Feeling Sluggish

Not surprising really, as this is my 4th morning on the trot, getting up at 3:30am. Dawn is on early's and her new car isn't ready until next week, so it's been a case of dropping her off at work and then finding somewhere different each day to watch the sun come up.

Today it was Mouldon Hill Country Park and though the sky was bright red at 5:00am, it actually brightened up really nicely and by the time I got home it was a pleasant 15°C at 6:30am.

Mouldon Hill is a welly boot walk, but that wasn't enough to keep my legs dry, as I waded through 4ft high grasses in the scrubland between the River Ray and the canal. This stretch has hardly been walked along this year and the track was barely visible!

However before I got to Mouldon Hill, Dawn and I did our good deed for the day by stopping an ASDA lorry with a tyre on fire, on the A419. We had been following a trail of rubber all along the dual carriageway and then Dawn saw a piece of burning rubber fly off the lorry in front of us. We managed to stop the driver, who was quite relieved that we had done so. I'm pleased to say that on my way back south after my walk, he had a breakdown van with him changing the tyre. Boy doesn't burning rubber stink!!

Once I'd dropped Dawn off, it was down to the Country Park where I parked up and took a clockwise route. The first thing that was noticeable were the huge numbers of slugs and snails, with most of them on the umbelifers. The majority were Black and Red Slugs, with lots of White-lipped Banded Snails and Garden Snails. With the paths and vegetation absolutely sodden I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised.

Other highlights were a Roe Deer close to car park, a Kingfisher with a fish on the River Ray and 4 House Martins over the Pool.

Anyway here are a few images from this morning:

"Red Sky in the morning" though this morning instead of rain the sun came out!

A Roe Deer keeps a watchful eye on me.

A Red Slug

A Black Slug

And a Yellow Slug

A Garden Snail

There were quite a few Blackcaps still singing away around the country park.

As were a few Song Thrushes.......

........and Common Whitethroats.

On the Pool there was a family of Great Crested Grebes with some noisy youngsters.

Always nice to see, even if I didn't get a particularly good shot of it, a House Martin. There are so few about nowadays and it was good to see 4 feeding over the pool alongside a pair of Swallows and Swifts.

Bird Recorded: Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron, Canada Geese, Mallard, Pheasant, Moorhen, Coot, Black-headed Gull, Wood Pigeon, 2 Swift, 1 Kingfisher, Great Spotted Woodpecker, 4 House Martin, 2 Swallow, 1 Grey Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 5 Song Thrush, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Common Whitethroat, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Starling, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch and 4 Bullfinch.

Also:
1 Roe Deer
Black Slug, Arion ater
Red Slug, Arion rufus
White-lipped Banded Snail, Cepaea hortensis
Garden Snail, Cornu aspersum

Coate Sunrise

Another early morning walk, this time at Coate Water (5:05am - 6:30am).

Highlights were a pair of Common Terns on the main lake, both a female Mandarin and Kingfisher on the reserve, dozens of Yellow Slugs with several on tree trunks and a Grey Squirrel helping himself to a Banana skin he retrieved from the bin by the swimming pool.

Here are a few images from this morning:

Sunrise over Coate as seen from Broome Manor Lane

Looking back towards Broome Manor Lane

From the main dam 250+ Canada Geese make their way onto the water.

From Paddy Copse hide looking across the reed beds. Just behind the fence........

............a female Mandarin.

Back on the main lake a Greylag Goose with her offspring

A lone Great Crested. 

On the overflow a Pied Wagtail feeds its youngster.......

........whilst this juvenile Grey Wagtail is old enough to feed itself.

One of many Swift feeding over the lake.

A pair of Common Terns sat with a Black-headed Gull on the island.

The ever opportunist, a Grey Squirrel finds a Banana skin in the bins by the children's swimming pool area..........

........now this is what they normally eat a freshly gnawed fir cone.

A Yellow Slug seen............

..........high up this Beech Tree. And it wasn't alone with several others up there as well.

A Dance Fly takes a break. This fly is a real predator, catching and eating smaller insects.

Birds Recorded: Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron, 40+ Mute Swan, 4 Greylag Geese, 250+ Canada Goose, 1 female Mandarin, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Moorhen, Coot, Black-headed Gull, 2 Herring Gull, 4 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 2 Common Tern, Wood Pigeon, 15+ Swift, 1 Kingfisher, Swallow, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, 2 Reed Warbler, 2 Garden Warbler, 9 Blackcap, 7 Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Treecreeper, Wren, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch and Bullfinch.

Also: 1 Grey Squirrel, 12+ Rabbits, Dance Flies, Common Nettle-tap moth and several Yellow Slugs (Limax flavus).

Morning Dew

I don't think I really need to say anything, other than this was a beautiful Summers morning spent at Twitchers Corner between 5:05am and 7:50am.

Early morning at Cleveland Lakes Nature Reserve from Twitchers Gate

Sunrise over Cleveland Nature Reserve.

5:29am and the sun is just above the horizon.

At 5:53am a few light clouds block the suns rays.......

CWP Pit 74 and mist rises from the waters as several Mallard take off from the scrape.

A lone Mute Swan cuts the water and mist.

Tufted Duck keep just above the swirling mist......

......whilst higher still a Cormorant flies beyond the pit.

Around 6:30am and a few Common Tern arrive on the Reserve. This one has a very small "Jack" Pike. The long body and short tail a good clue to this species, either as a small fish like this or a whopping 40 pounder.

Here the male Common Tern comes into land with his prize.

A male Blackcap singing from the lane behind Twitchers Corner.

A Common Whitethroat. This has a ring on its right leg and I suspect it's the male that bred here this year, in the brambles just in front of the mound where we stick out scopes.

A Dunnock in full song.

When I arrived there was just 1 Lapwing on the scrape, imagine my surprise then, when between 7:20am and 7:30am, 26 took off and headed northwest over the pit!

One of two Common Buzzards along the lane.

The cool damp nights really do have an effect on the damselflies. This pair of Common Blue Damselflies are covered in dew.

But as the sun rises, they soon dry out.......

.....from high stems........

........and on nettle leaves.

And it wasn't just the damselflies enjoying the early morning sun, but also my first ever Black-tailed Skimmer. This is a female with beautiful yellow and black markings.

Here is a short video of her on a nettle.

The pupae of the Harlequin Ladybird.

Grypocoris stysi

I thought this looked like a Lemon Slug, Limax tenellus. However they are only found in ancient woodland. So not sure what this!
Birds Recorded: Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Canada Geese, Mallard, Tufted Duck, 2 Buzzard, Moorhen, Coot, 2 Oystercatcher, 26 Lapwing, Black-headed Gull, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 first summer Great Black-backed Gull, 5 Common Tern, 1 Stock Dove, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, 15+ Swift, 2 Skylark, Sand Martin, Swallow, Dunnock, 1 Nightingale, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Cetti's Warbler, Garden Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Treecreeper, Wren, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, 1 juvenile Starling on the scrape, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, 1 Bullfinch and Reed Bunting.

Also:
Speckled Wood
Black-tailed Skimmer, Orthetrum cancellatum
Common Blue Damselfly
Blue-tailed Damselfly
Grypocoris stysi
Harlequin Ladybird pupae
Slug sp.

Early Morning on the Farm

Another early start, (5:00am - 8:00am) and this time a visit to the Reserve at Lotmead Farm. Its always nice to add another bird species to your patch list and this time I added Skylark, with 2 males singing above the fields.

On the Reserve Pool, there were a few new additions, with 3 juvenile Little Grebes and two new Mallard families, one with 3 ducklings and the other with 8, both of which have only just hatched.

The youngsters haven't gone unnoticed and several times Lesser Black-backed Gulls that were just passing by, swooped down on them, sending the chicks and ducklings diving and scurrying away for cover.

I had hoped to get lucky and see the Otter which had been seen here last week, alas it didn't show, but I did get Muntjac that cautiously made its way along the back of the pool.

Here are a few images from my morning visit:

A Muntjac makes it way around the pool.

This is an adult Wood Pigeon.......

.....and this is a juvenile. Note lack of white collar, which often confuses people into thinking its a Stock Dove.

An adult and juvenile Little Grebe. Great to see 3 juveniles on the pool.

A male Blackcap stopped briefly and then carried on into the undergrowth searching for food.

A male White-tailed Bumblebee

Buff-tailed Bumblebee, Bombus terrestris 

Possible Hoverfly, Syrphus vitripennis

A male Poecilobothrus nobilitatus.......

.........and the female..........

..........close-up

Possible Fly, Azelia nebulosa

Orthotaenia undulana or Celypha lacunana

Strawberry Snail, Trochulus striolatusa

Birds Recorded: 5 Little Grebe (2 adult, 3 juveniles), 1 Grey Heron, 1 Mute Swan (First summer), 30 Mallard (9 adult, 9 juvenile, 11 ducklings), 2 Pheasant (male and female), 2 Moorhen, 2 Coot, 5 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 12 Wood Pigeon, 2 Skylark, 2 House Martin, 5 Swallow, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, 2 Reed Warbler, 1 Garden Warbler, 2 Common Whitethroat, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 5 Blackcap, 4 Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Treecreeper, Wren, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, 5 Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Bullfinch, Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting.

Moths: Orthotaenia undulana or Celypha lacunana

Bees: Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) and White-tailed Bumblebees.

Hoverflies: Syrphus vitripennis

Flies: Azelia nebulosa, Poecilobothrus nobilitatus

Snails and Slugs: Strawberry Snail (Trochulus striolatusa) and Red Slug (Arion ater rufus)

Note:
More on Poecilobothrus Here