That's the lovely thing about Nightingale Wood, in that there is a wide variation in habitat there. Great for the wildlife and in particular damselflies, demoiselles, butterflies and bugs.
Here are a few images from this afternoon (2:15 - 4:15pm):
The woods
The meadow
The water
And a bit of all of it - Brook Meadow with a female Roe Deer, which I suspect had a fawn very close-by, as she was very close to the path and wasn't going anywhere, despite several dogs barking.
In the pond a few tadpoles, which appeared to have the makings of their back legs.
A male Beautiful Demoiselle
A male Banded Demoiselle
A female Banded Demoiselle
I'm sure this is a Common Blue Damselfly
And another.
A female Ashy Mining-bee
Different angle
Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax)
Fly sp.
And fly sp.
Cardinal Beetle
Cardinal Beetle
Green Dock Beetle
Red Admiral
A Liocoris tripustulatus a common bug that lives on nettles and is a member of the Miridae family
Eriophyes tiliae is a mite that forms the lime nail gall seen here on this leaf.
Ragged Robin
Birds Recorded: 1 Little Grebe, Mallard, 1 Red Kite, 1 Buzzard, 2 Pheasant, 1 Red-Legged Partridge, 1 Moorhen, 1 Coot, Wood Pigeon, 1 Collared Dove, 4 adult and juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, 1 Reed Warbler, 2 Garden Warbler, 2 Common Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, 5 Chiffchaff, 4 Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, 1 Marsh Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, 2 Linnet, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Bullfinch and Reed Bunting.
Also
Butterflies: 12+ Orange-tips (males and females), 3 Green-veined White, 8 Brimstones, 3 Peacock, 2 Red Admiral and 3 Large White
Moths: Common Nettle-tap Moth (Anthophila fabriciana) and a White-pinion Spotted (Lomographa bimaculata)
Damselflies and Demoiselles: Common Blue Damselfly, Banded Demoiselle and Beautiful Demoiselle.
Bees and wasps: A female Ashy Mining-bee (Andrena cineraria) and a Hornet
Other invertebrae: Green Dock Beetle (Gastrophysa viridula), Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis), Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax) and a Liocoris tripustulatus Of interest: Lime Nail Gall. More info Here
Two families in one. These Greylag Geese have joined forces. There was also another family on the scrape.
There's a good reason for joining up the families. The Greylag Geese were a bit too close to the Mute Swan's nest and needless-to-say the cob took exception to this and chased the Greylags. However to save the goslings from being killed, one of the Greylag Geese parents, drew the cob away, by just being in front of it and heading off in the opposite direction. really clever and it worked. Eventually the goslings were safe at the other end of the pit and then having lured the Mute Swan away in the opposite direction, the decoy Greylag took off and rejoined them.
A male Reed Bunting sunning himself in the early morning sun.
Also: Red Admiral, Orange-tip (male and female), Green-veined White, 7-spot Ladybird, Alder Fly, Flesh Fly (Sarcophaga carnaria), Long-jawed Orb-weaver (Tetragnatha extensa), Dock Leaf Beetle, Cardinal Beetle and Common Blue Damselfly (immature male, male and female)
An unusual stance by this male Greenfinch. I thought he was looking at me, but there was something behind me that caught his attention, and he was just stretching to have a better look.
A grab shot, awful focus but a Cuckoo over CWP Pit 68d
A Common Whitethroat. You can see how he got his name!
The thing about getting up early and watching the birds is that they are all very vocal, as this Robin is demonstrating.
One of a dozen Garden Warblers I came across this morning and all singing. This one was just warming up..........
......and then it was a full blown song.........
One of the many Garden Warblers singing in the Water Park today.
Sadly in the hide at CWP Pit 68c at the southern end of the pit (the one that is subsiding), there was this dead Swallow. How got to be in there, I have no idea!
An immature male Common Blue damselfly...........
...........and the male.............
and the female
A Sawfly - Tenthredo mesomela. I think!
Flesh Fly, Sarcophaga carnaria
Possibly a Sawfly!!
Alder Fly
Long-jawed Orb-weaver, Tetragnatha extensa
Nettle Weevil, Phyllobius pomaceus
A possible Crane Fly, Tipula lateralis. Identified by the light line that runs down the back of the abdomen, which is unusual because most other British species have a dark line running down the abdomen.
Bramble Sawfly, Arge Cyanocrocea
Dock Leaf Beetle
Cardinal Beetle
7-spot Ladybird
Cleveland Lakes Nature Reserve, viewed from Twitchers Gate(9:30 - 10:25am)
Birds Recorded in addition to my earlier visit: 2 Little Egret, 1 Oystercatcher, 4 Lapwing, 2 Great Black-backed Gulls (adult and 1st year) and Kingfisher.
One of two Little Egrets seen today
CWP Pit 95: 10:25 - 10:40
Only birds of note were 2 Red Kites.
Total of 73 Bird Species seen between 6:30am - 9:30am
I was up at the crack of Sparrows, to take my other half to work and then it was off to Lotmead Farm for 5:00am and listen to the dawn chorus.
On the site there were a few Roe Deer, with one individual getting very close to me, before she sniffed the air and realised that I was but a few feet away. Amazing to watch so close up.
Other highlights were watching a pair of Cuckoos. The male was feeding the female with large caterpillars, and then following her wherever she went.
Also my first Tufted Duck on the pool and other newbies were Sedge Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Swift and House Martin, plus a Hare
Birds Recorded: 1 Little Grebe, 1 Grey Heron, Mute Swan, 2 Canada Geese, 7 + 14 Mallard (2 pairs, 3 drakes, 14 ducklings), 1 pair Tufted Duck, 1 Buzzard, Pheasant, 3 Moorhen, 2 pairs Coot, 5 Herring Gull, 8 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 3 Stock Dove, Wood Pigeon, 3 Collared Dove, 2 Cuckoo (m and f), 1 Swift, 8 House Martin, 3 Swallow, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 2 Song Thrush, 1 Sedge Warbler singing, 1 Garden Warbler, 3 Common Whitethroat, 4 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, 1 Treecreeper, Wren, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, 5 Goldfinch, 1 Bullfinch and Reed Bunting. A total of 45 species, not bad for 3 hours bird watching.
Also 5 Roe Deer and 1 Hare
A male Cuckoo (cuckoo-ing)
In flight...........
Another perch to call from.......
.......and another....
.......and yet another.........
The female this time...
........and some food for her from her mate. It looks like a big juicy caterpillar,
A male Cuckoo calling before it was chased off by a Magpie
A new batch of Mallard ducklings, with 11 counted.
A Moorhen takes to the high ground
This Rook is topping up his nest with a new twig.
House Martins come into land.....
.......to collect mud for their new homes. These only arrived today, so they are busy straight away.
A Grey Heron comes into land...
...just take a look at those legs....
...and up on the tree. Looking quite magnificent
A female Bullfinch.
A Hare takes a short cut via the pool to get to the next field.
A Roe Deer in the morning sun.
Very wary of my presence..
....and another look....
....best be on my way...
..and one last look before deciding she didn't like the "scent" I was giving out.
