Flycatcher, spotted

Righty ho, as you were...

Saturday 7th August

One of the highlights of the weekend was the two Spotted Flycatchers, at Lowthorpe. I'm not 100% but I'm fairly sure one was a young bird. However the other bird performed marvelously while I was sheltering from a shower.



This was on the Saturday afternoon. Other sightings around Harpham-Lowthorpe on the same walk were; 1 Gadwall, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Hobby, 1 Kestrel, 30+ Common Gull, 20+ Black-headed Gull, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 28 Skylark in one loose flock, 1 Goldcrest, 2 Long-tailed Tit, 3 Coal Tit.

Also a Grey Squirrel in Lowthorpe Church Wood - my first one of the year.

In the afternoon I headed around Gembling and Foston, which was rather productive. In the Gembling area were 3 Teal, 1 Grey Heron, 7 Grey Partridge, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Common Buzzard, 8 Snipe, 7 Green Sandpiper, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Bullfinch and a Reed Bunting.

At Brigham Quarry, 3 Gadwall, 2 Pochard, 1 Tufted Duck, 13 Little Grebe, 10+ Coot (4 pairs), 4 Lapwing, 2 Snipe, 17 Stock Dove and 12 Swift.

On the way back 50+ House Sparrow were noted in Great Kelk. Finally in the evening, 22 Greylags were in Little Kelk plus 25 Mallard, 1 Little Grebe and 2 Kingfisher at Kelk Lake. A Grey Heron flew over and a small flock of Golden Plover were calling in a field - I couldn't see them but it sounded like only a few.

Sunday 8th August

Morning - Harpham and Lowthorpe: 2 Red-legged Partridge, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Sparrowhawk, 7 Common Buzzard (see photo in previous post), 1 Hobby, 75 Swift, 2 Kingfisher, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Willow Warbler singing, 8 Tree Sparrow.

Late afternoon - Kelk Beck and Cattleholmes: 1 Mute Swan, 1 Teal, 1 Tufted Duck, 3 Green Sandpiper, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull and 2 Herring Gulls (adults moving SW), 1 Kingfisher, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, two parties of Long-tailed Tit. Also a Water Vole in Kelk Beck.

With no new bird species for the year, that leaves the year list on 110. Now just time for some smaller flying creatures.

Butterflies

Not a great weekend in terms of numnbers but a few gooides. Totals were; 1 Meadow Brown, 12 Peacock, 1 Red Admiral, 3 Ringlet, 1 Small Skipper, 2 Speckled Wood, 12 Wall, 'three figures' of Whites. However the best bay far was on Sunday when we found 10+ Small Copper and 4 Brown Agrus at Harpham. The latter a new species for me within the area.

Also several noted dragonflies noted; 6+ Common Blue Damselfly, 2 Ruddy Darter, 4 Common Darter, 3 Migrant Hawker.