Mostlymacro: July 2007

Tuesday 31st July 2007

Sunny, Light W
Todays Highlights ;
WOMBWELL GARDEN : Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch ( calling ), Sparrowhawk, Herring Gull ( soaring along side the Sprawk ), Swift 10+, House Martin 3, Swallow 2, Stock Dove ( pair with 2 young )
Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Comma, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood ;

Stock Dove ( squabs, in the owl nest box )

Holly Blue

Speckled Wood

Leafmine of probable Phytomyza cytisi ( Diptera ) on Laburnum

MY GARDEN : Grey Heron 2 SW, Swift c60, Magpie 4, Wren ( singing ), Sparrowhawk ( over )
Common Darter, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Gatekeeper ;

Magpie ( digiscoped )

Greenfinch ( digiscoped )

Gatekeeper ( despite the wing damage, this individual could still fly )

Copyright Dean Stables

Monday 30th July 2007

Sunny, Blustery NW
Had a few finishing touch`s to do to the living room, ready for our new corner suite being delivered tomorrow, so i did`nt venture away from home today. Anyway, here`s a few sightings from my garden ;
Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 W, Wren 2, Swift ( quite a bit of movement with about 50 birds over heading W + several birds lingering ), Swallow 5 W, House Martin 10+.
Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Comma, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Gatekeeper ;

Small White

Peacock

Hopefully i`ll get to stray a bit further than the garden tomorrow.

Copyright Dean Stables

Sunday 29th July 2007

Sunny, Blustery N/NW

As it was Pony Club today, i took the chance to have a look around the Roman Banks area of Rawmarsh. Not a great deal about, with the highlights being : singles of both Common Buzzard & Green Woodpecker + several Swift overhead. Not much variety among the butterflies, with only Green-veined White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown & Speckled Wood being seen.

Meadow Brown`s

During the afternoon, i turned my attention to photographing Storm & Saffie during the 10 & unders Gymkhana ;

Warming Up

Bending Race ( Slalom )

Flag Race

Cup Race

Unfortunately Storm did`nt get placed in this event, but made up for it by coming 4th in the 10 & unders jumping. Rudi on the other hand got 2nd place in her Gymkhana age group.

Copyright Dean Stables

Friday 27th July 2007

Sunny, Patchy Cloud, Breezy W
Again, not a great deal to report. A visit to the Wombwell garden produced only 4 species of butterfly, with Large White, Green-veined White, Red Admiral & Peacock. A Silver Y was found resting in the greenhouse and there were quite a few leafmines of the micro moth Mompha raschkiella found on Rosebay Willow herb. These patterns are the result of larvae feeding between the upper & the lower surface`s of the leaves ;

Another poor day in my garden, with about a dozen House Martin & c50 Swift feeding overhead this evening, being the most noteworthy sightings.

Hope the weekend proves to be better than the last few days. But saying that i have got a carpet to fit tomorrow in our living room and Pony Club to attend on Sunday. Hopefully i`ll find time to squeeze a few sightings in ( if there`s any to be had ).

Copyright Dean Stables

Thursday 26th July 2007

Cloudy, Heavy Showers, Breezy SW
I was a bit too busy to update yesterday evening, so here it is, for what it`s worth.
A visit to Cortonwood during the morning only produced 4 butterfly species : Green-veined White, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper & Speckled Wood ;

Green-veined White

+ a couple of Fungi species ;

Did`nt get much chance to record anything from home, apart from a double rainbow at about 20.30hrs ;

Copyright Dean Stables

Wednesday 25th July 2007

Early Rain clearing to Showers, Breezy S/SW
A visit to Cortonwood this morning could`nt produce anything better than a few Gatekeeper & Speckled Wood butterflies ;

Speckled Wood

Teasel

Blackberries

Back at home the sightings from my garden were`nt much better. The best of the birds were a single Stock Dove over, a couple of Swallow, about a dozen House Martin & 70 > 80 Swift over, with the majority heading S.
The best of the Inverts were : Common Darter, Large White & Gatekeeper ( 2 ) ;

Common Darter - female

Copyright Dean Stables

Tuesday 24th July 2007

Sunny, Blustery W/SW
Todays sightings ;
WOMBWELL GARDEN : The main highlight from here this morning was my first Purple Hairstreaks ( 2 ) of the year. Unfortunately they would`nt descend from the canopy of one of the Oaks.
Other sightings were, Common Darter 3, Large White c10, Green-veined White 2, Holly Blue 2, Red Admiral 2, Comma, Speckled Wood 2, Meadow Brown, Phycita roborella ( micro moth ), Large Twin-spot Carpet ;

Common Darter

Large Whites - female

male

Holly Blue - male

HB & Hoverfly ( Volucella pellucens )

Comma

Phycita roborella

Large Twin-spot Carpet

MY GARDEN : The main highlight this afternoon was an adult Hobby that passed overhead heading SW at 15.25. Other sightings, Cormorant 1 S, several Swift, Swallow & House Martin, Common Darter, Large White 3, Small Tortoiseshell 2, Speckled Wood ;

Small Tortoiseshell

Copyright Dean Stables

Monday 23rd July 2007

Cloudy, Bright Spells, ( Showers pm ), Light E
Todays highlights ;
WOMBWELL GARDEN : Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral 2, Gatekeeper, Engrailed & Clay ;

Engrailed

Clay

Red Admiral

Fungi sp

CORTONWOOD : Grasshopper Warbler 1 reeling ( only my 2nd of the year & a site first ), Green Woodpecker 2, Willow Tit 2+, Emerald Damselfly, Gatekeeper ( many ), Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood ( several of both ) ;

Gatekeepers - female

typical male

aberrant male

MY GARDEN : Swift c20, House Martin c10, Peacock ( butterfly ) ;

Ah well!!!, birthday nearly over and i don`t even feel a day older than yesterday :)

Copyright Dean Stables

Clumber Park ( Sunday 22nd July 2007 )

Sunny, Light SW
It`s not my birthday while tomorrow, but we thought we`d have a small celebration today. Anyway, we went to Clumber Park for a picnic. Very pleased we did, as it was a wonderful day in more ways than one.
It did`nt start too well regards sightings, with the best being Green Woodpecker, several Nuthatch & a calling Buzzard.
We then went to a spot where Common Lizards are virtually guaranteed to be seen. Although both me & Jakki saw quite a few they were just too quick for Rudi. That soon changed, when after dinner i noticed one basking on the same log that we were sitting on. Rudi could`nt believe her luck ( nor could i ) and Rudi being Rudi it was`nt long before she had it in her hands.
And to cap it all off, in the same place i found my first ever Forester moth. A stunning little macro species, and yes it really was that colour. Here`s a few pics ;

Clumber Chapel

Grey Squirrel ( digiscoped )

The Forester

Common Lizard

And then what a better way to end than to stop off on the way home to pick a few Strawberries. BLISS!!

Copyright Dean Stables

Saturday 21st July 2007

Cloudy, Rain turning Showery, Light NE
Todays highlights ;
WENTWORTH ESTATE : Little Owl ( calling ), Lesser Black-backed Gull 2, Grey Wagtail 2, Great Crested Grebe 14, Common Tern 3 ( 1 juv ), Willow Tit 3, Reed Bunting 2 ;

Harebells

Common Stinkhorns

GREASBOROUGH : Sparrowhawk, Swift c40
MY GARDEN : Sparrowhawk 1 N, Swift c80, Song Thrush ;

Song Thrush

We`re off to Clumber Park tomorrow for a ( my ) birthday picnic ( we must be mad. Hope the weather improves, whatever happens i hope to get some blog fodder :)

Copyright Dean Stables

Friday 20th July 2007

Cloudy, ( Rain - late afternoon ), Blustery E
Not a lot today folks.
Wombwell garden, highlights ;

Toad(let)

Buff-tips

Fungi sp

The only highlight from my garden, was of c30 Swift blogging overhead before the rain came. EDIT - Swift c50 present at 20.00hrs
Hope tomorrow`s better.

Copyright Dean Stables

Thursday 19th July 2007

Sunny, ( 1 thundery shower ), Light SE
No exciting raptors today, can`t expect good stuff everyday. Anyway, here`s todays highlights ;
WOMBWELL - Large White 3, Red Admiral 3, Gatekeeper 2, Common Carpet & Clouded Border ;

Common Carpet

Clouded Border

Gatekeeper

MY GARDEN - Sparrowhawk 1 W, Small Tortoiseshell 2, Gatekeeper ;

Small Tortoiseshell

Gatekeeper ( yes!!!! another one )

Cinnabar Moth ( larva )

Opium Poppy

Copyright Dean Stables

Wednesday 18th July 2007

Sunshine & Showers, Light SW
To carry on the theme of good raptors ( after yesterdays Honey Buzzard ) i had an adult Hobby over the Wombwell garden this morning. The bird was quite low and the excellent light made the red "trousers" visible with the naked eye. Excellent stuff!!!
The other " lesser" highlights from here were : Brimstone Moth, Slender Brindle, Speckled Wood & Red Admiral (3) ;

Brimstone Moth

Slender Brindle

Speckled Wood

Red Admiral

The highlights from the walk home along the western edge of Cortonwood included Green Woodpecker ( only my 2nd of the year from this site ) & a male Emperor dragonfly. This species still eludes my camera as does Brown Hawker :(
The pick of the Leps were an aberrant Gatekeeper & a single Latticed Heath that was minus a hindwing ;

Apart from plenty of Swifts & House Martins over my garden, there were also a couple of Swallows heading S & 2 Sparrowhawks over.

Copyright Dean Stables

Tuesday 17th July 2007

Sunshine & Showers ( Thundery later ), Light S/SW
CORTONWOOD ;

Soapwort

Puffballs sp

Apart from the above, todays visit was pretty much the same as yesterday ;

Gatekeepers

HOME ;

All the usual birds ( Swift, House Martin etc ) were seen from my garden during the afternoon. But then at 17.25, i noticed a large raptor over to the south. With the naked eye it resembled a very large Accipiter ( hawk ), so i ran in to get my bins. When i got back outside, the aforementioned bird ( which i could now clearly see was a Buzzard sp ) had drifted closer, enabling me to clinch it has a HONEY BUZZARD. The protruding head/neck, longish tail and flat-winged gliding action seperated it easily from its commoner cousin. The bird was watched for about a minute before it slowly drifted W. Wow!!!! what a bird.
On the Lep front a couple of white butterflies were seen along with a single Comma, and while packing the hammocks away ( not got much use out of them this summer ) i disturbed a Mother of Pearl ( a micromoth of the Pyralid family ) ;

Try and get back into recording the birdlife again, now that things are starting to move.

Copyright Dean Stables

Monday 16th July 2007

Sunny, Light S
An hour at the Wombwell garden this morning produced a handful of butterflies :
Large Skipper, Small White, Large White, Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Gatekeeper & Meadow Brown ;

Large Skipper

Large White

Green-veined White

Red Admiral

Gatekeeper

Nothing new at Cortonwood, with just the usual stuff seen. I could`nt be bothered photographing anything that i`d already photographed earlier at Wombwell, so here`s a Meadow Brown & Perforate St Johns Wort ;

My apologies for no updates from the previous 3 days. There was ( honestly ) nothing at all to report.

Copyright Dean Stables

Wombwell ( Thursday 12th July 2007 )

Did`nt think i was going to get out today, what with the heavy rain this morning. However, it brightened up for a while, so i had an hour at the Wombwell garden before it clouded over ( again ).
The only highlights were - Tawny Owl 2 ( calling ), Great Spotted Woodpecker and very fresh single specimens of both Holly Blue & Red Admiral ;

( painted )

Copyright Dean Stables

Scraping the Barrel !!!!

Can`t believe it. It`s the middle of July ( is`nt it ? ) and the moth trap in my garden produced just 6 moths overnight. This Scalloped Oak was the only one to merit a photograph ;

Nothing from the Wombwell garden either, apart from a tatty Red Admiral ;

Scraping the Barrel, YES INDEED.

Copyright Dean Stables

Tuesday 10th July 2007

Sunny, Light SW
A ( calling ) Redshank flew over the garden heading East at 07.15 and the only other highlight was this Marbled Beauty that was found on the kitchen window ;

Not much from the Wombwell garden either, with the highlights being Large White 2, Red Admiral 2, Meadow Brown 1 & this stunning Common White Wave ;

A walk along the western edge of Cortonwood produced all the usual inverts, but this Comma was the only one photographed ( & painted ) ;

Also here were ;

Hoary Plantain

Fungi sp

Gonna try the moth trap in my garden overnight. See if i can get motivated again after such a long break.

Copyright Dean Stables

Southern Hawker @ Wombwell

Spent about an hour waiting for this flighty male to settle this morning and my patience paid off ( i think ) ;

Copyright Dean Stables

Sunday 8th July 2007

Sunshine & Showers, Light W/SW
Could`nt be bothered to venture away from home today, where the only highlight was the sight of 2 Partridge sp whizzing over the garden this morning. Did`nt get enough on them to get a positive id as i was in the kitchen at the time, but it was still a strange sight to see such birds flying across the garden in the middle of a council estate.
It went downhill from then on, with just the usual species seeen ;

Collared Dove

Blackbird

Jackdaw

Starlings

Greenfinch

( all the above were digiscoped )

Not much on the Invert front with just singles of Common Darter, Blue-tailed Damselfly & this Large Yellow Underwing that was disturbed from the vegetation ;

Copyright Dean Stables

Saturday 7th July 2007

Sunny, Blustery W
Had an hour around the Gypsy Marsh/Knollbeck area this morning, all the usual inverts seen as well as a couple more flowering plants ;

Small Skipper

Greater Spearwort

Sneezewort

Chicory

Copyright Dean Stables

Sandscale Haws ( Friday 29th June 2007 )

The last full day of our week in Cumbria, and Jakki & the kids went off to see Shrek the 3rd at the cinema in Barrow. There was no way i was going to sit through garbage like that, so i opted for 3 hours of superb solitude at Sandscale. Two of which were spent wandering around the dunes, where i saw several Grayling & Dark Green Fritillary butterflies. The Graylings were very difficult to locate especially when they settled on the bare sand, the Dark Green Fritillaries on the other hand stood out like a sore thumb, in comparison ;

Grayling

Dark Green Fritillary

To finish off with, i added 2 more plant/flower lifers with ;

Sea Storksbill

Common Sea Lavender

All in all, it was a very enjoyable week. Already booked next years hols, we`re off to Seton Sands in East Lothian. Just 340 odd sleeps to go :)

Copyright Dean Stables