‘Shrike a pose!’ 🎶 … memories of a brilliant morning with the Long tailed Shrike early Sunday. Not forgetting a good supporting cast of Hares, Red legged Partridges and a family of Grey Partridges plus the good crowd of birders. #ukbirding
Pagan Birders
@paganbirder.bsky.social
aka Penny (photos) and Ann (digiscope) a love of all of nature especially Birds, Butterflies & Orchids. Often found wandering on the Quantocks & the Somerset levels.
A return visit to the Long tailed Shrike site early this morning for hopefully better views of this stunning bird. Clearly it’s not going hungry! #ukbirding
Good numbers of Common Blues at Shipton Bellinger yesterday, quite happy to share the thistle flowers ….#ukbutterflies
Several beautiful Brown Hairstreaks seen at a very hot 🥵 Shipton Bellinger, Wiltshire yesterday. Also Brown Argus, Small Copper, Common Blue, Clouded Yellow, Red Admiral, Comma, H B Hawkmoth, all set to the background sound of rifles …. 🤔. #ukbutterflies
Purley by chance we met this charming little character at a new site for Little Owls near Mark on the Somerset Levels. 😘 #somersetbirding #ukbirding
Dingy Skipper - Hatch Hill, Somerset. Several seen within the grasses. A second brood? #ukbutterflies
A visit to the meadow next to Combe Hill Wood in the hope of finding a few Chalkhill Blues. Only found one but the surprise of the day was an Adonis Blue! Several Brown Argus, Common Blues, Dingy Skippers plus a few Clouded Yellows also seen. #somersetbutterflies #ukbutterflies
A visit to Priddy pools on the Mendips, Somerset in the hope of seeing a variety of Dragonflies. Unfortunately not many seen but very pleased to see a few Downy Emerald’s, a real stunner with those beautiful green eyes. #ukdragonflies
After an early visit to see the Long T Shrike in a stunning ‘wild’ environment with numerous Hares, Corn Buntings, R L Partridge, Yellowhammers etc a slight detour on the way home to Perham Down to see Silver Spotted Skippers, Chalkhill Blues etc. A truly brilliant day out!
All about the Clouded Yellows today in Devon and there were so many of them plus a first for us the Helice form female. A bonus Cirl Bunting was the icing on the cake! #ukbutterflies
A few Small Coppers seen while wandering around a very hot 🥵 Rudge Hill, Gloucestershire. #ukbutterflies
Male and female Scarlet Darters at Crossways, Dorset last week. The first time we have seen the female and only 2 seen, at least 15 males zooming around. #ukdragonflies
A few more from the brilliant Rudge Hill, Gloucs yesterday, a magic little place with so many butterflies & wild flowers. Brown Argus, Small Copper, Chalkhill Blue, Silver W Fritillary, Small Skipper + plenty of B Leaved Helleborines & a few Narrow-lipped Helleborines.
6 Belted Clearwing. Always wanted to see a Clearwing and during a visit to Rudge Hill near Stroud yesterday and thanks to Roger we were able to get some great views of this lovely little moth. Didn’t realise how small they are! #ukmoths
Red-veined Darter … at last! A first for us on a visit to Crossways, Dorset during the week. #ukdragonflies
Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly - Dorset. So pleased to see a few of these small and very delicate ‘dragons’ flitting through the reed mace of a small pond. #ukdragonflies
A superb morning in Dorset, Red-veined Darter, several Scarlet Darters seen, Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly, Black-tailed Skimmer, Emperor Dragonfly. #ukdragonflies
Western Reef Heron, busily feeding in the pools at Dale yesterday morning. #ukbirding
A great visit to the wonderful NWT Hauxley reserve last week, needless to say the Barn Owl and Tree Sparrows stole the show but the Vipers Bugloss was amazing, never seen such tall examples had to be 4ft plus!
On our way to walk part of Hadrians Wall this morning and couldn’t resist a slight detour to see the Turtle Dove at Ingoe. A beautiful bird that kept on ‘purring’ and gave us some great views. Our walk wasn’t too shabby either!
Couldn’t resist a boat trip to Coquet Island yesterday. Sun, blue skies and sea birds galore … magic! #ukbirding
Our first day in Northumberland started with a visit to Long Nanny. Overwhelmed by the carpet and kaleidoscope of colourful wild flowers and awesome views of the American Black Tern & Arctic & Little Terns. It will be interesting to see how the AB Tern chick fares.
A beautiful, pristine Painted Lady seen at Green Down, Somerset. No sign of any Large Blues (we maybe too late) but did notice a huge increase in the amount of wild Thyme (needed for the Blues) on the upper slope and a plethora of wild flowers in general. #somersetwildlifetrust #ukbutterflies
Stopped by a local meadow today to check if the Marsh Helleborines were in flower. Found around 5 plants a couple of years ago and this year there is 30 plus! 😀. A few Pyramidal Orchids and several S Marsh Orchids still looking good.
A beautiful meadow in Somerset - Southern Marsh, Heath Spotted, Chalk Fragrant, Frog and possible Early Marsh Orchids. Heaven! #ukorchids #ukwildflower
A visit to a local area in Somerset which would usually hold 15 plus Lizard Orchids, alas this year we could only find one! Fingers crossed they make a recovery in future years. #ukorchids #ukwildflower
