Weekend in Lancashire 28th to 29th May 2016

I spent this weekend in Lancashire surrounded by birdsong, butterflies and damselflies in warm sunny weather. The area around my holiday home has a wealth of wildlife waiting to be discovered.

Orange Tip & Large White butterflies were flying past all day long, but surprisingly it was the damselflies that stopped for a moments rest allowing a quick photograph. On the East Coast I tend not to see very many Large Red Damselfly, but there were plenty today.

 

Not to be out done, here's the blues in the form of Common Blue.

Garden Moth Update - Friday 27th May 2016

A dry GMS moth night with an overnight minimum temperature of 11.5C.

White Shouldered House Moth 1
Light Brown Apple Moth 4
Flame Carpet 2
Mottled Pug 1
Shuttle-shaped Dart 1
Iron Prominent 1 (northern form?)

Shuttle-shaped Dart

Iron Prominent

 Flame Carpet

Iron Prominent

Shuttle-shaped Dart

Mottled Pug

Our Garden - 22nd May 2016

Today, whilst working in the garden a 2-spot ladybird was seen by the garden pond. There were at least three adult frogs and numerous tadpoles in the pond too.

Weekend in Cumbria - 14th - 15th May 2016

I spent the weekend in Cumbria and this short video was taken at Arnside on the banks of the River Kent Estuary. It is a wonderful estuary feeding the vast Morecambe bay. The rising tide was slowly covering the mudflats and sand banks.

There were eight Shelduck were feeding in the shallows, along with two Little Egrets. Three Redshank and a Curlew were also spotted with the large body of waders out of sight until they took to the air heading into the bay.

 

 

 

 

Earlier in the day, we visited Muncaster Castle to see the Rhododendrons in the gardens. Whilst walking round we spotted a Speckled Wood butterfly that unfortunately was too quick for a photograph. I recorded the sighting using iRecord and it turns out that the record was 10 km outside previous recording range. It was my first Speckled Wood of the year.

 



Dawn Chorus - 5th May 2016

Whilst recording the birdsong at 4:30 am I noticed a fox visiting each garden in the road.

Click below for the Dawn Chorus of the Blue Tit and Blackbird

https://soundcloud.com/julie-mason-12/zoom0103wav

Wildlife Camera Update - 3rd May 2016

On Tuesday 3rd May, I expected to record the visit of our Hedgehog to his food dish. He came early in the evening, but then the camera recorded several visits from another unknown visitor.