Rained off - AGAIN!

The Safari headed up north to south Cumbria to our favourite reserve to meet IH. As soon as we parked up it began spitting with rain; the forecast hadn't been good but we hoped the worst of the rain would be over by late morning and sort of expected a wet drive up but it wasn't to be.

Our target species for our Challenge were the House Martins that nest under the eaves of the warden's house and the Spotted Flycatchers that should be nesting in the boxes around the back of the visitor centre. While waiting for IH to arrive we failed miserably with the House Martins coming out of their nest - we were far to slow with the shutter button! And there was no sign of any Spotted Flycatchers, no report of them in the sightings book either which is worrying. As the rain began to get heavier IH appeared, sporting an umbrella - he'd only gone and forgotten to bring a coat! The only bird visible was the very top of an Osprey's head as it hunkered down in the nest sheltering its chicks as best it could. A Willow Warbler sang from the woods and a Chaffinch flew over, that was about as good as it got as the rain drove up the valley in billowing sheets. After a while the rain eased and we chanced a wander down the boardwalk, no chance of finding any snakes today just too wet and far too cold, we didn't get far before the increasingly derilict boardwalk came to an abrupt end at a mud wallow for which IH was incorrectly shod in trainers rather than waders. Back to the visitor centre we went whereupon the rain started heavy again and we missed another House Martin opportunity by zooming in on the nest too much and not giving ourselves enough of a field of view to catch a House Martin in the bottom corner of the frame as it dropped out the nest...another schoolboy error! Enough was enough we decided to decamp to Leighton Moss where at least there would be shelter in the hides and birds to be seen. 

A quick look at the Green Woodpecker field revealed grass too long over much of it to see any woodpeckers although they are still about. From there we ensconced ourselves in Lillian's Hide where almost all the action was to our left. Here a sizeable flock of hirundines was whizzing around low over the water, mostly Sand Martins with a few House Martins.

Not the best pics due to high shutter speeds, low light, tiny subjects and distance but you get the gist of what was happening.

We got our Challenge House Martin pic (#151) when one came much closer, passing just behind the Black Headed Gulls' little island.

And then continued to blast away nat the hirundine throng in the corner

We were just enjoying all that whizzing about really and hearing a Bittern booming in the distance was an added bonus. Eventually we fluked a Swallow in the flock for #152.

As little else was on offer we continued to fire away at the flock.

Swifts have been all too noticeable by their absence/very late arrival thisc spring so it was good to see half a dozen or more drop in out of the rain and even better to fluke one - just! - much lower than its friends.

All this activity was getting too much for us so a break in the rain saw us trundle off down to the Causeway Hide passing loud and, as usual, unseen Cetti's Warblers but not a lot else on the way. from the hide not a lot was on offer although two distant Marsh Harriers were in the bins view at the same time and more Bitterns were heard booming. A Great Crested Grebe came out of the reedbed to our right

On a sunny day, or maybe just a warmer drier one, dragonflies would be patroling the small patch of reeds below the window - no such luck today although we did spot the empty shell, exuvium, of a dragonfly nymph where it had emerged into an adult and flown off. A bit of digging back at base camp revealed it to be from a 4-Spotted Chaser.

A female duck and her brood of 10 ducklings swam past but too close to the back edge of the reeds to get any pics of the little cuties. Something made us look twice; we wrongly assumed they were Mallards but no that second look showed they were a familty of Gadwall.

More rain, no Otters, no fishing Ospreys, no flying Bitterns for our Challenge, no close Marsh Harriers and strangely no low whizzing hirundines or Swifts - we stuck it out until the rain stopped then dashed back to the Grisedale Hide. On the way we enjoyed splendiferously 'end of your nose' close up views of a Treecreeper and heard the world's loudest Cetti's Warbler. At the hide we were lucky enough to get a seat in 'Photographers Corner' and saw probably/possibly the same Heron we photographed last time. It was unsuccessful today and look how much those reeds have grown, you can hardly see it now,

A male Marsh Harrier came into view, we'd only had a brief glimpse of one so far and that was down along the causeway.

It looks a bit bedraggled, but then so did we! At least it did us the favour of coming a bit closer even if the light was pants.

It drifted off into the distance leaving us to watch the Heron deftly stalking through the reedbed but to no avail, it wwas going to go hungry today. While watching it the rain stopped and a miracle occured - a small patch of blue sky appeared and with it some bird song. In particular a very close Reed Warbler, one we still haven't got for our Challenge. Practically hanging out of the hide window looking for the 'wasn't going to show itself in a milloin years' Reed Warbler we saw a very soggy looking female Marsh Harrier land on a dead snag in the mmiddle distance and spread its wings to dry like a Cormorant.

Something we've never seen before and she stayed up there drying off for ages. It just goes to show that even on the 'worst' of days nature can pop up with something new and exciting.
Whats more the afternoon had flown by and it was now time to leave. As we exited the hide - yes you guessed it - the sun came out and it was pleasantly warm - - if only we could have stayed another hour, the Reed Warblers would be singing from exposed perches and hopping around collecting food for hungry nestlings in full view. But hey ho, c'est la vie as the French say.

Where to next? We're trying to take you back in time but still processing deleting hundreds of pics from our voyage around Great Britain.

In the meantime let us know who's got the wettest in your outback.

The photo challenge creeps slowly forwards.

The Safari hasn't had much time for putting finger to keyboard this last few weeks, we've been down to Southampton, up to Shetland via Belfast and Stornoway working as a guide for Ocean Wildlife Encounters on Fred Olsen's cruise ship Borealis then back down to Devon for a family holiday during May. 

Our bird photography challenge has a distance limit of 75 miles from home this year and all of those lovely places are 'out of bounds'. But in breween our travels have added a few more to our tally. The first was a 'banker', a Whitethroat at nearby Rossall Point.

The next was far from a banker, it was something really special, a Green Woodpecker at Leighton Moss #148. We've not seen one there since the mid/late 1980s although we have heard them in that area a few times since. This one had been seen regularly up to a couple of weeks before our visit and we thought we'd missed it as there had been no mention of it in the sightings book over the previous few pages we looked at. A chance view over the wall into it's favourite field and wow - there it was!

A few Swifts #149 were alos present over the reserve that day but only briefly.

After returning from the cruise job we had a rather dank and dreary safari with CR out to the Trough of Bowland where the weather turned a bit grim and scuppered us a bit. We were hoping for a Cuckoo but although we heard at least two they were staying well out of sight unforunately. But we did fluke a Whinchat for #150.

And that brings you up to date with our progress. 15 to go to reach our target but although that seems a tiny number there's only a handful of 'bankers' left, the other 10 or so will prove a lot harder to get. Still birds have wings and anything can turn up anywhere any time so we'll keep our fingers crossed...and that brings us to another pressing matter, we're due another hand operation in a couple of weeks so might be out of action for a while after that too.

We'll do our best to give you a blog about our travels around Scenic Britain as soon as we get round to processing the hundreds of pics we took.

Where to next? Another safari up north tomorrow with a couple of target species for our challenge but yet again it looks like it's going to be a weather affected affair.

In the meantime let us know who's turned up unexpected in 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.