Thursday, March 31, 2016

Roof Redstart

Nice find by Hugh Wright's missus, of a young male Black Redstart in the posh end of Yaxley, near Peterborough. As you can see from these roof shots, there was plenty of mossy roof to explore, plus paved areas and rockeries; all good for a Black Redstart. This is my first Black Redstart in the Peterborough area since March 2009!

Monday, March 21, 2016

More adders etc

Went reptile watching again this weekend, when the sun came out to play at lunchtime, with the rest of the family. We recorded: Grass Snake,3, Adder,2, including one of autumn's tiddlers (plus 2 probables rustling away), Slow Worm, 1, Common Lizard, 6. At another site, Ed and I saw the same males as the previous weekend.
A very heavily marked male Adder
A small baby Adder (born in the autumn), possibly male, judging by colour compared to the autumn babies
Basking male Adder
Bee-fly
Common Lizard
This sign amused us...

Friday, March 18, 2016

Cranes at Eldernell

The male of this pair had a few primaries missing on its right wing. The unusual truncation and asymmetry suggest perhaps it had been shot, which is disturbing. At least it should be easily picked out in the field, in flight, for a while, at least...

Monday, March 14, 2016

Snake eyes watching you

Went to a couple of sites near Peterborough, yesterday, in the glorious sun, where I saw five male Adders(split one and four), newly out of hibernation. Each has its own distinct pattern, which should help identify them as the season continues, giving more accurate ideas of true populations at the sites. Also, I will compare them to last year's photos for comparison.
This fellow with the rude tongue has distinctly cloudy eyes, suggesting he is very soon going to slough.

Monday, March 07, 2016

Otter near Peterborough

Digging in the dirt

There were at least 11 Bramblings digging in the ratholes and dirt pile where a farmer discards seed along Thorney Dyke, near Peterborough. The biggest flock I have seen well around here for a while

Kingfisher at Lynchwood, Peterborough

Bran Owl at Ferry Meadows CP

A scarce bird at this Peterborough country park