A Good Year For Butterflies?

Last weekend I visited J&J in Drerbyshire and on the Sunday we took a visit to Carsington Water.  I'd been there before but more on the look out for birds.

In spite of a little rain and a few overcast periods, there was little difficulty in finding butterflies, though my first positive sighting apart from hoverflies was actually a common blue damselfly. 

Common Blue Damselfly

Meadow browns were all over the place but it was particularly pleasing to me that there were also a good few gatekeepers - surely the first time I've seen them in the UK since I was a youngster in Nottinghamshire.

Gatekeeper (underwing)

Gatekeeper (upper wing)

Confusion with meadow brown is possible but the gatekeeper has a double 'eye' spot on the underwing and clear orange colouring on the lower upper wing, which the meadow brown does not.

Almost as good was when J pointed out that there were small coppers.  These have already been reported in the North East but especially good to get after a I messed up the first photo opportunity.

Small Copper

Small skippers were again numerous and we also saw two small tortoiseshell and a few commas and ringlets

Comma

Ringlet

The notable absentees today were common blue (again) and small heath.

We had a quick look at the lake but didn't see much of interest.  I thought I spotted a little egret but it seems to be a juvenile.

Egret

After two hours we hadn't got very far and I spent an annoying twenty minutes trying to catch up with a very mobile sedge warbler, J's camera battery having given out.  In the end I got half of it as it played hide 'n' seek in the bushes.

Find the sedge warbler!

Small White and Green-veined White

There were some large whites at times too.

All in all, a very enjoyable visit

Wednesday 9th October

Understandably, things have been much quieter since returning from holiday and a 50% plus drop in temperature as summer draws to a close.

On resuming birdfeeding activities in mid September, there were a series of visits from a group of long-tailed tits and on one occasion I happened to count as many as eight clustered around the bird feeders. It didn't

Small Tortoiseshell

however take long before the jackdaws started visiting again.

Around this time, some of my newly-planted buddleia's last flowers produced a couple of fine, large specimens - a red admiral and a small tortoiseshell. The photo doesn't give a fair impression of its size.

Recently, I've continued to keep careful note of butterflies, wondering when the last sighting of the year will occur.  There was a red admiral and two speckled wood in the garden on 28th September and three speckled wood yesterday.

Egret

Today there was another red admiral on a bike ride near Lanchester and two more speckled wood in the garden once I got home. 

On the way back from Lanchester, I stopped to chat with some fishermen at the little lake at Annfield Plain, who had been catching some carp. I suddenly noticed that a heron wading on the far side was in fact an indeterminate egret. I guess they must be pretty much anywhere where there is water if they are this far inland.

Earlier in the day, I was pretty sure I heard a chiffchaff calling briefly.

Wednesday 14th January

Took advantage of another bike ride to Caerlaverock in the hope of seeing the egret. Nothing at first sight and a bit cold to hang around.  Tide was out, which may have made some difference.  Did however sight a raven flying and calling over the grounds at Caerlaverock.

Saturday 10th January

After the fun with the starlings, I went on a bike ride on Tuesday with fitness in mind and so no binoculars. Noted from a distance three more young buzzards that were sitting in very low trees and bushes, and had the impressiona that this was either a sign of desperation or supreme confidence but wasn't sure which.

Dusk at Caerlaverock

No binoculars meant I couldn't check the flight of a darkish bird that flew in harrier-like fashion across the merse at Caerlaverock but then landed on the shoreline more like a gull, visible at 400 yards.  But just a few hundred yards further along the road towards Glencaple I couldn't escape seeing that the swan I momentarily thought I had glimpsed in the nearby rushes next to the Nith was in fact an egret.  I stopped to get the camera out and it immediately flew off downstream, but its neck position gave final confirmation that it was no swan.

I should have hung around for a further sighting but was on a sort of schedule and rode on. I meant to go back on Thursday but at the last minute drove instead to the sites at Southerness and Carsethorn where I saw the twite three years ago (only seeing a few redshank and a couple of wigeon for my troubles) since when the weather has deteriorated.

The Dumfries and Galloway Birding group on yahoo indicates that little egrets are now quite often seen in the area, which gives me a slight problem as I thought it was too big for a little egret and that it probably had a yellow beak. Great egrets are still rare here but it could just have been a cattle egret in winter plumage.  Either way, it's my first definite egret sighting in this country.