A pair of Garganey were found early morning at Willington Gravel Pits in South Derbyshire. Only a few miles from home, I decided to pay them a visit and I wasn’t disappointed. Although for most of the time they were just at the extremities of my camera lens, I managed to get a few half […]
Only my second moth trap of the year – A modest catch with a few rare species – Foxglove Pug; Elephant Hawk-moth; Pine Hawk-moth; Maiden’s Blush; Green Pug; Heart & Dart (17); Common Pug (5); Fan-foot; Common Wainscot (2) Garden Carpet (2); Willow Beauty; Pale Mottled Willow; Gold Spot; Treble Lines; Spruce Carpet; MICROS –Small
With the recent Covid19 Lockdown rules, it has been difficult to justify a visit to one of my favourite Derbyshire locations, Padley Woods. In recent weeks, however, the rules on Lockdown have been relaxed somewhat, making it more justifiable to venture out and make the trip. A little late in the season really, as ideally
For many years now a personal obsession of mine has been to see a Snow Leopard and my first attempt to see this animal commenced last year. During late July into early August 2019, I spent two weeks in Mongolia with Wise Birding Holidays. Our first week was spent entirely in the south Gobi Altai
The last two days at my local patch, Staunton Harold Reservoir, have produced a few good birds. Monday 21st October I had 3 Whooper Swans fly over the reservoir heading SW and then 30 minutes or so later a Red Kite flew over the dam wall. Then today, 22nd October, I found a pair of
The Long-billed Dowitcher returned to Willington Gravel Pits on the morning of Saturday 19th October. So I decided to have another attempt at photographing it. This time it seemed settled as it was roosting on a tiny island just from the main hide. It showed for a good 45 minutes before a Sparrowhawk flew through
The last thing I expected to see this morning was a first record for Derbyshire in the form of a 1st winter Long-billed Dowitcher. Found by Steve Porter first thing this morning, it disappeared for nearly 2 hours, before returning to Willington GP around 10:30am. I managed a rush from work arriving on site around
During the past few days I have spent sometime with local Orchids and have seen 1 new species and 1 new variant of Bee Orchid, Wasp Orchid. All with a few miles or so of my house. I even found a Common Spotted Orchid growing in one of the lawns at the front of my
