What have you seen
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Visited the Little Tern colony at Gronant on the North Wales coast today. Good to see the birds with fledglings. They're cordoned off on the beach to prevent walkers, dogs and other predators from disturbing them but there is a small hide where you can watch them. We also collected various flying insects including Wall Brown butterfly, Gatekeeper and Grayling butterflies, Cinnabar Moth and a separate caterpillar, Some Robins Pin Cushion gall (wasps), Stonechat and a singing Grasshopper Warbler not far from an actual Grasshopper.
Wall Brown Butterfly
Grayling butterfly on path. They're mostly seen with closed wings at rest.
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We visited Llyn Brenig to see the Ospreys. From the public viewing area I could see the female and the two chicks on the nest, with the male on the camera perch. Saw the female join him there and the young female chick "helicoptering" above the nest. I was hoping to see her have her fledgling flight but neither have quite got to that stage today.
While at the viewing area there was one of activity around the feeders, lots of chaffinches of all ages, a Redpoll, a Risk in and a Willow Tit! Back at the site there were both a Red Kite and a Buzzard overhead, and a Spotted Woodpecker flew across the track to the site.
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Lots of Butterflies around today in the warm air, but very hard to photograph. Here are a couple that I was able to catch.
A female Wall
And a male Common Blue, I think.
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Another good day with the insects, all on the Hemp-Agrimony that lined the road on our walk.
Gatekeeper
Red Admiral
Common Green Bottle Fly
We also saw a couple of these in what appeared to be an abandoned garden.
Giant Viper's Bugloss, or Crown of Jewels.
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Well I went to go through our door outside and nearly trod on a small grass snake about 2 to 3 ft long only a young one even OH saw it as well and the lizards knew it was about so going off in different directions but I am not keen on snakes to close so glad when it moved a bit of a distance from us and not seen it since.
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Coastal walking yesterday. We came across a lovely small flock of Common Gulls, which aren't that Common, on a spit with some young. Also had lots of Sand Martins that had nested in the sandy banks. Later on we disturbed 3 female Mergansers. Plenty of Wall Browns and 1 Ringlet butterfly.
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I snapped this on my front door today. Google tells me itโs a Jersey Tiger moth.
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It is @Tinwheeler. You can see its white/creamy stripes under the outer wing. Funnily enough I read an article today about Jersey Tiger Moths saying that it has been a good year for them. They're sometimes seen with red body but still with the stripes. Nice surprise for you if you enjoy that type of thing.
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@Wherenext don't know if you notice my post yesterday, but as we were walking along by the river at Llanrwst around 11:00 in the morning we stood and watched a Bat ๐ฆ flying above the water, a rather unexpected sight in the late morning sunshine!
That's a fine looking moth @Tinwheeler
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Iโve never studied the undercarriage of a moth before @Wherenext ๐. It hung around for at least half an hour.
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They do sometimes hunt during the day, especially if they have young to feed, a bit like Barn Owls seen in the middle of the day. We saw one for about 15 minutes a few years ago whilst walking around Leighton Moss reserve. Nevertheless it's still a surprising sight.
Funnily enough @Tinwheeler I also saw the underside of a Moth today but it was just a commonly seen Larger Yellow Underwings.
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Iโm not sure if mine is a male or female @Wherenext ๐๐๐คฃ
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@Tinwheeler - It's a good job you don't have to!๐ Although the photo is from the underside and distorted slightly through glass I can't see any spots on the hind wing area, which might also be more of an orange colour. Your specimen seems to be lacking both so an educated guess would be Male.
Strange really that we've become very interested in all the flying insects including Moths in the last year or so. Always been interested in Butterflies and Bees but we came across a YT made by an entomologist who is very informative. As they say " Every day is a learning day".
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Thanks. We'll call him 'he' then.
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A YT of the pair at River Dyfi. You can see the female on the right is much larger than the long legged male. These are a very loyal pair with the male one of the few that likes to do his incubating bit, quite often nudging the female off the eggs. The female has been concentrating on feeding herself instead of catching fish for the offspring as she will be off on her return flight to her Winter quarters very shortly.
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A couple of photos from today, the fungi was on a tree stump in Sunnyhurst Woods, and the beetle is one of many on our current site and is only about 5mm in length. I have not yet had a chance to Identify either yet.
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@nelliethehooker - I don't know its latin name but its probably "Chicken-in-the-Woods". It is edible if eaten when very fresh, probably like Chicken!
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Thanks both, will have a look at your solutions when I find time!!๐
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@nelliethehooker agree with WN and the latin name is Laetiporus sulphureus a bit of a mouth full to say and very common all over the world.
I did some watering this morning and a wall basket by the door and out popped a very tiny baby lizard not even 1 inch long and did not like the water on it but it just moved under a plant trough.
I think a lot of birds have migrated from here the swifts, hoopoes and a lot of swallows have gone and whilst away last week did see a Osprey flying around a lake so that may have been going south also saw a Goshawk perched on top of a post very pale underneath and to see it close up no time for photo as it flew back into the woods.
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@RedKite I seem to have come up with a couple of alternatives, with the beetle possibly being a Green Dock Beetle, Gastrophysa viridula, as variety of Leaf Beetle, and the fungi could be Meripilus giganteus, or Black-staining Polypore.
There are still Swallows and House Martins flying around the farm buildings at the site we are on near the River Lune, and this morning a pair of Swifts flew across towards the river.
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I came across this rather interesting creature this afternoon, an Elephant Hawk Moth Caterpillar. Have included a shot with my sandal in view to give an indication of it's size. When I put my foot close by it withdrew it's proboscis to appear more threatening. I believe that it can give a poisonous bite!!
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Saw a small flock of Fieldfare, the first of the year, today up on Cunswick Fell, as well as a flock of Linnets and a Charm of Goldfinches too.
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Spotted this on our walk Saturday, having trouble identifying it, google images not the same?
We also have the most attractive moth. It's virtually transparent. Hard to catch a photo as it flys off. It appears to be the box moth, which is causing devastation to the village box hedges including a neighbours.
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Can't edit the post above.....
I wanted to add we had a green grasshopper on the bathroom ceiling. Smooth ceiling, fully tiled walls...... Managed to get him on my cobweb, getting rid not made of ๐, brush and out the window. It was very fidgety, so no chance of getting it downstairs and out. I hope it landed safely. Certainly a stunning colour.
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