#egleton

Radiant ruby

The charming ruddy darter

Big Butterfly Count 2023: My standout species

As another fabulous three weeks of counting in a vitally important citizen science project approaches its end, I have been reflecting on the many Big Butterfly Counts I have done over the past few weeks. Below are some of the key species I saw with a few comments.

Red Admiral

Where else could I start? This long time favourite butterfly of mine has grabbed the headlines and taken the count by storm with the sheer numbers of them around. It has been fascinating to see the unusually high numbers at this time of year for me, with it being more notable if it was a day I didn't see one than did in the butterfly count a species I might usually see in two or three of my Big Butterfly Counts in a year. Personally it has made me so happy to see so many and really struck to the core of how I fell in love with this charismatic species with some glorious times watching them, key moments in an amazing butterfly year I've had generally. I took the first two pictures in this photoset of Red Admirals at one of the most memorable counts I did this year at Egleton, Rutland Water at the start and on a recent evening at Lakeside Country Park. It also personifies the importance of the count with the indicator of climate change these numbers are with more now overwintering here. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66395590

Summer stalwarts: Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper

I have just for fun actually just created two leaderboards out of all my counts this year so far, one overall and one for Lakeside Country Park where I did the most counts. Unsurprisingly Meadow Brown topped both with Gatekeeper third behind Small White overall and second at Lakeside. Where I saw less of their fellow key summer species Marbled White and Ringlet compared to previous years which in the ever shifting seasons perhaps emerged too early and their shorter seasons were waning and ceased here during the count, this pair have been ever present again with me seeing some very high numbers of them on counts. The usual passing of the baton I see where I go from seeing mostly Meadow Browns to mostly Gatekeepers on counts towards the end of it didn't really happen this year as both were high throughout, perhaps due to the Gatekeeper's notable early emergence this year too. I have felt really connected to these colourful butterflies during the three weeks and the Big Butterfly Count wouldn't be the same without them. It's been my best Big Butterfly Count for getting photos of the species included I think and I took the third and fourth in this set of Gatekeeper and fifth of Meadow Brown all at Lakeside.

The white butterflies: Small, Large and Green-veined

The white butterflies in the count have been ever present in my contributions also, with Small White like in 2021 for me really challenging the Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper for the top spots with so many seen. The elegant and alluring Green-veined White was one I notably saw more of in the count this year and I very much enjoyed doing so, taking the sixth and seventh pictures in this photoset of some at Lakeside. Large White is something I see less than I might think generally and I enjoyed some sightings of them during the count.

Speckled Wood

A surprise package this year for me, I have been very happy to observe a fair few of these intricately marked and joyful butterflies during the count this year, another that was more present for me than usual. I took the eighth picture in this photoset of one at Lakeside during the count.

Six-spot Burnet

Onto day flying moths included in the count now and before the count arrived I felt as though I was seeing more of this gorgeous moth the species that first got me into moths back in 2010 this year, but that's something easy to say whilst in the grip of their season. But whilst their season waned during it Big Butterfly Count proved that a bit for me with a high amount seen especially at Lakeside. It was a pleasure to see these dashing moths many times, I took the ninth picture in this photoset of one at Lakeside.

Jersey Tiger moth

Finally it's a quality over quantity moment as on Monday I was over the moon to spot the superb Jersey Tiger moth in the tenth picture in this photoset at Lakeside. It was only the second time I've ever seen this species and first during the Big Butterfly Count days. It was an amazing moment in my moth year getting a great view of it. But there is a notable point for quantity too as amazingly only days into the count I'd seen all of the Big Butterfly Count species in one of my counts apart from a Jersey Tiger. It was improbable I'd spot one given I'd only seen one before, but I did and for the first time ever it means I've every species at least once during my run of doing counts which feels nice.

On Saturday we had a brilliant day in the second Global Bird Fair at Rutland Showground, it was great to see and chat to some familiar faces and new ones and go to some inspiring and entertaining talks. In particular standing out was hearing from Simon King (whom we had met at every British Birdwatching Fair we attended between 2008 and 2019 so it felt good to restart our tradition of having a photo taken with him!) and others about the making of Wild Isles for BBC One and wider conservation issues around some of its stars and landscapes which was fascinating. The ‘This Is Your Life’ for (as we guessed as it was a well kept secret as to who it was) co-founder Tim Appleton was also fantastic, and emotional. It really got to the core of his amazing achievements and what he and others have done for nature as well the importance of having a Bird Fair and the values that it was born from. Nick Baker, Mike Dilger, Jonathan and Angie Scott, Nigel Marvin and David Lindo were other great well known faces we caught up with/saw/heard from. Another Bird Fair favourite of ours watching the BTO bird ringing demonstration was a little hindered by the dramatic stormy weather but we still enjoyed seeing Great Tit and Chaffinch being ringed and it was really interesting to hear about ringing again. All in all year two felt ever more like this event we love and I’ve grown up with and it was sad to lose is back, and I come home feeling inspired and heartened by spending time with inspirations of mine and like-minded people.

A big part of this annual trip for us since 2008 is of course seeing the wildlife in the Lyndon and Egleton Nature reserves at Rutland Water and we visited them on Friday and Sunday respectively. It was sensational to watch the star of the show at both, Ospreys. We got astonishing views of the two adults and three chicks at Manton Bay seen in the rain at Lyndon with a lot of action observed, and got some thrilling views of them at Egleton especially watching for an extended time as one fished which is always spectacular at the end of the day and trip. A fellow raptor also starred as after not seeing one at Rutland Water before this weekend I don’t believe we got some phenomenal views of rustic and agile Hobbies at both reserves. It really was quite something watching them sail through the air, seeing one successfully hunt which was great. Two of my favourite birds that I’m having a top year for. As hoped we saw our first Green Sandpipers of the year at Egleton, we got stunning views of a fair few of these iridescent wading beauties some of my best ever views I loved seeing them. In the same spot as we did on our visits here the last two years we also saw some splendid Yellow-legged Gulls which was charming, also my first of the year taking my year list to 212.

Ospreys at Lyndon 

Other bird highlights over the weekend were many Sand Martins and Common Terns seen, Great White and Little Egrets, Great Crested and Little Grebes including seeing both flying which I don’t often see, Shelduck, Egyptian Geese including with young, a trio of warblers Blackcap, Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler seen well, Teal, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Common Sandpiper, Swallow, House Martin, Swift, Linnet, Stock Dove, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Coot, Moorhen and many Cormorants and Song Thrush heard with Buzzard, Red Kite, Yellowhammer and Grey Heron on a pond in one of the pretty settlements I loved passing through on journeys as I always do Preston seen nicely when going from the hotel to the places and back and Red Kite, Jackdaw and Woodpigeon seen well at the fair.

A young Shelduck at Egleton 

As we have had a lot on Rutland trips over the years there was a moment of mammal magic on Friday when thanks to guidance from the kind volunteer we got chatting to in a hide we saw a Water Vole swim back and forth into a channel several times. This was an amazing moment seeing a species I adore and is very close to my heart for the first time in over four years. Seeing this superb and adorable species added gloss to my already personal highest ever mammal year list, and I think it meant a lot to me to see one the same year I finally saw an Otter. Seeing these two stars of the water this year feels exceptional. This was a big unexpected and amazing moment of the weekend.

The wonderful Water Vole 

It’ll become tradition us being in Rutland for the start of the Big Butterfly Count what with when Global Bird Fair is and I got to do that on Sunday at Egleton as we saw some more brightness before and mixed in with showers as the weekend went on. Butterflies came into their own with Painted Lady, many Red Admirals it’s their year to have a numbers swell it seems, Small Tortoiseshell, Ringlet, Green-veined White and many Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns and Small Whites ones we got outstanding moments with. We also saw Brimstone, Speckled Wood, Comma and a Small Skipper. Possibly a Brown Silver-line and also my first Bird Cherry Ermine moth of the year with a few of these pretty white ones great to see were nice moth moments at Egleton.

Gatekeeper at Egleton

Red Admiral at Egleton on yarrow

The trip is always good for dragonflies at these reserves that are rich in them at this time of year. Not the weather for it on Friday but on Sunday at Egleton we got some breathtaking flying and landed views of varied coloured Southern Hawkers which was so good. We also saw Brown Hawker a key species here and of my last two weekends, Common Darter, Black-tailed Skimmer which I’m having a memorable year for, Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damselfly. It was a good weekend for beetles and other insects with my first ever Violet ground beetle seen at Lyndon, ladybird at Egleton and the Bird Fair, Common Red Soldier beetles seen well at Egleton, Marmalade and Long hoverfly there as well as fruit flies and bee and wasp. In the hides of Lyndon as I have seen before were some fabulous spiders including Harvestman with one seen at Egleton too.

One of the Southern Hawkers 

The Violet Ground beetle 

There were many summer flowers to enjoy on the trip. Some rich and vibrant bits of meadow at Egleton where we enjoyed a wealth of butterflies boasted gems such as bird aka tufted vetch shining in the sunlight, lady’s bedstraw, wild carrot and scabious. Great willowherb, ragwort, St. John’s-wort, terrific thistle, yarrow, self-heal, marsh woundwort seen nicely at Lyndon, herb-Robert, red campion, dark mullein, meadowsweet, dock, forget-me-not, oxeye daisies painting the landscape on the bits of land on lagoon four at Egleton as I enjoyed last year, mallow and so much white clover including alongside chickweed seen in tents on the show ground at the fair were other highlights across the weekend. Finally Rutland, Rutland Water and the surrounding area is very picturesque so it was great to take in panoramic, wetland, water, meadow and rural views with some lovely buildings observed. The changeable and ferocious weather creating a good dramatic background to the landscape this year. Such a fun weekend, I am excited for next year already.

Some bird vetch 

A rainy day at Lyndon 

Seventh instalment to my ten wildlife and photography highlights of 2019 blogs: Rutland for the Bird Fair

On Wednesday 14th August it was great to drive through Rockingham and Caldecott the villages I adore as a gateway to getting to Rutland where we stayed in Uppingham. It was so we could go to Rutland Water and attend the British Birdwatching Fair which it was fantastic to get to do again. As always we went into Lyndon reserve on the first day seeing the Ospreys. It was amazing to see these one of my favourite birds and get such precious times viewing them, seeing them flying and still and five in total more than I can recall seeing often from here. I got a great view of two in a tree too which was a different place for me to see one in as I often see them on posts and nests and it made me think it must be common to see them on a tree in Scotland or Africa. I took the first two pictures in this photoset of the view from the hide and one of the Ospreys. It was also brilliant to see two Great Crested Grebes on a nest, re-enforcing it on quite full water on a wet day and swapping the incubating between the pair. Following on within the year for favourite birds of mine nicely from the nest of these another of Great Crested Grebes I got close to at Lakeside in May. At Lyndon it was also great to see so many Sand Martins very well flying about in front of the hide.

I took the third picture in this photoset of the view from my room on the start our Thursday here. We then went to Lyndon again, seeing Ospreys once more, a hornet mimic hoverfly and after a shower the weather was much brighter and drier than the day before, and it became a golden afternoon of dragonflies at Lyndon an area so good for them dragonflies often playing a big role in my Bird Fair trips due to the reserve strength for them and time of year. This was the year of my life for dragonflies and damselflies with me more engaged in them than other years and taking so many photos of them and getting to see so many special ones and that afternoon contributed to this well. I was so happy to see my first Migrant Hawker of the year as shown by the fourth picture I took that day in this photoset, which was actually my second ever and I saw one later on too so this was smashing. I was so happy to see it and also perhaps more Southern Hawkers than I had seen in one day before. Ruddy and Common Darter as well as Common Blue Damselfly were other ones I saw. After we’d gone all the way to the woodland hide and back to the centre we went the other way for a bit and also saw a Brown Hawker my first this year. This took my highest ever dragonfly and damselfly year list of this year to 19, I have seen 21 in my life so like where I reached with my butterfly year list last and this year having seen all but two and one respectively of the species seen in my life in one year I feel very happy which what I have seen. On the way back to the visitor centre at Lyndon I rolled back magical Bird Fair years when I got a very similar very exciting view of a mammal I did at Egleton the Bird Fair site at our first ever Bird Fair in 2008, the Muntjac Deer. I got two sensational views of this amazing mammal on 15th August, only the second I have ever seen which was a fantastic moment to add to this trip away.

Afterwards we went to Whitwell as shown by the fifth of my pictures in this photoset, where I took in stunning view of Rutland Water and it was so relaxing to have tea and ice cream looking over this place which I really enjoyed. Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell and Rutland speciality Egyptian Geese were highlights of my wildlife sightings. On the evening of day 2 away we saw a nice moon and had the honour of another amazing favourite bird encounter for me when we heard Tawny Owl calls at dusk from the cottage we think possibly two calling. This was amazing and something I weirdly foreshadowed by jokingly saying “you might see a Tawny Owl” when my Mum talked about going out late at night here. It followed on nicely from my nocturnal wildlife experience at the holiday cottage in June in Northumberland with the bats flying over.

I came into the Bird Fair on day one of the event and had a really enjoyable day despite wet weather towards the end which is somewhat unfamiliar for me when attending this event every year. The extraordinarily muddy conditions became a memorable theme of this Bird Fair it was entertaining to see everyone so muddy! It could only happen at Bird Fair! I spent the morning walking around meeting different people as well as watching the amazing BTO ringing demonstration which I always enjoy. It was very insightful again and interesting to see so many Blue Tits and Dunnocks caught and ringed. I also went to my first events marquee talk of the year, Mike Dilger hosting ‘How Birders Can Help Birds’ which included a varied panel of inspirational individuals from the chief executive of Bird Life International and the Big Year record holder, as well as esteemed young campaigner Georgia Locock. This got very passionate and engaging a great job from Mike too.

At around midday I headed into my first hide looking over lagoon four. Avocet and Egyptian Goose were highlights to see as well as the Ruddy Shelduck which was a nice brightly coloured bird to see  and one that I would remember this Bird Fair for too. It was nice to see a meadow area in full bloom nearby which I have appreciated a lot this year. I then walked down to the bittern hide, where the best birdwatching of the day occurred. I was on my own in the hide a bit until Joe Harkness creator of Bird Therapy came into the hide with a friend. He was a breath of fresh air to meet and so down to earth, I had been taken with his piece in Chris Packham’s talk here last year and his section with him on BBC Winterwatch, his positive attitude towards every bird out there including the many Swifts flying about was lovely to hear. There were lots of hunundines again today too. We all marvelled at the Marsh Harrier in the sixth picture in this photoset darting past us which was spectacular and a memorable moment. I had seen six bird of prey species in the space of a week with this sighting. They also spotted a young Black Tern far out on the lagoon and after they’d left I was thrilled I managed to see it too. This was a great moment for me as one of my birds of the year as my 176th species of 2019. It felt like the unique bird moment of this Bird Fair for me which I get every year of a top species to see that I hadn’t here before. It was actually only my third ever sighting of them it took me until 2017 to see this bird for the first time, and I was definitely going to target it a lot this year as the sighting meant I’ve seen all six tern species I have seen in my life this year along with my often usual common, little and sandwich and the arctic and roseate of my Northumberland holiday.

As the heavy rain set in as shown in the seventh picture in this photoset I eventually wound my way back to the events marque for the climate change debate. This was a really engaging and encouraging one to discuss the crisis and I was impressed with Rob Lambert and the whole panel. The star of it though was Holly Gillibrand who I know from Twitter who answered the questions fantastically and stirred the audience in a brilliant way. She is a credit to her generation, shown nicely by a young girl asking a question of “Why haven’t adults listened?” to the Friday climate strikes and it was very inspiring to see the young generation so passionate and empowered. A really nice day in the fair where I got to enjoy the time in many ways.

We came into the fair on the Saturday and the morning-early afternoon was a mixture of wandering around meeting people and lectures and events. This included our yearly chat and photo with Simon King which was an amazing experience as always he is so down to earth. The first talk was a lecture from Dr Amy Beer about Wild Women which was, and sorry for using this word too much at Bird Fairs, inspirational and really powerful about gender equality within wildlife and nature. Then there was a stretch in the events marque firstly seeing another hilarious Iolo Williams talk he really is like a standup comedian up there as I said last year. Then an epic from Chris Packham and friends, a fired up debate with Mark Avery and Ruth Tingay hosted by a presenter from the shooting fraternity in which great points were raised. The audience really responded in a spited way about terrible raptor persecution in general in this talk, and the amazing young people who came on stage to talk about the environment and school strikes. A short break from the events marque followed in which we met Iolo Williams again who was also delightful once more.

Afterwards we watched Simon King in another thought provoking and spectacular talk him shown in the eighth picture in this photoset . We watched the prestigious ‘Bird Brain of Britain’ as our last event of our 2019 Bird Fair next which is always impressive. On the way to some hides we caught up with David Lindo which was great and in between hides my Mum did her yearly deed of volunteering to release a bird from the BTO ringing demonstration and this year it was a Blue Tit. From one hide overlooking lagoon four we enjoyed seeing the Ruddy Shelduck from the day before with its Egyptian Geese it hangs out with and glorious views in the sun of two Ospreys one shown in the ninth picture in this photoset. We usually see them at Lyndon here however did see one flying over Egleton last year. But we hadn’t seen one at this side of the Egleton reserve for years. At the 360 degrees and snipe hides more great wildlife awaited such as Great White Egret a newer star of this place and two that I have seen at Bird Fairs before Green Sandpiper and Marsh Harrier. I took the tenth picture in this photoset a view on what was a brilliant day at the reserve. We did very well for weather in my whole week off getting some great warm and sunny conditions in amongst a lot of forecast rain which only really dominated two days.

17/08/18-Bird Fair at Egleton and Lyndon, Rutland Water

It’s time to start to post my blogs of my time away at the Bird Fair, I have written the main text of them on the nights I was away so they read in present tense of them. When back I managed to sneak my pictures from Friday onto Twitter on Sunday and had aimed to have my blogs going out the night after the day’s pictures were intended to be uploaded. So you get this blog tonight and I’ll post Saturday and Sunday’s tomorrow evening. Without further ado, I will now travel back in time to Friday 17th August 2018.

So today it was great to travel from Hampshire to Rutland for the Bird Fair for our 11th time. Just before reaching Rutland Water’s Egleton reserve where we would first have a bit of time in the fair then as we always do go to Lyndon afterwards it was nice to pass through the villages of Northamptonshire and Rutland especially my two favourites Rockingham as shown in the 1st picture I took today in this photoset and Caldecott, Rockingham in particular I often have dreams about going through just before reaching Bird Fairs which shows how much I love this event and place and I didn’t see either of these villages last year as we stayed somewhere slightly different in a cottage so it was nice to be reunited with them in a sense.

The first thing we did on arrival in the fair was the only way for us to start, going to see one of our heroes Simon King who we’ve spoke to and had our picture taken with every Bird Fair. We did that again, the 2nd picture in this photoset. He was so down to earth again and it was wonderful to have a meaningful conversation with him about our trips this year to Scotland and Yorkshire and his work. The next couple of hours or so were spent around the fair doing different bits and seeing many more delightful people as we did the whole day. One of which was one of our Heatherlea guides from the January Scotland trip. Whilst we only spent two days with him you really got to know him in that time so I really enjoyed our catch up with him.

Next attention at the fair turned to wildlife, as we went to the BTO ringing demonstration we always enjoy we were thrilled to see a Garden Warbler shown in the 3rd picture in this photoset a very special bird we don’t often see looking beautiful as they ringed and released it. We would then walk around the hides and on the way to our first saw my first Southern Hawker dragonflies briefly this year. This ensured my dragonfly and damselfly year is now my highest ever.

When we came out of the first hide (a view from it the 4th picture in this photoset) I was overjoyed to get a cracking view of my first Osprey this trip and this year flying very close over our heads. I took the 5th picture in this photoset of it. It felt brilliant to see this the main star of my Bird Fair every year and a bird I have a deep deep bond with, my 21st of my 24 favourite birds seen this year. But it also took my year list to 178 a very important figure as being one above my 2014 total it made 2018 my third highest ever year list. This is amazing for me as obviously I have so much respect for the amount of birds I saw four years ago and to beat this means it must be a pretty big year for me but to do it soon again as I’ve said a lot about year list milestones this year is just simply phenomenal for me. This was also the second Bird Fair running where on ceremony a year list became my third highest ever at as my now record 2017 surpassed my considerably less 168 joint total of 2013 and 2015.

What happened next in the Goldeneye hide will go down as one of my greatest ever Bird Fair and birding moments. But before we got there I took the 6th and 7th pictures in this photoset looking over the beautiful and vast Rutland Water. We had heard a Red-necked Phalarope had been around and we saw this amazing little bird flit and fly about at a fair distance. I got the record shot in the 8th picture in this photoset just showing it. I felt so good to see this bird as it was my first ever and I think this is genuinely one of the rarest birds I’ve seen in my life I feel so lucky. It was my 257th bird in my life and 7th new bird this year one more than last year.

We saw it fly up with Common Terns a lot because a Peregrine got them up and the Peregrine and a Kestrel seen at Egleton with Red Kite and another of my favourite birds the Buzzard seen on the journey up on roadsides made a decent amount of raptors seen in a day at five. I also saw five of my favourite birds with Osprey and Buzzard joined by Great Crested Grebe, Little Egret and Shelducks seen well at Rutland Water today. We then moved onto Lyndon reserve where we always visit on our first day up here. In the far hide it was great to see an Osprey on the nesting posts again and spend precious time with this favourite bird of mine. The 10th picture in this photoset shows this, while the 9th shows one of a few noisy sheep we saw in a field. A third Little Ringed Plover seen for me this year was also a nice bird to see.