Finally some very welcome sunshine

The Safari has been waiting for the promise of some sunshine for weeks and at last the weather forecast looked promising. We joined CR for a drive up the motorway to our favourite little reserve where we met IH. Drops of rain at the start of our journey had disappeared by the time we arrived and the sun was trying  to get out from behind the clouds. Time to look for some things with scales...and not before time! 

Up in the eaves of the warden's house House Martins investigated their old nests from last year but didn't hang around for any pics. We checked the walled areas of the gardens for Grass Snakes and Slow Worms without success nor were there any Bee Flies hovering around the Primroses. Maybe the sun needed to climb a little higher and come out from the clouds a little longer as it was still quite cool. In the little bit of scratty woodland beneath the empty Osprey nest we found lone Red Deer. Through the gate into the reserve 'proper' there were no Adders to be found on the remains of the old wall either. We passed slowly through the wet (very very wet) Silver Birch dominated woodland checking the base of the trees and edges of the boardwalk for Common Lizards - again no joy. But we did hear the song of a Pied Flycatcher and following flits of movement through the trees soon got half a glimpse of the little fellow. A nice one for our Challenge, #137

He wasn't for showing himself at all. From the end of the boardwalk we battled bravely through yards of  thick, gooey, welly-sucking mud to where the wood ends and drier ground with another boardwalk begins. Here we heard a Redstart sing and then witnessed a couple of male Redstarts were having a ding-dong of an aerial dogfight - a veritable blaze of red hanging in the air! We've never seen that before, and then spotted why all the fighting a female was perched not far away. #138

It wasn't long before one of the males reappeared, chosing to sit on a rather unphotogenic gate and fence rather than perch on some more attractive foliage.

For some reason best known to themselves both our cameras seemed to have trouble focusing on it...it might not have been all the cameras' fault, the operator can be a bit flaky at times. 

We expected the track across the moss to be a lot wetter than it was and soon came across a Tree Pipit which, like the Pied Flycatcher, wasn't wanting to show itself to best advantage. #139

A bit further on we looked back across the moss to the Osprey nest but there were no birds sat on it.The sun was doing its best to come out and in the brief moments it did it was much warmer and butterflies began to appear, we had a couple of Peacocks and a Small Tortoiseshell in fairly quick succession. only the first Peacock settled for a pic though.

Crossing the bridge, where the stream was much lower than expected, the large patch of Bilberry hadn't begun to come into leaf so our chance of a hoped for Green Hairstreak butterfly was slim to remote. There were no Red Deer faces peering out of the woods beyond the Bilberry patch today. We did see a couple of Crossbills disappearing into the distance from the next patch of woodland after picking them up on call but sadly we couldn't find any others still feeding in the cone laden conifer trees where they'd flown from.

Soundtrack of the day once again was Willow Warblers and as usual they were invariable singing from the back side of the trees and bushes. We waited ages and passed how many 'hundreds' before we found one on the right side of the tree and even then it was partially obscured. See them or not it's still a great sound to listen to when the spring woodland is full of them.

Given our squelching, slipping and sliding along the non-boardwalked sections of this path it was inevitable that we'd come to a sticky end. This is a circular route back to the bridge the final stretch of which runs alongside the stream...it was inaccessible today the last few yards before the stream being far too muddy to contemplate trying to cross unless you were wearing chest waders - which we weren't. Here's a couple of habitat shots of the tangled and mossy wet Willow woodland, you wouldn't want to go off-piste into there, you'd never be seen again until your peat-preserved body was dug up some thousands of years into the future.

Nothing for it but to retrace our steps. Still no Common Lizards and no futher sign of the Crossbills and no Raft Spiders but we did see a trio of cronking Ravens and a somewhat out of place Little Egret land in field of sheep. We had more but not better views of Tree Pipits while crossing the moss and a far to brief for a pic Lesser Redpoll landed briefly on the electricity wires crossing the site. Back in the Birch woodland we soon came across the Pied Flycatcher again and this time it was more obliging but still a litttle distant.

The tumble-down wall wasn't for giving up its Adders again as thoughts turned towards pies and butties. A Mistle Thrush landed not too far behind the wall and for a moment thoughts of lunch disappeared.

While scanning the wall we happened across our first Large Red Damselflies of the year, first a teneral (recently emerged) individual then a fully coloured up one.

And then a Dung Beetle crossed our path - would we ever get to our pies???

Fortunately we did make it back to the cars and our lunches. The sun came out while we were tucking into our goodies and we enjoyed sightings of Brimstone and Orange Tip butterflies and then heard the unmistakeable high pitched yickering of Ospreys calling. We grabbed the camera and pointed it at the nest where one bird was hunkered down not showing very well but then the male flew in and landed on the nest. #140. The sun was strong now and there was a serious heat haze going on so the pic isn't that good.

Not that we mind strong sunshine - it means the snakes come out to bask so as soon as we'd eaen it was back to the wall where....there were no snakes...b*gger! In fact the most exciting thing we found was a Banded Snail that had stashed itself among the delicate Bracket Fungi of a rotting stump.

Our route after lunch took us up the 'hill of death' but today wasn't too bad and we weren't huffing and puffing like an old steam engine by the time we got to the top. We discovered a new pond had been dug which will require much inspection later in the year, the older new ponds would have been inaccessible due to feet thick gloopy mud in the valley today so we gave them a miss. We'd brought a pot to see if we could nab one ofthe Nomad Bees that like this stretch of the road but didn't see any. Seeing them is one thing,catching one would have been something else entirely. Why were we after catching one? Well, we've seen them many times over the years but have yet to identify them, we don't know if anyone else has tried to identify them either. 

Passing the tarn the Little Grebes were calling, there's always a Little Grebe or two, or three, on there. Down at the entrance pond we looked in vain for tadpoles - how come there weren't any, there's always loads at this time of year, surely with all the cold wet weather they can't have metamorphosed and left the pond already? IH spotted the only newt of the afternoon, probably a Palmate Newt given the site. Then he found another Pied Flycatcher, like the first it wasn't for showing itself.

We went to have a look at 'Great Crested Newt corner' and obviouslty saw none, we didn't see any other water life either, no water boatmen or other swimmy things just a few Whirlygig Beetles buzzing around on the surface, we guess the water must still be very cold. Then CR beckoned us to join him on the other side of the pond, he'd got much better views of the Pied Flycatcher...at last!

And it alllowed a stealthy closer approach...bonus!

Also in the woods around the pond was a Blue Tit with a beakful of nesting material. It hung around a while perhaps waiting for us to get out of the way before delivering it to a nearby nestbox.

A bright male Orange Tip wouldn't do us the courtesy of landing on a Bluebell but shot straight past and promptly vanished. 

Around the reserve IH had noticed that the winter storms had smashed up a lot of the trees, the Silver Birch being especially badly hit, much more so than any of the other tree species. Large numbers had high broken branches like these.

On the walk back yet another Willow Warbler gave us the runaround and while we were trying to get on it IH found a tiny Crab Spider on the top of a gate. Top banana eyesight that lad has.

We've no idea what species it might be, one for our good mate and expert in all things spidery AB. 

Unfurling Bracken fronds are always worth getting down to eye-level with - do ferns have eyes?

Cambrian Poppies were in flower along the roadside too.

Time was now getting short but with the sun out for a while and warmth in the air we just had to have another look for the Adders. Through the gate we went, ignoring the snail secreted among its fungi friends, and for some reason we looked to the right rather than scanning the wall to our left. Oh joy of joys there was an Adder, no there were two. We hastened the others to come for a look.

Two Adders - fantastico - - but wait - - - look closely, there's two heads down there at the bottom of the pic. Three Adders even better than fantastico. And they even started to move about a bit as we got as close as we dared without disturbing them.

The sun kept going behind a cloud and this made them flatten themselves down to get the maximum warmth when it came back out. The two males might have been tempted to do their dance had it been just a bit warmer. The female was more or less stationary all the while.

With such a superb opportunity we just kept firing shots off.

At no time were they upset by our (fairly) close presence although we're sure they knew we were there.

To break the snake monopoly a Longhorn Beetle landed on IH's lens. Rhagium mordax to give it its full name.

A fabulous wee beasty. anyway enough of that back to the Adders.

What a brilliant experience, well worth that last look.

And to finish we had a couple of really bright Large Red Damselflies on the wall by the car park before we had to leave.

Where to next? Maybe something a bit different to report on, if we can remember to take some pics.

In the meantime let us know who's slipping and sliding round your outback.

Highlights from Weeks 9 and 10 of not-really-lockdown-at-all-anymore

The Safari has spent a little more time away from our immediate area now that travel restrictions have been lifted but we've still not bit the bullet and ventured very far away from the Fylde coast. With summer-like weather conditions many places have been bombed out by 'Covidiots' getting far too close to one another in huge numbers so we've played it safe and kept well away, we're quite happy not to risk becoming a statistic in the Second Wave.

A pleasant morning on the dunes early in Week 9 had us looking for lizards, only two very brief sightings, and butterflies which were more obliging in that the few we saw did actually keep still.

Common Blue

While we were there the biggest butterfly in the world turned up and flew directly over our head as it did a few training passes practicing almost landing at our small airport.

RAF A400M

In recent years we've not been seeing many Small Heath butterflies at all an it's been several years since we last got a pic of one so we were especially grateful to see a good few today particularly this one that settled long enough for a quick snap.

Back on the cliffs one morning we watched an angler bring in a Bass, too small to keep so had to be returned to the sea. However, his treatment of his catch was abominable. He left it flapping around on the concrete for nearly five minutes while he faffed around getting a new rig back in the water. Surely as an angler your first responsibility is to your catch whether you're going to take it homer for tea or release it back to the water.

Bass vertebrate photo challenge #149

But this chap seriously abused the fish while trying to unhook it. There's a cloth there could he not have held the fish to get a good look at what his disgorger was doing rather than trying to flick the hook out while the fish was in mid-air with the inevitable gravity-induced consequence when the hook did eventually dislodge.

The poor fish's traumatic time wasn't over even then. It was dropped over the wall probably onto the sloping concrete apron below as the tide was on the ebb, the guy never bothered to check never mind walk the 15 yards to the nearest steps and gently let it swim off. Disgraceful behaviour and sadly he's not the only one to act like that.

Fortunately the fisherman who caught this Lesser Spotted Catshark had it unhooked and back in the sea within two minutes.

Back at Base Camp it was good to see a brood of two recently fledged Greenfinches in the garden. This one hasn't quite got the hang of feeders but you'll be pleased to know it sussed how they work not long after the pic was taken.

A safari to Marton Mere gave us the opportunity to take about 300 snaps of the Swifts cruising around about double tree-top height just to get this one almost usable shot. We've hardly seen any Swifts this year and it's fair to say we've seriously missed the screamy sky-scthyers.

Photo Year List Challenge #150

Another bird we've not seen many of is the Kestrel so it was nice to have one fly past us quite low down, might have helped the composition of the pic if it wasn't quite so close and was coming towards us instead of going away but hey-ho a little stunner whichever way they're going.

Not far away deep in the undergrowth a Wren blasted out his song and for a few brief moments sat out in the relative open. It always amuses us that something so small can produce so many decibels.

Getting back towards the car the farm buildings had a few Swallows and House Martins tazzing about, trying to get one in good light was another matter

House Martin PYLC #151

During week 10 we spent more time in the garden watching the bee hotel where the Blue Mason Bees are still active. The males hang around resting on the nearby plant pots in the sunshine 

waiting for new females to emerge, like this one that's pushing a blob of the mud seal of its cell in front of it.

The Red Mason Bees are still busy too. So busy they have to cleave their growing brood cells backwards and upside down.

Beneath the bee hotel our God-only-knows-where-they-came-from Madeiran Orchids have come into full bloom.

Back at the bee hotels there's been a lot of interest in them from this parasitic wasp, Sapyga quinquepunctata. We've seen it several times hanging around on the sides or tops of the hotels, it seems to be waiting for the right moment to make its dastardly move.

Always keeping an eye open for other stuff around the garden we saw this Sawfly land on a nearby rose leaf where it appeared to be ovipositing on the top surface of the leaf - we'll have to keep an eye on that particular leaf to see what, if anything, transpires...

lso creeping around was this Zebra Spider, one of several in the garden now.

And noticing a flutter had us chasing this pristine only just emerged Mint Moth round the plant pots beofre it finally settled in a suitable spot for a snap.  Who said moths are just butterflys' boring cousins, this one would knock many butterflies into a cocked hat if only it were 3/4/5x bigger.

In the heat we decided to take the mutt round Heron's Reach where he could stay a little cooler in the shade of the trees. We were surprised to see so few bees and butterflies around the flowers - has the very dry weather affected nectar production? There were some good sightings though including our first Emperor dragonfly which flew off as soon as we lifted the camera - many thanks to the photographer who pointed it out to us. We did get the lens up in time for our first Azure Damselfly pic of the year.

Chiffchaffs were singing all over the shop, by the time we'd realised we'd heard about half a dozen we thought we really should have been counting them - similarly the Blackcaps too, just how many are there round there these days?

Back with the invertebrates we saw this damselfly in somewhat lumbering flight and once it settled could see it had captured a rather substantial prey item.  Once stationary we could see it was a Common Blue Damselfly and not another Azure Damselfly.

We'd seen a Large Skipper butterfly sitting on a small patch of Nettles and while trying to get a pic managed to disturb it and then not be able to relocate it. But while trying to re-find it we spotted this unusual beetle. We managed a couple of half decent phone pics and later discovered it to have the rather long winded name of Golden Bloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle and that it could be the first record of the species in the Fylde.

Further on a Song Thrush sat up nicely for us.

A very good morning's walk but the mutt did get too hot despite being in the shade of the trees most of the time - it was a very warm day!

Back at Base Camp the Sapyga quinquepunctata was still to be seen lurking furtively around the bee hotel.

Bottlenose Dolphins had been seen a couple of morning's on ther trot down at the coast so we gave that a go knowing full well that if we took the big lens they wouldn't show. You guessed right they didn't. At least the local House Sparrows aren't so camera shy. This one has seen something moving in the grass and was about to fly down to snaffle it up to take back to its nestlings across the road. Their eyesight must be phenomenal because what ever it was was too small for us to make out in its beak as it departed - how on Earth did it spot something so small tucked up in the grass from about five metres away?

There wasn't much else about although one of the local Pied Wagtails was very confiding and allowed close approach and for us to get down low for an eye-to-eye shot.

On our return, almost back to the start, we spotted a black dot in the water a long way down towards the pier. We knew what it was and wished it was neared, Our first Grey Seal along this section of the prom of the year - can't believe they've been so few and far between, we would have expected to have seen a t least a few by now given that it's the end of May. But at least it's blubber even if it;s not a dolphin.

Grey Seal PYLC #152

The bee hotel is now under constant attack from the wasp and it's venturing across the front inspecting the holes.

Elsewhere in the garden the pond has been very quiet this year until the last few days when we've been seeing Bumble bees dropping in for a drink...what was that we were saying about the dry spell and nectar production earlier...

We've not had any Blue Tailed Damselflies emerging yet, really hope they've not become extinct in there at the hands of the fish - or should that be mouths of the fish?

The garden did turn up this rather wonderful Red Legged Robber Fly which we though tat first might be one of the Spider Hunting Flies. Turns out it could be another first record for the Fylde although having said that the NBN maps we check on can be notoriously out of date for many species.

Much bigger than the tiny Zebra Spiders that scurry around the trellis is this Tegenara Spider that has set up home in one of the plant troughs by the garage wall.

While looking at more bees coming in to the pond fro a drink we spotted this larva moving around, we guess it's some kind of hoverfly larva but could be horribly wrong.

Another fruitless dolphin search did give is a female House Sparrow to compliment the male from a couple of days earlier.

And finally we managed, or nearly managed, to get a pic of the parasitic wasp leaving one of the active nesting holes in the bee hotel, Blue Mason Bee is the victim in this case.

This type of parasitism is the reason why bee hotel tubes should be at least 10cm deep and preferably 15cm. The females bees are produced at the back leaving the males at the front much more vulnerable to attack but the females are much more valuable to the population as a whole, one male can fertilise several females so it doesn't matter if many/most get parasitised. On the other  hand if most of the females get parasitised because the holes are too short then the bee population will start to decline. So take care when buying bee hotels from the likes of supermarkets and garden centres, make sure they are at least that important 10cm deep. Better still make your own but again you'll need long enough drill bits or bamboo tubes.

So there you have it, plenty has been happening almost far and wide.

Where to next? The weather has taken a big turn for the worse so some of our favourite places further afield may be less busy and we can give them a try.

In the meantime let us know what's been seen in your locked down outback.

Stay socially distant - stay safe.