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Broad leaved Helleborines at Cloud Wood.

2009-07-12T12:43:00.004+01:00

Two photos of the rare form Var.viridiflora.

Normal "type" of Broad-leaved Helleborines.

I nipped over to Cloud Wood LRWT yesterday to check on the Broad Leaved Helleborines which occur on the rides of the wood.

Over the couple of hours I found at least 140+ flowering spikes and at least 14 plants which showed characteristics of the rare form Var.viridiflora.

Although most of the plants were still coming into flower I expect the helleborines to be at there best in a couple of weeks.

Wood Sand Cosso 2nd July 2009.

2009-07-03T09:34:00.004+01:00

Hi all, following a report via my pager of a Wood Sandpiper at Cossington Meadows, I checked the site out the next day after I had finished work.
Although the details of the Wood Sand was a bit brief, I knew that the Wood Sand would be on the pools between Tern Pool and Hobley's Lake if it was still there?Reaching the Upper Marsh Pool the adult Wood Sandpiper was feeding quietly in the middle of the scrape, along with seven Green Sandpipers, a couple of Redshanks and good numbers of Lapwings.
On Hobley's Lake I noted that the Common Terns must have had a good breeding season as I counted at least 35 birds flying and resting around the lake.So hopefully this is the start of a good autumn passage of waders down the Soar Valley, even if it's still only just started July!!

"Life on the Verge" surveys!!

2009-07-01T11:01:00.008+01:00

Greater Knapweed near Saltby

Saltby Airfield outcrop

Two photos of the rare form

Var.chlorantha Bee Orchid

Over the last few days (Saturday and Yesterday)I have been completing a few plant surveys for the "Life on the Verge" wildflower project (see the Link). The areas I have checked out included near Pickworth in Rutland and around Saltby Village in Leicestershire.

Although I'm a bit of novice when it comes to identifying most wildflowers, the guide supplied by the project helped greatly.

The highlights I found included small numbers of Bee Orchids,Southern Marsh and Common Spotted Orchids at Pickworth and Pyramidal and Bee Orchids at Saltby.

At the nearby former RAF Saltby airfield I also checked out the limestone outcrop here and to my surprise I found the best bit of Limestone flora I have ever seen in Leicestershire!! Highlights here included a record count of over 170 Bee Orchids and the cherry on cake for me was finding a single plant of the rare form Var.chlorantha Bee Orchid. This is probably the first ever record for Vc 55, so to say I was pleased was a bit of an understatement!?

Over the next couple of weeks I will checking a few more sites for this project, and hopefully more interesting sightings to come?

Finally on the birding front I did also see a Turtle Dove and Spotted Flycatcher at Saltby, so sometimes it does help to go off the beaten track to find scarce migrants in the county.

Wet my lips, Wet my Lips.................

2009-06-23T09:57:00.004+01:00

Following a text message from Ben Croxtall about the whereabouts of a couple of singing Quails near Groby, after finishing work I drove over to Anstey Lane to see if I could hear the distinctive call (sounds like Wet-my-lips,Wet-my-lips..) in the nearby fields.
Walking along the footpath from Anstey Lane towards the fishing lakes next to Groby Quarry, it wasn't long before I heard at least one Quail calling from the crop. Over the next hour the Quail was heard calling at least three times and always at the same time as the nearby Skylarks burst into there flight song.
As I walked back to the car I noticed at least six Painted Ladies Butterflies flying around the footpath and realised that maybe the invasion of these butterflies was still occurring and possible the Quail and the Butterflies had migrating from the same area in North Africa? On the whole it was great to hear the Quail calling but maybe next time I should borrow a Jack Russell dog to flush the little critters!!

Possible Atrofuscus Bee Orchids?

2009-06-23T09:18:00.004+01:00

As the Bee Orchids are know in flower in Leicester I took a few more photos of this beautiful orchid. Looking at the flower itself it might possible that these flowers are actually the very rare form Var. Atrofuscus and potentially the second record ever for the UK!!!

I informed my fellow orchid twitcher Sean Cole about these possible rare forms and he joined me later in the afternoon and came to the same conclusion as myself after viewing the orchids.

The only problem now is that I will just have to wait and see what the BSBI orchid recorder thinks of them?

I will keep you posted on the developments?

Leicester Bee Orchids

2009-06-19T19:46:00.004+01:00

Over the last week I checked out some Bee Orchids near to were I work and found at least fourteen plants in the grassland. Over the next couple of weeks I will check this site out on regular basis to make sure that no numpty picks them!!

Leicestershire Orchids: Loads!!

2009-06-14T09:51:00.007+01:00

Early Marsh Orchid

Bee Orchid

Frog Orchid

Chalk Fragrant Orchid

As we hit mid-summer the birding has been put on the back burner and have been checking a number of orchid sites during the last few days.

The highlights I have seen included Frog Orchid, Chalk Fragrant Orchid, Heath Spotted Orchid, Common Twayblade, Southern Marsh Orchid, Pyramidal Orchid, Early Marsh Orchid,Common Spotted Orchid, and small numbers of Bee Orchids.

Leicestershire Orchids: Greater Butterfly Orchid and Southern Marsh Orchid 8th June 2009.

2009-06-08T21:58:00.003+01:00

In the afternoon I checked out Cloud Wood LRWT and the A50 by-pass at Markfield.

The orchids I saw included Greater Butterfly Orchid,Common Spotted Orchid, and a non-flowering Bee Orchid at Cloud Wood.

On the way home I checked out the by-pass at Markfield and found hundreds of Southern Marsh Orchids next to the busy road.

Leicestershire Orchids: Bee Orchids at Huncote 8th June 2009.

2009-06-08T21:28:00.005+01:00

Following info from Adey Baker and Mark Skevington I nipped over to Huncote Embankment this morning to photo the Bee Orchids.

Checking out the embankment I found at least 18 Bee Orchids on the south-facing slope.

Leicestershire Orchids: Marsh Fragrant Orchid and Heath Spotted Orchid 6th June 2009.

2009-06-07T09:20:00.006+01:00

Heath Spotted Orchid

Marsh Fragrant Orchid

Marsh Fragrant Orchid

Yesterday morning I met up with the Leicester wildlife group for a walk around Ulverscroft LRWT reserve.

Although it rained for most of the walk, I did see good numbers of Marsh Fragrant Orchids, Heath Spotted Orchids, Common Spotted Orchids and a single Bee Orchid(just flowering) at Herbert's Meadow.

Red Necked Phalarope at EBR

2009-06-01T09:37:00.004+01:00

Whilst photographing the Orchids at Clipsham, I got a text message from Andy Mackay about a Red-necked Phalarope at the inflow end at Eyebrook Reservoir.

So after finishing at Clipsham I drove over to Eyebrook and joined the group of birders watching the attractive female Red necked Phalarope whilst it feed on insects on the shoreline.

After taking a few record shots of the bird I drove home pleased of what I had seen in the day.

Leicestershire Orchids: Common Twayblade

2009-06-01T09:27:00.004+01:00

Here is a couple of photos of the Common Twayblades at Clipsham Old Quarries I saw on saturday.

Leicestershire Orchids: Greater Butterfly Orchid Again!

2009-06-01T09:04:00.004+01:00

On Saturday I nipped up to Clipsham Old Quarries in Rutland to look for Greater Butterfly Orchid.

At the quarry I noted at least 30 odd Greater Butterfly Orchids, 100+ Common Twayblades, and good numbers of Common Spotted Orchids which were coming into flower.

What is interesting about this site is that the GBO's flower in the open on south facing spoil heaps, then the usual dark woodland environment.

Leicestershire Orchids: Greater Butterfly Orchid

2009-05-29T18:06:00.003+01:00

Here is a few shots I took this morning of the Greater Butterfly Orchids at Elmsthorpe Plantation near Hinckley.

Due to the flash on the camera most the flowers were bleached out!!

Leicestershire Orchids: Early Purple Orchid

2009-05-27T10:48:00.004+01:00

Early Purple Orchids at
Pickworth Great Wood.

Here is a couple of shots of Early Purple Orchid at Pickworth Great Wood in Rutland I took in early May.

Indiana Dave and the Monkey/Lady Orchid and a few Painted Ladies!!

2009-05-27T07:38:00.009+01:00

The Drunkbirder and Mr Llama
photographing a Monkey!

Monkey Orchid

Monkey/Lady Orchid Hybrid

Another shot of a Monkey!

Hartlock- the place for a Monkey!

Over the weekend, myself, John Hague and Andy Mackay travelled down to Chilterns to look for a variety of wildlife which included Orchids, Dragonflies and Butterflies.
First stop of the day was the River Thames at Goring, Oxfordshire to look for Club-tailed Dragonfly. Over the next hour or so we checked the river side, but the Club-tailed eluded us except for a very brief view which Andy and John saw before I could get on it.
Walking back along the Thames footpath to Hartlock NR we finally connected with a couple of Club tails as there hunting over the surrounding area. Other sightings we saw along the river path included good numbers of Banded Demoiselles and a bit of a surprise was a couple of Painted Lady Butterflies (More of them later).
Walking up the steep hill from the river footpath to Hartlock reserve, we soon found a few Monkey Orchids next to the entrance of the reserve.
At this point we took a number of photos of the delightful Monkey Orchids!!
Walking further onto the reserve I noted good numbers of Common Twayblade on the lower slopes, then more Monkeys and then the Monkey/Lady Orchid Hybirds on the upper slopes of the reserve.
I was a little surprised of the size the Monkey/Lady hybirds as I imagined them to be smaller from the previous photos I had seen.
Another reason to visit Hartlock was to look for Adonis Blue which Andy and John were keen to photo, however possible due to the last few weeks of bad weather and the habitat not beening cropped short enough we could not find any Adonis Blues.
Other butterfly sightings we did see included a few Dingy Skippers, Common Blues and now good numbers of Painted Ladies migrating north.
Walking back to the car we made a slighty detour to check out the small wood next to the reserve.
Here we found good numbers of White Helleborines, with a couple right next to the footpath.

Move to follow shortly...................................

Birds falling out of the sky!?!......15th May 2009.

2009-05-15T16:32:00.006+01:00

After finishing my final assignment for University mid morning, I noted on my pager that 3 Black Terns had been reported at Cropston Reservoir.
So before handing in my assignment I nipped over to Cropston to see the terns.
Arriving at the dam, I met up with Paul (one of the Groby crew) as he was scanning the reservoir.
Straight away I picked up a couple of Black Terns flying around the reservoir and then I noticed a couple of smaller terns as there flew past. I knew straight away that there Little Terns due to there size and build. I shouted to Paul to get on terns which he did, and then I scanned through the other terns feeding over the reservoir, and noted that there was 2 adult Little Terns, 3 Black Terns, up to six Arctic Terns and a single Common Tern just feeding off the dam.
As this was a good count of Terns I phoned the news out.
Watching the Terns for the next half an hour, the majority moved off when the weather improved, but the Black Terns did stick around until the early afternoon at least.
Another bird which had been dumped onto Cropston Reservoir due to the weather was a smart looking Sanderling which was slowly feed along the dam shoreline.
With time pressing I moved on to Swithland Reservoir and I soon picked up a group of nine Arctic Terns feeding over the reservoir.
At this point I got a text message from Jez Robson, that he had found a Wood Sandpiper, Sanderling and 3 Whimbrel down at Cossington Meadows.
On the way back home I quickly stopped off at Cossington Meadows and then ran down the footpath to the Tern Pool.
Here I met up with Jez and slowly got my breath back I checked out the pool but could not see any of the waders. So dreading a possible dip I checked out Hobley Lake for the Whimbrels and thankfully the birds were still at the back of the lake. Result!! A Soar Valley tick to boot!?!
Rejoining Jez the Wood Sandpiper suddenly showed itself as it flew over our heads calling and then landed on the nearby Hobley Lake.
We then finally picked up the Sanderling as it slowly feed around the pool shoreline.
At this point I had to say good bye to Jez and the arriving Allen Pocock and Andy Forryan as I had to be work within the next hour.
So on the whole it turned out to be a excellent few hours of birding with a couple of found ticks and an addition to my Soar Valley list.

Duke of Burgundy Butterfly Twitch.....9th May 2009.

2009-05-15T16:29:00.008+01:00

Common Twayblade at
Tottenhoe Knolls.

Duke Of Burgundy Butterfly at
Bison Hill, Bedfordshire.

Another shot of the Duke Of Burgundys

Views of Ivinghoe Beacon.

Myself and John took an early morning trip down to Dunstable in Bedfordshire to see if we could find Duke of Burgundy Butterfly.

Arriving early, possibly too early, we decided that maybe the local Mcdonalds was a better call, as it was quite cold at first port of call Bison Hill, near Whipsnade Zoo, and the butterfly active was non- existent.

So after an excellent McDonalds breakfast we retraced our steps and checked out another site not far from the nearby Bison Hill at Tottenhoe Knolls.

Over the next couple of hours or so we looked over this site and sightings included 2 Dingy Skipper, a Common Blue and good numbers of the commoner butterflies. Also I noted that there must have been in excess of 100 odd Common Twayblades in the surrounding hillsides.

Although it's not the most appealing orchid on the British list, the flower head's of the plant are quite impressive for this understated orchid.

As we had drawn a blank with the Duke of Burgundy's at this site, we decided to go back to Bison Hill.Parking up on the top of the hill, the sun finally came out and the butterfly active greatly increase. So within ten minutes of checking this site we finally found at least four Duke of Burgundy's in the nearby scrubby vegetation.

Other Butterflies in this area included Dingy Skipper, Green Hairstreak and an assortment of the commoner species.

With time pressing, as John had to be back in Leicester by mid afternoon, we looked over Sewell Cutting on the way home to see if any Small Blue were out?

Sadly our luck was out but we did note good numbers of Brimstones and various Whites along the cutting.

Although the day was a little frustrating the main target of the day was firmly in the bag Duke of Burgundy Butterfly OMFL!!

Another go for the Cattle Egret, also Green-winged Orchids and a Wood Warbler in the city.

2009-05-05T21:55:00.010+01:00

Adder's Tongue Fern at
Merry's Meadow LRWT.

Green winged Orchids
at Merry's Meadow LRWT.

Cattle Egret on Lagoon 1 at
Rutland Water.

Although I had seen the Cattle Egret at Rutland Water briefly the previously day, I nipped over to Rutland again to see if I could get some digishots of the Cattle Egret and take some photos of the local Green winged Orchids at the nearby Merry's Meadow LRWT.
Arriving at the Egleton reserve I was soon taking some record shots of the Cattle Egret as it feed around the cattle opposite mallard hide.
Pleased with the record shots of the Egret I then drove over to Greetham to check out Merry's Meadow.
At this site I counted at least 500+ Green winged Orchids in the surrounding meadowland and small numbers of the cute looking Adder's Tongue Fern.
Whilst at this site I received a message from Andy Mackay of a possible Wood Warbler at Victoria park in the centre of Leicester, and could I possible check it out?
As I was driving home that way I didn't see it as a problem, and parking the car just around the corner from the park, I was soon standing by the pond on "Vicky" park.
Although it felt a bit strange standing there with joggers, coverting couples and office workers looking on, suddenly above my head I heard the distinctive trill of a singing Wood Warbler.
I thought well done that man who originally reported the bird to the LROS website, I was know watching a Wood Warbler in the centre of the city!!
As you can imagine I phoned out the news out pretty dam quick and within 20 minutes the first local birders had arrived (Colin Towe and Allen Pocock).
Getting Colin and Allen on to the bird, it wasn't too long before a small crowd had gathered by the pond to watch the warbler.
Pleased with relocating the warbler I soon said my farewells to the group and realised that birds can turn up anywhere, even in a local city park!

Indiana Dave and chase of the Lark, Spider and Lady!?!

2009-05-03T09:21:00.011+01:00

Two shots of Lady Orchids and

four shots of Early Spider Orchid included

the rare form Var.flavescens.

Leaving Leicester at around 6.00am, myself, Ben Croxtall and Pete Jessop arrived at Dungeness just after 9.00am. The first target of the day was the long staying Crested Lark which had been at this site for the last few days.

Within ten minutes of leaving the car we saw the Lark fly over our heads as it landed in the area which the locals call "the desert". The bird was quite mobile for the next couple of hours as it flew around the desert being moved by the large crowd of twitchers.

Then after a short period of time Ben suddenly picked up the lark slowly walking over a piece of shingle. With more directions from Ben the group finally saw the Lark on the deck. Get in Crested Lark OMFL!!!

Pleased with finally seeing the bird on the deck we decided to have a look on the sea with hopefully seeing the odd Skua or Shearwater going by?

Watching the sea over the next half an hour turned out to be quite disappointed. The only highlights we saw included a small group of Common Scoters, a few Sandwich Terns and a Harbour Porpoise passing the point.

Happy with what we saw at Dungeness, we moved on Samphire Hoe, near Dover to add another Orchid to my British list.

The target here was Early Spider Orchid (ESO) and this site is probably the best site in the UK to see this rare species.

From the car park I noticed straight away a few ESO by the car park fence, then moving further along the footpath next to the Channel Tunnel rail link we saw loads more ESOs (1,000+) in the surrounding area.

Also at this site is the rare form of ESO var.flavescens, and with help from my fellow orchid hunter Sean Cole via the phone, I soon found three plants of this form in the nearby vegetation.

With another target under the belt we decided to move onto West Denge Woods, near Canterbury for another target species in the form Duke of Burgundy butterfly and possible Lady Orchid?

After getting lost in the minor roads of Kent it took us about an hour to find the site.

Parking at the southern entrance to the wood, we were soon walking down the path to Bonsai bank, the area were Duke of Burgundy Butterfly occurred.

Possible as we got to the wood a little bit late the butterfly active was very quiet, but we did find good numbers of emerging Lady Orchids, Common Twayblade, Early Purple Orchid and a single Common Spotted Orchid on the "Bonsai Bank".

As it was now getting on for six o'clock in the evening we decided to call it a day and took a leisurely drive back to Leicester, but pleased we had scored with most of the targets of the day.

Indiana Dave and the search for Orchids!?!

2009-04-30T12:01:00.003+01:00

As it's the first of May tomorrow, the official start of my Orchid hunting begins.
Over the weekend I will check out a couple of local sites and then on the Bank Holiday Monday I will be going down to Kent to finally see Early Spider Orchid.
Photos and the trip report to follow shortly, well in the next couple of days........

Soar Valley sightings 28th April 2009.

2009-04-29T10:21:00.002+01:00

Hi all, check out a few sites in the valley yesterday, although there wasn't much to report!?Probably the highlight of the day was seeing 3 Little Egrets and 1 Yellow Wagtail on the Hobley Pool/Upper Marsh section of Cossington Meadows.
Other sightings included the long staying drake Red crested Pochard and good numbers of Swifts (20+) at Watermead CP South.
Strangly for the time of the year Wanlip Meadows was very quiet with only a Common Sandpiper and 3 Common Terns the only noteworthy sightings.
Hopefully with the weekend looking good weather wise we should get some more unusal sightings or probably I'm just tempting fate?!

Adder in Vc 55 plus bits and bobs.....

2009-04-24T10:22:00.007+01:00

Adder in Vc 55!

Early on Wednesday morning, I nipped over to Rutland to see if I could find the reported Adders which had been showing on and off for the last few days.

Arriving at the location and using the directions from Colin Towe and Chris Lythall, within in five minutes of checking the site I saw an Adder basking itself on rocks next to the footpath.
As you can imagine I took few record shots of the Adder as it slowly warmed itself up on the rocks.
The Adder took about half an hour to warm up and then slowly moved back in the vegetation.
With the quarry under the belt, other sightings in the surrounding area included a singing Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, Green Woodpecker and Jay.
Happy with what I had seen I then moved on to the dam at Rutland Water.

Scanning from the dam I finally picked up the long staying Great Northern Diver after a few minutes which was actually just off Whitwell Creek!!, and then the "showy" drake Scaup which was just off the dam.
From the dam I drove back to Soar Valley as I need to digiscope the two Pec Sands which were still at Cossington Meadows, but that another story.......

So on the whole my quick nip into Rutland had been quite productive with a year tick in the form of Diver and an excellent county tick in the shape of the cracking Adder!

Pec Sands at Cossington Meadows over the last few days.

2009-04-23T11:04:00.005+01:00

Pectoral Sandpipers at Cossington Meadows.

As usual I was at work when the news came out about the Pec Sandpipers at Wanlip Meadows, then later the next day at Cossington Meadows.

I finally caught up with the Sandpipers on the Tuesday afternoon when there were showed well on Plover Meadow.

So over the last couple of days due to no work commitments I have taken a few record shots of the Pec Sands.

Other sightings I seen in the valley have included the long-staying Whooper Swan still at Wanlip North/Cossington Mill area, and a single Green Sandpiper.

Birds in the same area as the Sandpipers have included a single summer plumaged Dunlin and 1 Little Egret, Whitethroat, Garden Warbler and the usual waders.

So over the last ten days the Soar Valley has had a great run of rare and unusual birds for Leicestershire, and I'm just wondering what's next on the list? Hopefully a Cattle Egret or another rare wader in the form of a Broad-billed Sandpiper or something of the same?!

Red crested Pochard at Watermead CP South. 17th April 2009.

2009-04-17T20:07:00.005+01:00

After finishing work I checked out Watermead South to see if there were any Terns around?

Getting out of the car and walking towards the shoreline. I noticed straight away a MEGA bird for the Soar Valley. The MEGA bird was a lovely drake Red-crested Pochard!!

In almost twenty years of watching my local patch of the Soar Valley this was the first time I had ever seen a Red-crested Pochard in the Soar Valley.

So over the last week I've had three local patch ticks, Red-rumped Swallow, Avocet and the icing on the cake, the drake Red-crested Pochard.

Knowing that the duck was quite rare in the valley I texted and phoned my birding mates of my find.

As the duck was showing very well off the car park due to constant feeding of bread by the locals I took a few record shots of the bird.

Just before driving home I checked out the scrape at Wanlip Meadows and noted that two Green Sandpipers was still there, but no sign of yesterday's Avocet.

Cheers to John for the supplying the top shot of the Red-crested Pochard.