Great White Egret showing well at Testwood Lakes
Great White Egret showing well at Testwood Lakes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ema60R4N-80&feature=share
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Spent the morning at Pennington marshes, dutifully recording all my Sightings on the excellent BTO birdtrack app.
Spent the morning at Pennington marshes, dutifully recording all my Sightings on the excellent BTO birdtrack app. By midday, I had seen 60 species, so decided to go for an optimistic 100 in a day! Best of the birds at Pennington were Ruff, Spotted Redshank, Knot, Sandwich Tern and Spoonbill. Testwood added Great White Egret, Whinchat, and Common Sandpiper. The early afternoon, I headed into the New Forest which would make or break the attempt! Slowly the woodland species were ticked off.. Siskin, Crossbill, Nuthatch, Firecrest the highlights, and the open heath got me Stonechat and Dartford Warbler. Mid afternoon and I was on 90! And still had a whole range of common birds missing.. Grey Wagtail, House Sparrow, Green Woodpecker, Redstart, Skylark, and plenty more. For some reason, Redstart and Green Woodpecker eluded me, so I headed North to farmland. A surprise Tawny Owl got me to 97. Then a single binocular view got me Blackcap, and Yellowhammer, and I just needed a Partridge or a La
Ciel 401 "Phoenix" Detector
After many years with a HD/FD bat detector, I have recently purchased a ciel 401 detector to make use of the time expansion feature, something that was well out of my budget until recent years when the price for this technology seems to have plummeted. compared to my Pettersson d230, (a hd/fd detector), this is a computer! It has lots of cool features: 1. Different windows showing just HD frequency, or HD frequency and FD peak frequency, or an FD spectogram, (Headphone outputs corresponding to the display) 2. The ability to sweep the FD range and lock the detector in HD at the peak frequency. 3. Recording in TE and real time sampling. 4. Box mode for remote recording. 5. Built in micro SD slot so, no need for seperate recorder. The file management is really good with directories for each day, and files labelled by recording type and time. So far, the results are good. HD and FD detecting has been fine, the recording in FD wasn't as clear as my Pettersson D230, but I'm not sur
Another search in vain for Smooth Snake and Adder in the New Forest, but I did at least find a Palmate Newt, in it's...
Another search in vain for Smooth Snake and Adder in the New Forest, but I did at least find a Palmate Newt, in it's terrestrial stage, crawling thru the heather. Also, a Dartford Warbler, and "The Sickener" Fungus.
A surprise this morning with a young Firecrest around the garden, plus at least one adult present.
A surprise this morning with a young Firecrest around the garden, plus at least one adult present. First confirmed breeding record I know of in the immediate area, although suspected for a couple of years now. We also have two or three territories in local woodland. We've also heard a Spotted Flycatcher calling fairly regularly, but have yet to see him.
A day in the Alps searching for Alpine bird species was largely unsuccessful, but a few good birds were seen...
A day in the Alps searching for Alpine bird species was largely unsuccessful, but a few good birds were seen together with a host of Butterflies. Nutcrackers and Crossbills showed well, along with a fox and Alpine Marmots. Common Hawker Dragonflies were numerous, a species I have yet to find in the UK, and I was lucky to photo one briefly on the ground to confirm the i.d. Butterflies were everywhere, and I managed to identify Apollo, Dark-green Fritillary, Spotted Fritillary, Scarce Copper, Damon Blue and Alpine Grizzled Skipper Photos: Dark-green Fritillary, Alpine Marmot, Scarce Copper, Spotted Fritillary, Alpine Grizzled Skipper, Damon Blue, Apollo, Common Hawker
Red-backed Shrike, and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, seen on a morning walk around Les Abrets, France
Red-backed Shrike, and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, seen on a morning walk around Les Abrets, France
A family camping holiday in the foothills of the French Alps gave my quest for insects and small animals a timely...
A family camping holiday in the foothills of the French Alps gave my quest for insects and small animals a timely boost! Butterflies were literally everywhere with some good species seen, and the campsite and surrounding area was host to many species. A day in the alps was good for more Butterflies plus some other good sightings. Highlights from the campsite at Les Abrets: Long Tailed Blue, Lesser Purple Emperor, Map, Knapweed Fritillary, Clouded Yellow, Small Heath, Red Admiral, Peacock, Swallowtail Common, and Common Wall Lizard Orange and 22-Spot Ladybird Edible Dormouse. Common, Soprano, and Kuhl's Pipistrelle, Northern Bat Birds around the campsite included Golden Oriole, Red-backed Shrike, Lesser-spotted Woodpecker, Pied Flycatcher Photos: Orange Ladybird, Knapweed Fritillary, Map butterfly, Common Wall Lizard, Small Copper