Family holiday in Morocco

As suspected this was more of a family holiday so didn't really get much birding done. The complex itself had quite a few security guards standing around so very conscious of walking around with binoculars round my neck. I am not sure what has happened or happening in Morocco but on the one full day I went out on there were a number of police check points, last year didn't come across any.

Spent a few hours in the swimming pool and going down water slides, all very nice but did get a few things flying over. I had a pair of dragonflies skimming the surface of the swimming pool and wave machine but the only time they landed were somewhere I couldn't get to. I good good views of them in flight so am currently looking those up. White Stork circled and drifted over at one point.

Also had a Booted Eagle drift over, a lot of Laughing Dove, Spotless Starling, House Martin, Swift and Swallow flying around. Thought there were a lot of House Sparrows but not thinking there were Spanish sparrows too, am going to send a picture to a friend to confirm. Did get a few turtle dove and Common Bulbul. Saw one definite Red-rumped Swallow, Kestrel and Blackbird. When we went into Marrakech for a evening a few more Collared Doves were around. The only other bird which I heard was what I think was a Egyptian Nightjar, it was the second night and no noisy entertainment and as I was walking back to our apartment there was a Nightjar calling and going from the recordings I heard it sounded more like Egyptian. Unfortunately every other night had loud entertainment till early in the morning.

Moth or butterfly? Need to look this one up.

This was on the ceiling in the corridor. I thought it looked like a footman moth but I think it is  Utetheisa latrix.

Another moth, which I have not identified yet but will be looking up.

Cranefly or dragonfly? it was staying low and flying I thought more like a cranefly but not sure. If anyone knows please let me know.

This is tiny but very green.

This was massive a cricket or locust? Thinking Moroccan locust but not sure. Again if anyone knows please let me know. There was outside this building at night a massive noise of crickets I think.

One other photo I took in the complex, this was sitting on a casino table that had been set up.

Did do a full day out which I will do on my next blog but it includes a body and a new butterfly.

Finally a update with a new UK tick included.

It has been over a month since my last blog. As it has been summer holidays and the boys have been at home I haven't done loads of things. Today though I took the opportunity to get a new bird for my list. Drove to Reculver country park car park and almost immediately found a fellow birder who pointed me in the right direction. It turned out to be a 3 mile round trip but Baird's Sandpiper was seen very well indeed. An adult that had been found the day before. In the same pool I also saw Little Stint, Spotted Redshank and Dunlin and on the walk Yellow Wagtail. Although great views through binoculars and telescope it was very windy and my camera didn't do the bird justice.

I am going to now just put some of my latest pictures up in the way of an update..

A visit to Thursley common with Pete from Non-stop birding eventually produced Black Darter (Sympetrum danae). It was not looking promising but as we headed back to the car we came across just this one Black Darter, also had Small red.

Went back via Beddington Farmlands just to add Small red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma viridulum) to my list. 

Did get a quick visit to Dungeness in when everyone else was out and about.

Below a particularly vicious looking caterpillar, that was moving very quickly along the path.

Have some other photos of this Kestrel but can't seem to get them on here. Looking again at the photos I notice it has been ringed.

Below a Blue-tailed Damselfly that I eventually caught up with at Broadwater.

That's all for now. Off to Morocco with the family tomorrow. Not sure if I am taking the laptop or even how much time I will get to explore so watch this space.

Hits, misses, bits and pieces

  It's been a while and a lot has happened, there was a week where I manged to get out 4 days in a row. 2 trips to Broadwater, 1 to Ashdown forest, 1 to Sevenoaks WR and one to Eridge roacks which is a new reserve for me, but, it actually connects to Broadwater.

I will do an update of sorts now. My notes seem to be all over the place at the moment and will need a day or two just to collate it all and get it organized. It seems to be more about dragon and damselflies and other insects at the moment. I have seen quite a few swallows that seem to be just passing. There have been gorgeous Redstarts, Spotted Flycatchers and Great spot woodpeckers at Ashdown Forest. Sevenoaks bought excellent views of Little ringed Plover and some young Sparrowhawks which have been nesting near to the path. one of the young birds was happily sitting on a branch. Apart from a wagtail that looked like a white they were the main highlights from the birds
                                 
So let's start with the dragon and damselflies then. Broadwater warren and it was literally rain, sun, rain, sun and a fairly strong wind with it. When the sun come out long enough a Golden-ringed settled on the leg of the bench I was standing next to. Stupidly I had forgotten my camera, but, thankfully had my ipad. Apart from that it was Azure damsel and a couple of Large red only.

 

Next day it was a trip to The Old lodge area of Ashdown Forest. Again the weather was undecided as what it wanted to do. This time though before I left the main area the sun shone and they all appeared. 8 different species that I noted. Common blue and Blue-tailed, Common Darter, Emperor, Small red, Emerald, Black-tailed and Keeled Skimmer. The Keeled Skimmer was a new one for me. It only ever settled a distance away hence the shot, however, you can see the difference between Keeled and Black-tailed. The Small red I think is one of the more unusual species that are here.

Keeled above, Black-tailed below.

Small red is not the easiest to focus on because of its size.

The day after that I went on a Summer butterfly walk and saw Brown Hawker there.

As the sun was out I then moved to Broadwater where this time there was also Brown Hawker, Azure, Blue-tailed, Large red, Emperor and Downy Emerald, which refused to settle at any point. The next day at Sevenoaks there were more there but no new ones. As I have been looking through my photos recently I have got a photo from Hayesden of a damselfly which I can't identify. Well saying that it is either a imm blue or a white-legged but it is not the best focused photo. I will see if I can get it identified and then put what it is up here. One last photo of a dragonfly laying eggs at Southerham. 

Butterflies next then. It doesn't seem to be the best year for butterflies, or maybe just because of the weather they are not being seen. Tried to connect with some of the other blues but no luck. The usual Large White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Large Skipper, Small Tortoiseshell and Gatekeeper. Finally got White Admiral while on the butterfly walk, but for this week the Comma was the most showy and Silver-washed Fritillary was the nicest.

While at Sevenoaks I was looking for Purple Emperor, in fact they can turn up anywhere it seems. I could see the best place for them but need to go out at the right time of day really to connect with them. Not sure what butterflies I am going to get now so maybe I will get a plan ready for next year and try and get as many as possible.

Here are some of the other photos from the last few weeks.

Hoverfly

Bee with pollen stuck to it's legs

Trying to work this one out. Is it just a young large red?

Fungus that has affected the whole tree

Scarce seven spot Ladybird - think this is a ladybird that isn't seen very often

Blue lacewing I think

I think tonight I need to finally id some moths, have done some of them. The problem is the micro's as I don't have a book for them. So i will try to do a moth update tomorrow but here is one just to finish off with.

So much to catch up on

It's been a while but so much has happened since then. Brexit has happened, thankfully I am not writing about politics whatever my opinion. Although what would happen to the British list if Scotland became independent and Ireland unified? We also exited the Euros in football, again not writing about that either. The weather though has not been on my side, every time I seem to have time available the weather turns. Today I managed to get about 5 minutes of sun at Broadwater before it started spitting with rain and the wind really picked up. Hopefully that will get better in the next few days.
I have however had a few opportunities to go out and try my new camera. I think I have taken about 300 photos with it so far so am getting used to it, enjoying the fact it has a view finder rather than just a digital screen.

Bird wise recently nothing unusual. Swifts are around and one pair is nesting just along the road from me. Spotted Flycatchers, Tree Pipits and Woodlark all around but not showing much at the moment. Have done Nightjar, Woodcock and Tawny Owl at Broadwater for the year, weather was not the best that night either. Had a Common Tern at Hayesden CP. Apart from a few warblers it is the usual suspects.

Have been on a Bee walk in Tunbridge Wells, Had quite a few different bees and a fair few plants and flowers. One of the walks I have done was at Southerham with the Sussex Wildlife Trust. A reserve on the South downs that has significant amount of chalk grassland. The soils on top of the chalk are very thin, and only support slow plant growth, but at the same time a huge diversit of different plant species and insects. Plants like Kidney and Horseshoe Vetch, Common Bird'sfoot Trefoil and Common Rock-rse are a few that I wrote down. Orchids always appeal to me and below a photo of Pyramidal and Bee Orchid.  

Butterflies - Seen Common Blue, Ringlet, Large White, Small Skipper and Brimstone recently. Southerham though had the best one so far. Dark green Fritillary, think this is a first for me, I might have seen one years ago but this feels like a first. Am going to go here again next month for the chance of Silver-spotted Skipper and Adonis blue. Moths I know I had were Silver Y but will do those at a later date.

Dragonflies - and damselflies of course. After my Black-tailed Skimmer at Beddington I was always going to then see it again, Southerham again got excellent views of Black-tailed and Emperor dragonfly with Common blue as well. The new one for me though was Red-eyed damselfly at Hayesden CP, had been told where they would be and found the spot easily. Not the best of photos as a long way away, still with my old camera. Also had Downy Emerald there. July and August I hope to get a few more, maybe even get a chance to go with a dragonfly group to check out a area or two. 

That's all for today. Am now sorting through all the photos I have taken with new camera, some need to be deleted, others identified. Will look at the insects next time after I have sorted and id'd some. Will then also give a park update as it is starting to look good now.

Beddington Farmlands Walk

On Sunday I joined my old friend Peter Alfrey at Beddington Farmlands for a guided walk. See his blog which has some great photos from that day. Click on link to the right to view that.
Below are some of the photos I took. A few birds seen, but didn't see the one pair of Tree Sparrow that are hanging in there. This was one of the first places I went birding and back then (80's) there were still a lot there and I saw so many great birds (Little Bunting, Tawny Pipit, Pec Sand) to name a few. Today Cetti's sang from the scrub and Whitethroat put on a good show.   Bloodvein moth was a moth which I have seen before but didn't know what it was, the diamondback moths were all over the mound. Common Blue, Speckled Wood and Large White all showed. I had seen there were black-tailed skimmers there a few days before so I was keeping my eyes peeled for that, as we went over the mound one showed and hopefully now I have seen one I will get one more locally.
After the walk a few of us went to the Bedzed Cafe where we saw Painted Lady and heard Goldcrest.

Oedemera nobilis or False Oil Beetle

or Thick-legged flower beetle or Swollen-thighed beetle

Not sure why it has 3 different names.

Red-tailed Bumblebee below

Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum)

What is this below? A shield bug? is it even a insect?

An enjoyable morning and plan to visit again.

Next up a visit to Hayesden again.

Local walk in Tudeley Woods

Went to Brakeybank in Tudeley woods with local expert Ian Beavis. There is always so much information to take in. Early, Carder and White-tailed bee seen. A few different crickets and plenty of different plants.

Wasp beetle which I found and think looks good

Burnet Companion moth (Euclidia glyphica)

Plenty of Spotted Orchid in the meadow

Carder bee (Bombus pascuorum)

Green-veined White

Slow worm

Scaly male fern (Dryopteris affinis

at the base it has yellow-brown scales

Speckled bush-cricket (Leptophyes punctatissima)

Dark bush-cricket (Pholidoptera griseoaptera)

Green longhorn moth (Adela viridella)

A enjoyable walk and already looking forward to the next one.  Next blog I go back to Beddington Farmlands, which is one of the first places I went birding all those years ago.