What are we playing at?

The Safari hasn't had a lot of luck recently. We've been out n about but not seen a great lot to shout about...or get any pics of really.

Back on Patch 1 the big Parasol Mushroom from our Oddball Bat post now looks like this...or did look like that a coupla days ago, we didn't check it yesterday due to horrendous thunderstormy rain nor did we today either.

Having a bit more time to ourselves at Base Camp hasn't produced the goods although this Grey Squirrel is the first we've seen in the garden for quite some time, it was on next door's feeders for ages before it hopped over the fence.

Taken in the gloom through the double glazed kitchen window

Also over Base Camp was the first Meadow Pipit of the autumn, just the one - no sign of any migrant floodgates opening yet.

We had an early morning three hours round the nature reserve seeing very little at all and not once needing to raise the camera. Best of a very slow morning was a mixed flock of tits and warblers in which was a single Lesser Whitethroat. Insects fared a little better with at least four Red Admirals seen around the reserve and a cluster of four Small Tortoiseshells butterflies in the top corner nectaring on the abundant Hoary Ragwort flowers. At least something is abundant this year!
At the Viewing Platform therre was no sign of the Otter nor the Bittern - there never is for us! But in the still very leafy Sycamore trees above our head a small bird was flitting about we did our best to get the bins on it but it just kept disappearing behind the foliage to be relocated a yard or more away only to instantaneously disappear again. Was there a hint of red on its back end? Did we really see that or just think we did after the event? It called several times a loud strident soo-iit as it moved about the tree tops. After a minute or so of losing it among the leaves and Monty getting restless we moved on but had we just ignored a Redstart which would have been our first at the reserve for a number of years and our first self-found one for a long time?

A venture to the cliffs to look for Bottlenose Dolphins didn't go as planned when Monty legged it down to the beach so we had to abandon our initial plan and once got him back under control had a wander along Chat Alley where we successfully found some chats, five Wheatears, none of which would pose for a pic. They were very flighty but it was busy with joggers, cyclists, dog walkers and fishermen driving past to their favourite spots.

Yesterday we met up with GB after the storm. The initial plan was to head out east but with lost time we just stayed local and had a mooch along the northern prom. Worth it too. At least five Grey Seals one of which was very close in but due to the earlier very heavy rain we hadn't brought the camera out....dohhhhh...and it didn't rain and we were over-dressed in our waterproofs! On the golf course and beach we counted 9 and three Wheatears respectively but reckon that there were almost definitely many more. It's be interesting to see how many more and what we missed when Fleetwood Bird Observatory post their tally for 31st August. We did get a good count of at least 120 Sandwich Terns fishing very close inshore catching Sand Eels and then roosting on the beach, joined by eight Turnstones, the 'largest' flock we've seen so far this autumn. Out in the bay it was just coming up to low tide and there were a lot of Cormorants roosting on the recently formed King's Scar (labelled as Rosmic Island on Google Maps - would be much better if people kept off it though as we've been told that good numbers of Grey Seals have been seen hauled out on it recently.) an impressive shingle island, how big is it going to get in the years to come??? There were several Cormorants in the middle distance fishing but we failed to find GB any Harbour Porpoises - he reckons he jinxes us, he could be right as conditions were bob on for spotting any cetaceans that might have been out there.

The local Love my Beach beach cleaning volunteers were out doing their thing and had put some interesting and too-large-for-their-bags items on the sea wall. One of those items of interest was a gull skull

Another thing we noticed was the large number of Garden Snails out for a slime along the prom, most but not all were heading towards the beach. Was it something to do with the overnight rain, do they eat seaweed, did this one have a towel and windbreak to take advantage of the sunny weather down on the sand??? All very odd, you'd think the osmotic potential of the salty sand and vegetation (not that there's much of that just a few leaves of Sea Lyme Grass and even lesser amounts of other species) would be enough to do a snail in but headed beachwards they were.

We know where it's going but why - Answers on a postcard please

This morning we were supposed to join CR on a jaunt to the big wetland reserve on the Southside but once again our plans were thwarted by poor Monty honking up in the most wretched way all night. So insead of heading towards exotic birds we're heading tto the vets instead.

We took him for a quick trawl round Patch 1, you could tell he's under the weather as his tail was down all the way round. It's usually up like a flag and wagging non-stop. The earlier light rain hadn't dropped anything exciting and nothing was heard or seen going over but we did come across a Great Spotted Woodpecker, they seem to have moved back again after being lost when their favourite dead tree was cut down, a Coal Tit, a Goldcrest, a Blackcap and a small flock of Long Tailed Tits. Not a total dead loss then.  

Here's a quiz for you - who else do you know wanders round with, bins, a camera, a dog and occasionally peers into roadside gullies? And then finds one to photograph as it has a bit of self-contained jungle growing in it. Go on own up - you do it too, don't you?

We received some pics from one of our recent Moth and Bat Nights from organiser HP today, we're sure he won't mind us posting them on here.

A good crowd of eager wildlife enthusiasts

Feeling how soft and velvety the fur is on a mummified Pipistrelle bat

Just how well can moths see in the dark? Look at the tapetum on that! Well it's probably not actually a tapetum in the vertebrate sense but it serves the same function

If anyone would like the Safari to do local-ish wildlife events, guided walks, talks for groups, schools etc for a reasonable fee please get in touch.
And there endeth our second week of retirement. What have we learned? Even though we have loads of time nothing seems to go to plan and if it can go wrong it will go wrong...Things can only get better - sounds like that could be a good title for a song!

Where to next? We can feel a bit of seawatching coming on tomorrow morning, after a just post-dawn mooch round patch 1 of course.

In the meantime let us know who's going down the drain in your outback.

100 species for Garden Bioblitz 2016?

The Safari spend all day yesterday in the garden getting sunburned and recording the wildlife we found for this year's Garden Bioblitz. Crikey it was warm out there with glorious wall to wall non-stop sunshine - like a proper real old-fashioned summer's day!

We started early with the moths. The neighbours had been away so we were able to put the big light on and with a warm, still, muggy night had the best catch we've had for a couple of years. Once all our kit laid out we were ready to open the trap.

Of course there were a few of the immigrant Diamondbacks, some didn't make it into the trap but were found nearby on the walls and in the vegetation.

Inside the trap there were some species we've not seen that often at Base Camp, like this Figure of 80.

Middle Barred Minors turn up more often.

As do Poplar Greys.

This one was a bit flighty and escaped but fortunately landed first on the lid of our recycling bin. Had it gone straight to ground we don't think we'd have found him.

Delving deeper into the trap it was great to see one of favourite moths in there, Green Silver Lines, another species that doesn''t find its way into the trap very often.

But the top spot went to this beauty, not one but two of them!

They really are something special. 
As ever there were some unIDd moths in there so if anyone can help please do.

Pug 1 - we seem to have developed 'Pug blindness'

Pug 2

Probably a worn Small Square Spot

Micro 1

Micro 2 - Now IDd for us as Cochylis atricapitana

We ended up having a moth-off or game of moth poker with our brother who lives in north eastern Italy and has recorded more species of butterfly within a kilometer of his front door than there are in the whole of the British Isles! We were holding back the Green Silver Lines to trump him but the best he could offer was Latticed Heath, a species we see too, only a few hundred yards away along the North Blackpool Pond Trail.

Once the moths were sorted (25 species including the unIDs) it was time to look at the birds

Fly-overs like  the Swifts and Sparrowhawk and this Herring Gull don't count

Woodpigeons do though

We heard a Dunnock and the Blackcap singing nearby but not within the confines of the garden so they can't be counted either but we were quite happy to add them to the page in the notebook.

14 bird species visited, added to the moths makes a running total of 39 species.

Time to check out the vegetation. We counted everything green that hasn't been planted by us or obviously planted by previous occupants. 

Round the back of the garage our wild area gave us 17 species of greenery in its few square yards, we might have missed a couple too.

There is a path you just can't see it from this angle

Herb Bennett was almost totally absent last year, but there's several specimens both in front and back gardens this year.

Both the common species of buttercups are present, this is the taller Meadow Buttercup, but one species we didn't find was Daisy, then again we don't have a lawn.

Not countable but nicely catching the sunlight was a Clematis seedhead, often known as Old Man's Beard for obvious reasons.

We found 29 species of plants and grasses making 68 species and counting.

Two of the plants had leaf miners, the Creeping Buttercups and Cowslips, which leads us nicely to the invertebrates.

While photographing this Garden Cross Spider catching a tiny fly and then continuing to spin its web

when we disturbed this very long legged Cranefly

We had hoped to get a pic of the Ruby Tailed Wasp that occasionally frequents the garage wall but as ever we missed it with the camera. We did see a new very small bee, anyone got an idea as to its ID?

Our regular solitary bee has completed its brood tube and is now attending the smaller one above it.

After the excitement of the solitary bees we turned our attention to getting some pics of the several species of Bumble Bees in the garden. 

Only 20 identifiable species of invertebrates were found and no snails, slugs or worms - it really was that hot and dry! The highlights were a Small White laying eggs on Wifey's new Nasturtiums and the garden's first Speckled Wood of the year. 

The total now is up to 88 species., what chance another 12 to make the ton.

As we were totting up we felt a faint tickle on our leg and looked down to see a tiny Crab Spider walking up towards our knee.

No, it's not on our leg for the pic

But what about those 12 extra species? Well there's the moss growing by the kitchen wall and some lichens on the front wall and there's a whole host of little flies we've no idea what they might be. There wasn't that many hoverflies out either, where are they? We're sure with a bit more effort and some better ID skills and a little luck with the weather 100 species should be possible.

So we didn't get 100 species, so what we had great fun finding the 88 species we did find.
Where to next? Still at Base Camp tomorrow so we'll have another look around and see what we can find.
In the meantime let us know who's climbing to giddy heights in your outback.

Off to the bank

The Safari was out early this morning joining the Dunes Project Officer and co for a spot of small mammaling.

We arrived in good time and the early morning sunshine was very pleasant. Several Whitethroats were very entertaining doing their dancing song flights, which proved impossible to capture on 'film' - shoulda used the video mode perhaps.

A pair of Wheatears were kicking about in the dunes near the road, the male setting off on short song flights

Skylarks were everywhere, mostly giving it plenty aloft! Except this one.

In the small patch of scrub we saw a couple of Dunnocks and heard a Chiffchaff and best of all a Garden Warbler (172).

Near the Warden's Hut we found this impressive Drinker caterpillar.

Any way on with the mammals.

Longworth Traps were set over night with a handful of hay some seeds and mealworms to keep any trappees happy overnight.

They were subsequently checked early in the morning before the sun gets too hot. They have bubble-wrap around them to keep them warm during the small hours.

Just one of the 22 traps had been triggered. The contents, including maybe an animal - occasionally the traps 'trigger themselves' - are emptied gently into a plastic bag.

 And there he(?) is...but what is it?

That fur on the flanks looks quite reddish and that's a clue. Is it a male or a female. Trap it in a fold in the bag and getting a look at its underside becomes a little easier than trying to wrangle it upside-down in your hands.

Answer - female or juvenile...unable to tell more than that.

It is a Bank Vole - much longer tail than our little friend from last weekend and the fur is obviously redder

 And once we'd finished with him/her it was time for release back in to the big wide world unharmed.

A lunchtime safari with Frank to Patch 1 - yes he got there again! - gave us a singing Lesser Whitethroat, singing in full view from the edge of an Apple tree and a Chiffchaff.

Very good to see were several butterflies on the wing, a couple or three of Speckled Woods and distant unIDd whites.

Large swathes of Sweet Vernal Grass and Meadow Foxtail are now in flower too.
Where to next? Hopefully a bit of warm sunshine this week for Wifey's birthday.

In the meantime if you don't hear from the Safari for a few days don't panic - all will be revealed in due course.