to hear a great talk from Martin Garner author of Frontiers in Birding. The talk was billed as inspirational and it was - it inspired me to go back to an old haunt (Ashbyville) this morning in search of Wheatears, Ring Ouzels and possibly the odd Shrike or two but I soon had all expectations knocked out of me. I knew that a lot of development had taken place on the site but had not realised just how much - over the years Ashbyville has turned up some fantastic birds and although it was nothing but a flooded quarry surrounded by waste land it had a “nature reserve” feel to it but now the lake is surrounded by the most banal housing development you could wish for and to add insult to injury every road is named after a bird ie Pochard Drive, Garganey Walk, Wigeon Way, Lapwing Close etc etc so after watching Wheatears on the site every year for at least the past 20, today there were none - all I heard was one solitary Chiffchaff and 1 Reed Bunting with a pair of Great Crested Grebes on the lake.

Great Grey Shrike at Worlaby

2011-03-28T20:43:00.001+01:00

Taken this evening in fading light….