A new world record

Mike and I set a new record for the number of species seen by bike in a day in Cambridgeshire (or the PBC area). 110 seen by bike and foot in 24 hours. Read all about it here.

Red-rumped Swallow

Not great but this was taken just after relocating it on its second day.


Handheld digiscope with Canon A640 and Leica APO77 x20

Frog tales

Common Frog Rana temporaria

Canon Powershot SX10

Red Kite again

Virtually landed in the garden this time and I had the SX10 handy.

Red Kite Milvus migrans

Canon Powershot SX10

Wheatear, Great Byards Sale

Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe

Canon Powershot SX10

Red Kite

One of two low over the house this morning.

Red Kite Milvus migrans

Canon Powershot SX10

Leucistic Jackdaw

Co-incidentally found this bird in Elton today. Mike photographed a similar bird recently.

Jackdaw Corvus monedula

Digiscoped with Canon Powershot A640 and Leica APO77 x20

Ring Ouzel, Castor Mill

Another Don Gardener special and he even located another Redstart (probably the one seen nearby yesterday) at the same place on the western side of the Castor Mill houses.

Ring Ouzel Turdus torquatus

Digiscoped with Canon Powershot A640 and Leica APO77 x20

Comma

Among a good selection of butterflies in the garden this afternoon, including Holly Blue and Orange-tip.

Comma Polygonia c-album

Canon Powershot SX10

Another Redstart

Another day, another Redstart, this time at Ring Haw NR. Hard to imagine how scarce these are normally. They average about 3 a year in April but we've now had 5 of which I've seen 4 and found 3.

These have been difficult to get good photos of but here's a record shot again.

Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus

Digiscoped with Canon Powershot A640 and Leica APO77 x20

More Redstart action

Found this male and a female at Castor Hanglands this morning. Another is still present at Castor Mill making three in the Castor area.

Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus

Digiscoped with Canon Powershot A640 and Leica APO77 x20

Oystercatchers, Bradley Fen

Canon Powershot A640

Redstart, Ferry Meadows

He's done it again. Don Gardener is like a magnet for Redstarts and found a corking male on the Coney/Oak Meadow boundary at Ferry Meadows today. Getting pushed around a lot by the large numbers of people and their dogs.

Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus

Digiscoped with Canon Powershot A640 and Leica APO77 x20

Tuscan treasures

A city break to Florence and Pisa was not without wildlife interest. Plus it rained heavily on Sunday afternoon and through the night causing the Arno to rise dramatically.

The first birds we saw on arrival were swifts but with the dull conditions id was a bit tricky. On call and flight they seemed to be more like Pallid to me. In the sun a couple of days later some were definitely Pallid Swifts but I still think there may have been Common Swifts present as well.

The Arno held Little Egrets, Gery Herons, Mallard, Black-headed and Yellow-legged Gulls, White Wagtail, Hooded Crows, Kingfishers, Starlings, Moorhen, increasing numbers of House Martins and Swallows and at least one Common Sandpiper.

In the town Serins were very common, especially around parks, Feral Pigeons, Italian Sparrows, Blackbirds and Blackcaps were the other common birds. A Peregrine flew in to perch just below us when we were on the top of the Campanile.

In and around the Boboli Gardens and Piazalle Michalangelo areas were Redstarts, Sandinian Warblers, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Jackdaw, Robin, Firecrest, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Short-toed Treecreeper, Woodpigeon, Kestrel, Great Spotted Woodpecker and surprising numbers of Nuthatches. Pheasant and Green Woodpecker were heard from the surrounding countryside.

Butterflies included Swallowtail, Cleopatra, Holly Blue, Speckled Wood, Red Admiral and unidentified whites. Many Italian Wall Lizards were basking on the hedgerows in the Boboli Gardens, while smaller numbers of Common Wall Lizards tended to be on the ground or other bare surfaces. Two Egyptian Grasshoppers were also a treat.

Italian Wall Lizard Podarcis sicula




Common Wall Lizard Podarcis muralis





Egyptian Grasshopper Anacridium aegyptium


Italian Sparrow Passer (domesticus) italiae


Little Egret Egretta garzetta


Serin Serinus serinus


Canon Powershot SX10

Orange Underwing

Drove out to Easton Hornstocks at lunchtime where a flowering sallow was attracting a large number of bees flies and others, including many Orange Underwings and a Comma. They stayed very high in the tree.

Orange Underwing Archiearis parthenias

Digiscoped with Canon Powershot A640 and Leica APO77 x20

More Bank Vole Action

Bank Vole Myodes glareolus

Digiscoped with Canon Powershot A640 and Leica APO77 x20

First moths

Ran the 15W actinic in the back garden and confirmed the continued presence of Lead-coloured Drab.

Agonopterix heracliana/ciliella, 2
Oak Beauty Biston strataria, 1
Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta, 2
Lead-coloured Drab Orthosia populeti, 1

Oak Beauty Biston strataria


Lead-coloured Drab Orthosia populeti



Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta


Canon Powershot A640

Bank Vole

For the past week or two this little rodent has been performing in the daytime in full view of our kitchen window, occasionally joined by a second. Not easy to photograph but here is an attempt.

Bank Vole Myodes glareolus

Canon Powershot SX10

Grey Heron

This bird feeds around Goldie Bridge near the reserve at Ferry Meadows and can be quite confiding.

Grey Heron Ardea cinerea

Canon Powershot A640

Crane

An outrageous bit of luck to glance up from my desk at work just as a Crane was flying past the window. There have been a single and a pair wandering around the area but I didn't expect to come across one while sitting at my desk.

This was a PBC area self-found tick - #210!