Back on my favourite local patch

We spent the late morning/early afternoon today on the Cholmondeley Estate. It was a beautiful Autumn day and it seemed a shame to just sit indoors.  The first birds we heard as soon as we got on site, were a flock of Crossbill, spotting them was a little more tricky.   We heard them constantly as we walked the path and finally managed decent views as they settled in a distant plantation. 

A good display of Raptors included: Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and Peregrine. As we watched the buzzards overhead we recorded 150+ House Martin heading south westerly at a considerable height.

A single female Pintail was showing distantly on the mere, this is an excellent record for this part of Cheshire.  As we walked round the edge of the mere, we only saw a single Reed Warbler, an indication  that most have now moved on.   

The pictures below show some of the fungi we saw today - a new interest for us.   

 Crossbill

 Boletus

 Fly Agaric

 Speckled Wood

 Starling

 Birch Polypore

 Comma

Pintail

Home, Local Patch and a morning in Yorkshire

Thursday morning the 15th and the Buddleia in our front garden was alive with butterflies so I enjoyed an hour or so watching and photographing six different species.

 Peacocks

 Peacock

 Red Admiral

 Small White

 Painted Lady

Red Admiral

 Small Tortoiseshell

 Peacock

That afternoon I headed to our local patch at Cholmondeley Castle grounds with Ashley and Scruffy. We decided to walk around Deer Park Mere where there is still plenty of Reed & Sedge Warbler activity. Overhead five Buzzard were taking advantage of another clear blue sky.  Three Raven joined them and we sat watching this wonderful air display for ten minutes or more. 

As we sat watching the Raven I asked Ashley if he still needed Two-barred Crossbill as a UK Lifer ? "Yes Pop why"? was his response.  I told him about the record at Broomhead Reservoir in South Yorkshire of 6 Juvs and 2 Adults.  We decided we would go the following morning and see if we could add a lifer to Ashleys' list - something not so easy to do nowadays. 

 Reed Warbler

 and again

 Small Red Damselfly

 Speckled Wood

 Speckled Wood

(Library photo) Two-barred Crossbill - whapped on .......

Butterflies Bees and Birds

At short notice this morning Alex and I headed to Neumann's Flash, Northwich in search of a Turtle Dove that had been reported in the area.  As we arrived on site, the lure of the snack van won out and a sausage and bacon bap before we headed off looking for the Turtle Dove seemed like a good idea. 

Following a fruitless two hour search in high temperatures, for what appeared to be "a needle in a haystack" we decided to call it a day.  The only birds of note we saw during "Turtle Dove hunt", were a pair of Bullfinch, 3 Yellow Wagtail and a pair of Blackcap.  

Butterflies on the other hand were everywhere, especially on the Buddleia around Ashton's Flash.

A short drive over to Frodsham Marsh for a pair of juvenile Black-necked Grebe resulted in a lifer for Alex.  They were showing really well which was an added bonus, along with a female Redstart in the far corner of number 6 tank.   Alex stills has Turtle Dove to add to his list, which, of course gives us an excellent reason to go out looking again.  

Red Admiral and Comma butterfly were added to our list of butterflies at this second site.    

 Bumble Bee

Large White

 Small White

 Small Tortoiseshell

 Large White

 Peacock

 Peacock

Gatekeeper

Comma

Common Blue

Flycatchers return

 Pied Flycatcher

 I'm off...........

.............. I'm Back again

Peacock Butterfly 

On reflection Bank Holiday Monday was not the best choice of days to head out to Bickerton Hills to see if the Pied Flycatchers had returned to an area of Woodland that has now had a population of up to five pairs for more than twenty years.  Still, we had already set out before thinking about the traffic and the amount of other people who would be out enjoying our countryside.

It didn't Take Ashley long to locate a singing male bird, which he was able to get in the scope for Alex - a lifer for Alex and a first this year for Ashley.  In all we had three male and two female birds.  I was distracted by the number of Peacock butterflies in the area and took a few photos to share with you.

Other birds of note seen at this site in the couple of hours we were there were: Spotted Flycatcher, Wood Warbler and a small party of four Crossbill.

The Fantastic Mr Fox !!!

The weather is very cold here in Nantwich today, so I decided on a walk around the local Boating Lake, along the River Weaver and back home.  We, (Al, Scruffy (our dog) and me) were pleasantly surprised with a guest appearance by - The Fantastic Mr Fox -  It is a long time since I have seen one on the bank so close to the waters edge.  Managed some snaps of him, along with the Goosander, who are still present on the same stretch of the Weaver as the other day - todays count 20.  

Doddington Lake Cheshire

Yesterday we decided to have a drive out to Doddington Lake in the hope of seeing a few waders.  Lots of GC grebes,  in fact 74 !! (largest number I have seen on this lake), 15 Cormorant and still plenty of Swallows gathering.  Lovely September day and the sun was shining affording us a good opportunity to photograph the butterflies in the Cheshire countryside. 

 Great Crested Grebe

 ..... and some more

 Cormorant

 Swallows

 Large Bracket Fungi

 Red Admiral

 Small Tortoiseshell

Speckled Wood