Peter Jones Wildlife blog

Originally shared by Peter Jones Plans for 2016 I'm aiming for something a little different in 2016. Almost a break from Birding, although I'm sure birds will feature heavily at some point. Instead, I am going to attempt to find as many "#mini-beasts" as I can, especially those which I have never seen before. So Grasshoppers, Dragonflies, Ladybirds, Amphibians, Reptiles, Bumblebees, and Mammals (in particular the small Rodents) are all on the hit list. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of the species are insects, and present only in the summer months, so this year is likely to get off to a slow start. I can start the year looking for likely places for the rodents though, and maybe setting the trail camera in mild spells. The full and very long wish list is below... Butterflies: Chequered Skipper - Carterocephalus palaemon Large Blue - Maculinea arion Northern Brown Argus - Aricia artaxerxes Heath Fritillary - Melitaea athalia High Brown Fritillary - Argynnis adippe Bu

2015 review For me, 2015 was a superb year, with many highlights. As in recent years, the bird highlights were not so close to home. Hampshire seems to have stopped giving me unusual bird sightings for the last few years, but this was made up for with some excellent sightings abroad.. Portugal: A trip to Donana was a brilliant day with Savi's Warbler and all the classic Donana birds showing well. Even better for me was a trip inland and a brief sighting of Polecat in the car headlights. Scandinavia: My 2015 trip to Lapland was the best so far for me in terms of self-found species. Only White-billed Diver eluded me from my wish list, and I had plenty of bonuses too: Ural Owl, Hawk Owl, Pine Grosbeak, Siberian Tit, Siberian Jay, Little Bunting, Jack Snipe, the stand out birds, along with Orca plus Sperm Whale. 100 in a day: Finally broke this barrier with an exhausting romp around Hampshire. No surprises, but most of the regular birds showed up for me, and I crept over the finish lin