Shropshire - Butterfly bonanza

Another 'insect day' beckoned after basking in the aftermath of the RFF
and 'Robin'! I was going to be a passenger for once too with Rob Stokes
after RV kindly offered to drive!

We were after two of the rarest Shropshire butterflies: Wood White and
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and given the prospect of a showery day,
we were going to need a lot of luck to find them!

The customary check of VP revealed 'nowt' in the way of birds (this is
why it was to be an insect day!) We set off for the South of the County
(the Northern limit of Wood White) and headed for Bury Ditches. There had to be a chance as Rob had seen a couple of Wood Whites recently and it wasn't long before we found one on the wing approx 600m from the car park! A male which, as they do, simply flew and flew until with a bit of cloud cover, it landed 15 feet up a near vertical slope! I got my record shot with the 300mm lens, spun around a few times, emerging as 'limpetman'. Here I am, clinging on with Rich and Rob laughing their heads off!






With one hand holding onto a small stump, I managed to photograph the
Wood White using the macro lens and return to level terra firma completely intact.... one representative shot and here it is.....






With thunder now rumbling around, it was job done and head back to the
car!

Next stop was the Stiperstones and the Fritillary. This was to prove a
bit of a route march looking for likely habitat and after about 2 miles
of trekking, with some sheltering from showers, we struck lucky (well
Rob did) again!

At least 20 Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary were resting in the
aftermath of the showers, drying their wings - a perfect opportunity to
record the underwing and clinch the identity....








The females have a much paler appearance to the underside...








Two for the price of one on this particular thistle!






Eventually, the cloud cover broke and a bit of warm sunshine encouraged
them to open their wings












I went in ultra close with this 'head on' shot - like something out of
B-horror movie!






Favourite image of the day? A close call but I'll settle for this?






Sunday was spent doing some more catch with these and other images,
blogging and getting ready for a talk near Norwich next week. I have an
idea (if the weather holds) that Swallowtail will come my way?
Hopefully some birds too, as I return via North Norfolk later in the week?

Quick update and preview

I will hopefully catch up one day? (still working on various images from my Scotland trip plus dragonflies). Keep look backwards in the blog as pages with a single image introduction will have a habit of ‘lengthening’!

For now though, I’m recovering after a 24 hour ‘Sports orientated’ marathon which started after work on Wednesday with a magnificent female Red-footed Falcon at Ledbury cricket club.....






And ended with the Hartlepool Headland White-throated Robin and a certain bowling green, for one of my ‘luckier’ encounters.....






Oh well, 600 miles and in excess of 10 hours + driving in a 24 hour period, take their toll – more pics will follow in due course!

Hartlepool Headland - White-throated Robin

I had a bit of a lie in before my alarm woke me at 6.30 and after an agonising wait, I finally got the news I was hoping for – the White-throated Robin was still showing (well) at Hartlepool Headland!

It was 7.30 before I set off and given the traffic conditions, I was amazingly parked up just after 11.00 with news of the Robin still showing by the inner bowling green. The perimeter fence was pretty packed and eventually I found a spot from where I could see over the hedge (memo to self: either grow another 6 inches or take a box on twitches!)






The bird was on my list a few minutes later (I won’t put the record shot here!) Eventually it worked it’s way closer then disappeared into the rose bed, only to reappear (a camera shake moment if ever there was one!) a mere 15m away!!










Another angle....






The procees repeated itself and I got another close encounter 5 mins later and more awesome views!








It wasn’t to last though, the Robin had been entertaining everyone for the past 5 hours and called ‘time’ by flying over the nearby wall into the allotments where there is strictly no access! After waiting for 10 mins or so, it was clearly not dashing back and having bumped into local ringer Mike Gee (who assured me it would be back later) we popped round to his house for a (celebratory for me) cup of tea….

The last time I was here back in February, I had a fantastic day in the company of Mike who lives here at the Headland, just a stones throw from the bowing green . We had finished up for a cuppa at his house then as he waxed lyrical about the vagrants this area has the potential to (and does) produce.

Little did I suspect that I would be sat drinking a cuppa again three months later, after enjoying a brief but fantastic view of one of the most newsworthy and now ‘infamous’ megas of recent years, whilst chatting about it’s arrival and subsequent events….

It all started on Monday morning with the local lead ringer (Chris) noticing a very interesting bird (with orange flanks) near the Inner Bowling Green. The nets on the nearby allotments were set up and the bird was subsequently trapped here within 30 mins! The identity clearly not straight forward as the original assumption (Red-flanked Bluetail) was clearly in doubt. This bird appeared to be too large and did not have a blue tail , nevertheless female or immature RFB was still the more likely scenario? It was a great find and important bird whatever and the County recorder was soon on his way to have a look. The bird had to be released pretty soon and time was running out. The County recorder was in no doubt (a male would have been an easy ID) this was truly a MEGA – female White-throated Robin! News was put out and the bird released during the morning. The rest is history, including the infamous ‘storming of the Doctor’s wall!

Ah well, chat and cuppa over, I was itching to see more of the Robjn so bid farewell and returned to the Bowling Green, alas no sign. In fact, no sign was to remain the case for the duration and the bird didn’t reappear that day! (The other Bowling Green and Doctor’s garden all remained well covered)

The ladders came out again, enterprising birders and deals struck with the locals ensured I could amuse myself by watching the ‘goings on’......






Late in the afternoon, my curiosity got the better of me and I climbed one of the ladders to be greeted by this wonderful view!






I asked where the ladder had come from? ”found it on top of someone’s car” came the reply – S**t I’d been set up and slid down the ladder in a nanosecond before the local boys in blue came looking for the culprits!!

I knew (and hoped) they were joking too

A reappearance seemed less likely with the noise of a bowls match in progress!






In all, I stayed five hours on site, the last 4 ½ (mainly) in the company of folk who had arrived too late to see it!

The depleted gallery....






Dipping birds like this are is not easy to deal with and I expect most stayed until dark and the bird still didn’t show – it did the following morning. I can count myself 'lucky Jim' once more, another 15 mins later arrival and I could have been staying until dark!

Ledbury - Red footed Falcon

I’d noted the postings of a Red-footed Falcon in Ledbury with interest? I’d also noted that no-one had posted an image of this seemingly obliging bird and I have Ron Kinrade to thank for tipping me off that this really was a ‘must see’ bird (MANY thanks Ron!!!)

The tip off came as I was leaving work Wed evening and having eaten my tea, agonising whether the 60 mile trip was really worth it? At 6.00 pm, I decided in a moment of the ‘madness’ that’s inside every birder to go for it!

I arrived at 7.30pm to find a small group of locals and a photographer present (Carl Day) - nice to bump into you again mate! Adopting a careful ‘do not disturb’ approach, it was another 15 mins or so before I got a few worthwhile shots? Carl's are here!

The RFF was using the posts which roped off the cricket square as a look out / launch pad for catching moths in the air and a variety of invertebrates on the ground. It was a fantastic display which had me cursing the fact I hadn’t got here earlier!

Looking like an official in tug o' war tussle?










By cranking the ISO up to 1,000 and underexposing – I managed to get a decent shutter speed and a few worthwhile flight......








...and landing shots! Anticipating which post and pre-focussing paid off with two or three landings......














Eventually, this sporty Falcon took to the Goal posts and Cricket sight screens from which to launch sweeping flights!








The sun even came out for a few seconds!








Another worm and / or moth bites the dust.....










Maybe the most unforgettable moment was as it flew directly (and very low) overhead landing right by the small assembled group I was standing with - a more natural setting as it rested in this small tree!






My pick of the evening poses, one lovely Falcon!






By 9.00pm the light was fading and it seemed like many hours had passed. Encounters don’t come more exciting than this – just hope the bird stays for another visit although with a cricket match undoubtedly lined at for the weekend, (the pitch will be prepared and the posts removed) I doubt it?

Meanwhile, I needed to get back home and get some sleep in – another bird beckoned…. (hopefully)… the Hartlepool Headland White-throated Robin - would it stay yet another night?

Venus Pool - Common Blue Damselfly

I'll try and include new images of all the Odonata I list in Shropshire this year and it's easy to overlook the 'common' residents!

Common Blue Damselfly are exactly that at Venus Pool and here are a few representative images, starting with the male.....






Females of all the blue damselflies are trickier to separate as they have much more black on the abdomen but the broad blue antehumeral stripes on the thorax, as in the male (other colour forms are possible!) give this one away.






Despite their small size, they are fearsome predators as this small bug will testify!








Off to Whixall Moss next for something a bit more special.....

Whixall Moss - White faced Darter

The birding scene has gone quiet so I opted for another 'insect session' and with time now running out, I still hadn't got my images of a MALE White-faced Darter!

A pretty reliable location (though never guaranteed) are the small pools and ditches at the end of the 'Moss Cottages' access path.






A veritable orgy was in progress amongst the Azure Damselfly population - some quite interesting positions?








I just love these two males rising up and squaring up to each other - nice contender for a caption competition?








A couple of territorial Four-spotted Chasers were ensuring I would struggle to catch s astationary White-face!






But eventually, I got the moment....






A variety of angles.....










Close up and personal with that 'white face'....








One brief encounter with a female White-faced Darter on the walk out.....






Job done, I wonder where the next decent bird is coming from though?