Bugboys mission

[Goldie M]

Great shots of the Brimstone Bugboy so early as well , it makes you think Spring can't be that far off Goldie

[bugboy]

Thanks David, it certainly was a spectacular day; scenery, weather and wildlife.
Thanks Goldie, spring most definitely felt in the air, both then and today although it sounds like there’s a little blip coming later this week with frosty nights returning.

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February 2023

Sunday 19th. I spent a good few hours wandering around my local patch today in mostly glorious sunshine and what felt like temperatures that wouldn’t be out of place at the beginning of April. My reward, two Red Admirals, one was just a fleeting visitation as it flew over my shoulder, the second played hard to get and all I managed was some dodgy evidence that it was there!

There’ll soon be plenty of food when the true hibernators here decide to awake from their slumber.

[Wurzel]

Great Red Kite action but the Grey Partridges are even better for me - another species I've not seen for a while And that Brimstone is a cracker - I saw one today but it was the typical spring variant - a constantly moving yellow blur

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Airborne, early spring butterflies can often be frustrating, Paul. There are precious few nectar sources for them to focus on, although any blackthorn blossom will soon become a hit!

Just the one butterfly seen by me yesterday in similarly balmy conditions (although the cloud rolled in at 12.30 to put a dampener on things).

[bugboy]

Thanks guys, might be a little while before I’m able to post more butterflies with the return of winter, this coming week looks like more birding


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March 2023

Saturday 4th. It’s been a while since I’m managed to get out with my camera. There’s been some pleasant days whilst at work but my day off last week was wasted waiting for my new fridge freezer to arrive which due to a blunder never left the warehouse. It was finally delivered this morning which gave me time to get out for a local wander in the afternoon.

I’ve been seeing plenty of my local Kingfishers starting to pair up on social media recently and today I managed to catch up with one of the Queens. It was an overcast day and they are surprisingly difficult to see with the naked eye if the suns not out making them glow. Other photographers managed to find her chatting up a King who has apparently been playing hard-to-get so far.

After a hour or so watching her I moved on to the Marshes. As is usual here some of the Blackthorn is already in full flower (the first flowers always break in the first week of January on these early flowering patches), this year sadly wasted with no sign of any aristocratic colours decorating them.

The horse paddocks were quite productive today, there’s still decent numbers of Redwing working the ground (no fieldfare though) and presumably having got used to all the walkers weren’t as shy as they are when they first arrive on our shores, one was posing like he was going for the cover and centre page spread of 'Redwing Monthly'!

Pied Wagtails were also around in numbers, as usual. Here’s a pair getting into the seasonal mood. The male paraded around the female in a series of bobbing movements whilst fluffing out his flank feathers, periodically clashing in mid air before going through the motions again. I’m not sure if she was particularly impressed.

Might be a while before anything butterfly themed turns up on here but hopefully this latest cold snap will be winters final dying grip on proceedings.

[Wurzel]

Great set of action shots Bugboy - I'm not sure how well it went down with the female either I made the mistake of looking at the two week forecast So much grey weather and the only dry day temperatures are still below 10 Still they do say about March; "In like a Lion, out like a lamb" so fingers crossed

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Those redwings are beautiful, Paul, although they can't compete with that kingfisher which must be a godsend to you lately.

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, we can only hope that saying comes to fruition, this past week has been particularly nasty!
Thanks David, you’re not wrong about the kingfishers, they’ve tempted me out in the rain, sleet and snow these past few days!

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March 2023

Monday 6th. Ok, so it’s fair to say my first week of AL of 2023 booked with the hope of catching some of the first waking hibernators has been an unmitigated failure! Birding it was then. Staying local I went out to see if the local kingfishers were out and about. They were a no show for me but were apparently active earlier in the morning. The resident Great White Egret was still about (word on the street (twitter) is that he has now left though).

The local Long-tailed Tits were completely ignoring the current weather patterns and busying themselves nest building, here’s one collecting some lichen.

Coots were being Coots as usual.

And Wagtails were wagging tails.

A pair of Shelduck coming in to land

A charm of Finches looked very plump, fluffing out their feathers to the max to stay warm.

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots of the Great White Egret Bugboy For some reason it kinda reminds of a young (The Really Wild Show era) Chris Packham

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Allan.W.]

Looks like you,re Great Whites going to have a bit of a dust up with an irate Egyptian Goose Bugboy ! wonder if the goose is defending a nest site ...........early nesters, our local pair have normally got goslings swimming by the end of Feb ...........just a thought !
Interesting posts by the way .
Allan.W.

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, showing your age there referencing that era of Chris Packham’s career, I can see where you’re coming from though!
Thanks Allan, those images of the Egret are perhaps a little deceptive, the Geese were merely flying over having just taken off nearby and weren’t being aggressive to anything. They have all started to pair off though and behaving like they are looking to breed so I’m sure that will change soon!

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March 2023

Tuesday 7th. More cold, nasty weather to endure but a quick check of tide times sent me to Essex and Two Tree Island for some wader watching. High tide was around 1pm but the waders start congregating well before that. Before reaching the hide and a view of the shallow lagoon I could hear them and it sounded like good numbers. It being a weekday, and also brass monkeys weather meant I had to hide to myself and I was also pleasantly surprised to find they had settled on gravel banks closer to the hide than they usually do. It was the usual array of Knot and Dunlin making up the bulk of avian biomass with a smattering of Grey & Ringed Plover, periodically fidgeting enough to take flight and murmurate a few circuits of the lagoon before settling again.

Dunlin

Mostly Knot

Mostly Knot

Mostly Knot

Mostly Knot

Oystercatcher were starting to noisily pair off

And the Ringed Plover were starting to get feisty with each other.

Some Snipe were seen lurking in the taller vegetation.

The hide itself is somewhat ‘open plan’ in design, primarily to stop the vandalism that destroyed its predecessor, however that also means your rather exposed to the elements so I left before the birds returned to the mudflats along the coast.

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I couldn't help but notice that the moment I returned to work the sun starts to come out again and the temperature looks to be on the up . on the plus side it should mean I can start posting butterfly pictures after the next two posts

[bugboy]

March 2023

Wednesday 8th. The weather must have noticed I as still stubbornly going out with my camera, so it upped its game for my last two days off (yes, I was taking it personally!) Even so, rain, sleet and snow wasn’t enough to contain me. My original plans for the day was a trip into Sussex, based on the Countryfile forecast, going so far as pre-booking my tickets to get a cheap one. It quickly became clear that had been a stupid waste of money so I snuck out in a relatively dry(er) spell to go Kingfisher hunting. I got lucky today and despite the weathers best efforts I had an enjoyable hour or so following a male up and down the stream

[trevor]

Those Kingfisher shots must have provided some compensation for the rubbish weather
during your week off. At least, here at home, we largely missed the snow.
I can't believe that OT's and PBF should appear in about four weeks time!

Trevor.

[bugboy]

You’re not wrong there Trevor, I might be slightly addicted to Kingfishers now! Four weeks…


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March 2023

Thursday 9th. Another ghastly day made better with some Kingfisher action, or in today’s case mostly Queenfisher action. The Long-tailed Tits were still doing their best to ignore the conditions and were working overtime to get their nests ready for the first clutches of eggs. A pair of Herring Gull were having a tug of war which seemed to last for quite a while.

Of course, most of my time was spent with the Fisher Queen

A King did appear a couple of times but I didn’t witness any interaction between the two. Seeing both though does show how much duller the female actually is.

[bugboy]

March 2023

Tuesday 14th. As promised, I am able to post some butterfly pictures fresh from today! I had hoped to see something after a few days of relatively mild weather and sun whilst I was at work. Off course it had gone cold again for my day off but after a couple of hours of wandering my local patch I spied a splodge of colour to the side of the path. This Red Admiral was in fact the only creature that I photographed in the few hours I was out, the birdlife was keeping a low profile today.

[trevor]

Red Admirals don't normally qualify for a mrgreen, but that one does .
Have not seen one or anything else since just after New Year.

Great stuff!
Trevor.

[bugboy]

Thanks Trevor, I see you have you own now in the bag. Over half way through march so not long to wait now surely

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March 2023

Wednesday 15th was a last-minute spare day on account of the tube strike and not wanting to go through the hell and psychological trauma of struggling to get into work (luckily there were enough people in to allow me to take the day off). The hazy sun I woke up to gradually dissipated and I didn’t bother investigating any of the early butterfly hotspots.

The kingfishers were unusually bashful today, I saw both sexes but only managed distant shots before they saw me and shot off.

A Magpie was busy collecting muddy grass roots for its nest.

The Long-tailed Tits have been hard at work too, from the all through March I’ve been watching various pairs along the Kingfisher stream nest building along the opposite bank. This nest is just about visible (at least until the leaves grow back).

Over on the Waterworks nature reserve, Dabchicks (Little Grebes to 21st Century birders) were active

[essexbuzzard]

Good to see your Kingfisher images. In the absence of butterflies, they must have provided some compensation.

[Wurzel]

"showing your age there" still closer to 0 than 100, but only just
Interesting view of the Red Admiral, it's nice to see them from a different angle I know what you mean about the way the weather conspires against us. All morning at work there was blue skies, warm light winds. Then went I went out at lunchtime a large block of slow moving, heavy cloud sat right overhead. Of course once I was back in work the sun came out and stayed out all afternoon Hopefully the slow start will mean when it finally does get going there will be bucket loads of butterflies about.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Good to see a butterfly on your diary again, Paul. Seems an age since you posted those Brimstone images now.

I guess the kingfisher's will be nesting soon? How are the parental duties shared?