Spudds Nature

Tunisia holiday.

2010-11-21T14:38:00.000Z

Unknown bird, please can anyone help me?

These 4 pictures are great grey shrikes.

These 2 pictures are pictures of spotless starlings.

This is one spotted flycatcher.

These are a pair of spotted flycatchers.

Arnside knott - 1st August 2010

2010-08-09T19:48:00.000+01:00

Scotch argus.

greyling

All of these buterflys were seen at Arnside knott.

Rounsea national nature reserve - 1st August 2010.

2010-08-04T17:53:00.000+01:00

This is a raft spider .

This is a raft spider withits eggs.

These are ant grubs, we i saw them when i lifted up the metal board.

This is a slow worm, i took apicture of it when i lifted up a metal board.

At this place there was adders but sadly i didnt se any.

Brockholes nature reserve - 21st July 2010.

2010-07-24T16:39:00.000+01:00

The top butterfly is a meadow brown and the bottom butterfly is a gatekeeper.

This is the first barn owl i have seen.

White-faced darter - 11th July 2010.

2010-07-24T16:18:00.000+01:00

These are all white-faced darters dragonflys.

These are female emerald damselflys

Gait barrows - 4th July 2010.

2010-07-24T15:34:00.000+01:00

This is a dark-red hellobrine orchid and was taken at Gait barrows.

Brockholes nature reserve - 27th June 2010.

2010-07-03T09:46:00.000+01:00

Bee orchid photo 1.

Bee orchid photo 2.

Bee orchid photo 3.

A call from Mike Foley saying there was a possible sighting of a couple of bee orchids at Brockholes had me grabbing my camera and heading down to help find them. We found 5 orchids which i marked so Sophie (the warden) could find them easy the next day.

St bees - 20th June 2010.

2010-06-20T19:08:00.001+01:00

Guillemot.

2 Young Peregrine.

Small blue butterfly.

The guillemot and the 2 young peregrine were taken at St bees nature reserve, even though we saw 2 small blue buterflys at st bees these photos wern't taken at st bees they were taken at Maryport.

Stags lodge - 13th June 2010

2010-06-13T11:44:00.001+01:00

This is what a ladybird looks like before it is a ladybird.

This is a heron hunting in the pond, ive got a film of the heron catching a fish and i hope to put it on later.

These photoes where taken at stags lodge while taking the dogs out.

Dragonfly pond - 5th June 2010.

2010-06-05T18:28:00.000+01:00

4 spotted chaser.

These where seen at cuerden vally park.

A very good day - 2nd June 2010.

2010-06-02T21:01:00.000+01:00

Firstly i went to Salwick and straight away i spotted a spotted flycatcher but sadly it was to quick to get a photo.

Little egret.

Pied wagtail.

Red deer.

Lady's-slippers orchids.

The little egret was taken from leighton moss, so was the pied wagtail and the red deer.

The Lady's-slippers orchids are at Gait Barrows National Nature Reserve.

The orchids are Britains rarest orchid ( maybe plant ) and they have been reintroduced in Lancashire and Yorkshire.

Walney island - 1st June 2010.

2010-06-02T08:10:00.001+01:00

A lesser black backed gull with 3 eggs in its nest.

2 Emporors geese feeding.

2 Emporors geese.

Hundreds of baby spiders.

A very tame swallow.

Today I went up to Waney Island, there, there was lesser and herring gull nesting. Also oystercatchers, eider and small warblers e.g. sedge warbler etc. I spent at least 3 hours up there and saw 1 hare and 2 grey seals, the seals weren’t on the beach so sadly I couldn’t get any photos of them.

23rd and 31st May 2010 - White coppice.

2010-05-31T16:46:00.000+01:00

These are pictures of a tree creeper and a redstart. The tree creeper was taken on the 23rd May 2010 and the redstart was taken on the 31st May 2010.

9th May 2010 - stags, local quarry and brockholes.

2010-05-09T18:14:00.000+01:00

The first two photoes are of a willow warbler and the last two photoes are of a blackcap and these where taken at stags lodge.

Then i went to the local quarry and saw 1 peregrine, bullfinch, little grebe, a couple newt, grey wagtail, chiffchaff and willow warbler.

Then finally i went to brockholes and saw 2 great crested grebe, whitethroat, reed warbler, sedge warbler ( the two pictures are of the sedge warbler ), garden warbler, blackcap, 4 whimbrel and 2 heron.

Stags lodge - 5th May 2010

2010-05-09T17:23:00.000+01:00

This is a whinchat what was taken at stags lodge, the first reported in the area.

Curlew lane - 3rd May 2010

2010-05-03T16:31:00.000+01:00

These are wheatear that where taken on curlew lane, there was also 2 yellow wagtails, 2 pied wagtails lapwing, house martins, swallows and black headed gulls.

Local birding - 2nd May 2010

2010-05-03T16:18:00.000+01:00

These two photos are of a whitethroat at the local quarry,

it stayed in the same tree for about 5 minutes then it flew off. At the quarry i also saw 2 grey wagtails, 1 peregrine, 2 jay, 3 chiffchaff, little grebe, 2 swallow and 3 swift.

This is a grey wagtail which i saw at stags lodge, at stags lodge i also saw 1 whitethroat, 1 blackcap, chiffchaff and i heard a willow warbler.

That night i went to brockholes quarry and headed to the top of the site and saw 3 wheatear, swallows and a few swift. When i went to start the whimbrel count but before they started comeing in i saw 2 common sandpiper, little ringed plover and redshank. The total whimbrel i saw was 264.

Brockholes quarry and Local quarry - 10th April 2010

2010-04-17T19:54:00.000+01:00

On Saturday I went to brockholes quarry and met a few people on the number 1 pit viewing point. Bill Aspin reported 3 med gulls, so that’s a reason to go, even though I didn’t see them I did see two white wagtails. Also on the same pit I saw oystercatchers, little ringed plovers, carrion crows, black headed gulls, tufted duck, redshank, lapwing, skylark, shelduck, teal, cormorant, Canada geese and a few mute swans.

On the way back I called back in the quarry and saw 2 peregrines. On the water I spotted coot, moorhen, 2 little grebe and 6 mallard. Over the water I saw 2 jay and jackdaw. In the trees nearby I saw 2 chiffchaff, blue and great tit and heard a willow warbler.

Local quarry - 9th April 2010

2010-04-17T19:08:00.000+01:00

On Friday I went to the local quarry to see the peregrine. When I got there I sat down in my favourite spot and from there I saw one peregrine also I saw a lot of jackdaw. On the pool down of the bottom of the quarry I saw coot, moorhen and 7 mallard. Near the end of my trip at the quarry I was looking in the air and saw black headed gulls, 1 lesser black backed gull, 1 pied wagtail, woodpigeon, blackbirds and stock doves. In the trees I saw 2 chiffchaff, 2 bullfinches, blue and great tit, collard dove, robins, 5 chaffinch, 4 goldfinch, 1 greenfinch and the first coal tit I’ve spotted in the quarry.

Lancashire Birding - 4th April 2010

2010-04-11T21:49:00.001+01:00

At about 10 in the morning, I set of to Leighton moss to see the marsh harriers, when I got there I spotted my first marsh harrier this year but sadly it was too far away to get a picture. After about 15 minutes it flew of and there was no sign it. So I set of to Warton crag and straight away I saw a peregrine, 1 raven, a kestrel, a lot of jackdaw and a calling chiffchaff. We spent about half an hour at Warton and set of back to Leighton moss and then I saw 3 marsh harriers 2 male 1 female and just got a record shot of one.

The next stop was Condor and saw mute swan, goldeneye, mallard, lapwing, curlew, 10 oystercatcher, 9 redshank and a couple of tufted duck.

Then I went to pilling lane and saw 2 sparrow hawk diving over my head, sadly I didn’t see it catch anything, also I saw 300+ pink footed geese, 1 little egret, shellduck, 30+ knot and 2 rock dove. On the way home I called into Bradshaw lane feeding station, on the seeds eating them I saw a couple of great and blue tits, skylark, 4 dunnock, chaffinch, shellduck, woodpigeons, collard dove, stock pigeon, a grey heron, swallows, red legged partrige, a kestrel, curlew, a lot of lesser black backed gulls, carrion crow, reed bunting, corn bunting and 9 yellowhammers.

Local quarry - 2nd April 2010

2010-04-03T08:10:00.001+01:00

This morning, about 12:00, I went to the local quarry and straight away saw the two peregrines and when they flew of, I walked to the bottom of the quarry. On the way down I saw a chiffchaff and then heard another chiffchaff. After about 10 minutes, waiting at the bottom of the quarry I saw little grebe, coot, mallard and great and blue tits. Then the peregrines flew right over me and got some pics, after they both went I headed back home.

Chiffchaff - 1st April 2010

2010-04-01T17:33:00.000+01:00

Just took the dogs out to stags lodge to try and get a photo of the chiffchaff, so on the way there where I normally see it and didn’t even hear it! After about 45 minutes I headed back and heard it so I started looking for it and then I saw it and quickly took some pics,

finally got some pics!

Quarry & Cuerden Valley Park - 27th March 2010

2010-03-28T19:40:00.000+01:00

Today I went to our local quarry and straight away saw the male peregrine but no sign of the female, also no sign of the 2 raven. Firstly I went down to the bottom of the quarry to try and get a photo of the little grebes but when I went down, the little grebes was too far away for my camera. At the bottom of the quarry I saw 3 little grebes, 1 coot, 3 moorhens, 2 Canada geese and 1 domestic goose. After about 10minutes at the bottom of the quarry, the female peregrine came and was flying around, because it was getting cold we headed back up to the top of the quarry and got 1 record shot of the little grebe.

Also I got a photo of the 3 geese.

When I reached the top of the quarry both of the peregrine was flying around and got an alright shot of the peregrine diving, it was a good day at the quarry but no ravens!!

The same afternoon we took the dogs out to Cuerden Valley Park and straight away we saw our first chiffchaff this year!! Also we saw 1 greater spotted woodpecker, blue and great tits, wood pigeon and 3 song thrush. On the way back home we sadly didn’t hear the chiffchaff.

Local quarry - 21st March 2010

2010-03-22T20:58:00.001Z

There is a local quarry near to where I live, where we have discovered Peregrine and Raven. I have been the sight over the last few weeks and I have now decided to share my sightings from here and other trips. My new blog will include birds, bees, mammals and plants. My most recent trip to the quarry on Sunday morning for about 2 hours. The quarry base is full of water and has a variety of waterfowl, on this visit we saw 3 little grebe, 2 grey wagtails, 4 moorhen, a coot and 2 mallard. On one side of the quarry it is surrounded a small wood and scrubland, in the woodland I saw 5 long-tailed tit, blue and great tit, chaffinch, woodpigeon, 2 song thrush and 2 magpie.

On the cliff face I saw about 75 jackdaws, 3 carrion crows, 2 ravens and 2 peregrines. On the way back to the car I saw 2 buzzards being chased by the two raven.