Belated review of my nature related highlights for 2019 - part 1 Jan to June
 |
| my 60th birthday cake, featuring an Icing Sugar Dipper. My favourite bird. |
The first six months of 2019 featured nature focussed trips to Norfolk, Suffolk, Northumberland and Carmarthenshire. But the two standout moments in this time period were both on my home turf in and around Peterborough.
The first was on April 18th at Holme Fen. I was with my wife Sue in the Rhymes Reedbed hide. No-one else was there. A harrier came across in front, not far away. At first I thought it was a male marsh harrier and then I quickly revised this opinion. It was either a male hen - or better still, a male Montagues Harrier. I have seen plenty of male hen harriers in my time and this seemed very different. Much much lighter in flight, very slim winged, more like a tern than a gull, if that makes any sense. It was mobbed by a crow as it headed North West towards Yaxley. I am 95% sure it was a Monties. At one point I believe I saw the dark bars on the upper wings. April 18th is a bit early for this species but its still feasible. I reported it to the RSPB and to the Wildlife Trusts who manage the Great Fen Project. A couple of days later, someone posted an image of a male Monties on social media. Its location was undisclosed but probably 100 miles further north of where I saw this harrier. The bird photographed looked exactly like the bird I had seen.
The second highlight was a small micro moth taken in my garden trap on 1st June. It was subsequently confirmed as a scarce gold conch - a first for my Vice County (VC32 - Northants). Interestingly one was also found in Cambridgeshire on the same night.
Month by month summary - Jan to June 2019
January 2019
200 people at a moth conference listening to the CEO of Butterfly Conservation, Julie Williams. I am back row extreme right. A grand day out in Brum.
January - Cold, blustery, sunny day at Frampton Marsh Lincolnshire with Stuart Ball. This is a record shot of a female merlin. We also saw a superb male hen harrier, a female hen harrier and a short eared owl. Met quite a few very nice birdwatchers.
J
January - Two Bohemian waxwings seen in the pub car park of the “Crab and Winkle” in Peterborough. About 6 birders there, some seeing waxwings for the first time. We had a half hour wait before they arrived.
Cormorant
February 2019
some frosty scenes by the Nene. (Feb)
Cley Marsh - February. Annual birding trip.
Birding the Blythe estuary in Suffolk from the beer garden of the White Hart Blythburgh this afternoon. Light and tide and Adnams ale in total harmony. Great selection of waders and a nice Mediterranean gull.
March 2019
Highlights were trips to Northumberland and then Norfolk at the end of the month.
Alnmouth Bay - March
Eiders at Alnmouth
Coquet Island from Alnmouth Beach
Eider on the Aln
Embleton beach. Northumberland. No filters. No messing.
Farne Isles in March. We were Not able to land but 1000s of auks around, mostly newly arrived from their winter out to sea. Loads of puffins but hard to photograph at sea. An amazing experience, considering it is still March, ie early for the breeding season.
Norfolk, end of March
My friend Gideon had purchased a camo portable bird hide.
Shore Larks still at Holkham in late March.
April - back in Peterborough
one of my regular birding sites - Eye Green LNR now has a housing development built right next to it.
Rook with pouch near Star Pit
coot chicks
Bah Humbug. A social night out with the Huntingdonshire Moth and Butterfly Group (AKA Humbug)
April 2019. Some local scenes on my cycle birding explorations.
Marsh Harriers not far from my house in Peterborough
Star Pit with morning mist
Mandarin duck at Eye Green. Just one left now.
Coots
 |
| common terns |
 |
| Fitzwilliam Bridge |
 |
| Lesser Black backed gull |
 |
| montage of meadow pipits |
 |
| mandarin |
 |
| cuckoo |
 |
| lesser whitethroat |
 |
| Star Pit - cycle birding |
Alwalton - April 2019. Orange slime found on tree stump, complete with wriggly worm like creatures.This from googling“Orange Slime Flux Exuding from a Recently Cut Tree Stump. It is not just a fungus but a microbial mat consisting of a ‘consortium’ of microfungi and a few bacteria, a mixture of yeasts and fungi feeding on sap being exuded by the tree in Spring. It is likely to contain the red yeast Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous, an important producer of the carotenoid pigment astaxanthin, Cryptococcus macerans a producer of orange coloured carotene, and moulds like Fusarium and Acremonium.
20 April 2019 In Castor Hanglands today, the only person we saw was an entomologist from the natural history museum who was searching for this wonderful tiny creature with a wonderful called a “stylops”. Look at those weird eyes. Look at those weird wings. It is a parasite of solitary bees (Andrena).He has been searching suitable locations in April for 40 years without success. Despite this high failure rate he remained up beat. Insect parasites lead such incredible unconventional lives, and so do those who study them. Google them when you get home he said. Glad I did.
 |
| stylops |
May 2019
21 May 2019 - "It was quite an experience today. My first proper exploration of limestone pavement. Ingleborough Yorkshire. It’s tiring stuff to walk over. My leg disappeared deep down into a grike on a couple of occasions. That’s as close as I’ll ever get to pot holing. Or maybe I should sue the Council for failing to maintain their pavements properly. Ed went all gooey about the ungrazed section at Scar Close. ”It’s in my top ten National nature reserve experiences” he said. We were the only ones out exploring the pavements. Beats hiking to the top of hills along eroded paths. Something primeval about it. I don’t know much about botany, but exploring scar close in particular at this time of year is such a marvellous way just to get a sense of wild plants trying to make their living in so many different ways. Photos don’t do it justice. Could have spent the whole day within a few hectares there."
 |
| Ed Mountford on Limestone Pavement Ingleborough |
 |
| orchid near Ingleborough |
 |
| birds eye primrose near Ingleborough |
 |
| small elephant hawk moth Burnley - May 2019 - early for up north. |
 |
| sheep shearing operations near the Millenium Bridge Peterborough |
 |
| eyed hawkmoth |
June 2019
1 June 2019 It may be tiny and it may not look like much, but this is possibly the rarest moth I have found in my garden. Its a scarce golden conch and a first for my vice county.
It’s a moth recorders tradition to put your first buff tip of the year on a twig and take lots of photos. What amazing camouflage.
A scene from beautiful
Carmarthenshire.
 |
| pony tree sky field |
The Turlough at Carmel in Carmarthenshire is a very rare habitat indeed. Within Britain its unique.
 |
| the rather cute and hairy Pale Tussock |
 |
| poplar hawk |
 |
| gold spot |
10 June. Tonight’s moth trap set up in the garden of our South Wales holiday cottage. Rain expected. But this will not stop me. hoping it will be better than last two cold and unmothy nights.
 |
| privet hawk in Carmathenshire |
 |
| 12 June. Dinefwr parc on a guided tour with the '49 Club |
13 June 2019. I’ve been on many guided nature reserve field visits but few as impressive as today at the national botanic gardens in wales. Superbly led by Bruce Langridge. The previous day at Dinefwr Parc was terrific too.
June j15 2019 Have moved on from Carmarthenshire to the Yorkshire Wolds. (A Buddhist retreat). The retreat centre near Pocklington has beautiful grounds. I got up at 4 am by mistake thinking it was 6am.
 |
| elephant hawk |
 |
| privet hawk |
 |
| leopard moth |
the month ended with a celebration of my 60th birthday.
