Not a Hobbit, but the old nickname I like. Just a man with a camera, lucky enough to be let loose in the countryside! A birder in the main but all nature attracts me. North Yorkshire based but I get around.
Cracking good day out with my pal Mark on Thorne Moor yesterday ..... lots of laughs, chat and putting the world to rights in both of our respective universes and as we biked across this magical and thoroughly underrated expanse of reclaimed peat-land we concluded that no matter how much we try to lead a good and worthwhile life in our semi retirement years, its our children and their travails that matter the most and keep us from sleeping too easy. It was ever thus and always will be but always good to share the load!
Don't worry folks, I'm light years away from launching timbobaggins.familyrelations.org, its just not gonna happen.... no scope for good pics for a start! Nature in the raw has a knack of rendering down the most complex of human relationship problems to mere squabbles in the playground so before I get tempted to launch timbobaggins.philosophicalnonsense.net, just enjoy the straightforward beauty of Thorne Moor!
Here you go .... what a vista!
Thorne Moor is part of an extensive area of lowland peat / bog (nearly 3,000 hectares in size .. that's big!) and is the remains of a huge glacial lake that formed after the last ice age and covered a huge chunk of what is now South Yorkshire.
Go visit! .... its extraordinarily rich in wildlife and a truly primordial place.
Regular breeding birds include Common Crane, Hobby, Nightjar, Nightingale, Woodlark to mention but a few (there have even been breeding Bluethroat records here!). The insect life is very rich with many species of butterfly, moth, dragonfly recorded as well as unique flora. Several species of deer compete with other mammals such as fox, hare, water vole and there are also common lizards (we saw 20 or so of these) and adders in good numbers.
It was another warm and largely sunny day in this glorious summer we're having when we were there and being August the birds were skulking and scarce but we had good views of Hobby, Marsh Harrier and a few common warblers (Willow / Chaffs, Reed & Whitethroats). A family party of Shoveler ducks was nice and a single Stonechat was a good record. Green Sandpiper, Snipe and Lapwing were about too but my camera was once again focused on less flighty beings ... butterflies mainly and here's a few from the 15 species seen on the day.
Common Blue (male)
Small Copper
Large Skipper
Peacock
Black Darter
As well as those beauties we also saw stacks of dragonflies, most of which I'm still struggling with in terms of identification but certainly lots of Southern and Brown Hawkers (far too quick on the wing to capture!) and also lots of Black Darters which were a little easier ....
The one thing to watch out for and certainly take precautions against on Thorne in Summer are the midges, mosquitoes and other biting nasties, especially the Clegg Flies ... actually quite interesting to look at but by jove do they bite! So if you do visit take some insect repellent and the strongest you can afford!
Hover Flies look as if they might bite you but are of course quite harmless and up close very attractive. Fascinating creatures, fascinating lifestyles and with over 270 distinct species in the UK alone they're a big challenge... so if you fancy a new hobby?!!
The common one in our gardens is the Marmalade Fly
Got that? Another common one is the Sun Fly and there were lots of these on Thorne and they especially liked to hover round Ragwort petals. I spent a few minutes checking them out and got this pleasing image of one.... slightly overexposed to catch the fly's intimate details!
Sun Fly on Ragwort
Phragmite Reeds, Breighton (nr Selby)
And finally, dear nature lovers, on my back home on a gloriously sunny evening, the like of which reminded me of childhood days, I felt the need to prolong the wandering so I popped into Breighton by the river Derwent. Lovely stroll by the river bank, more butterflies, Sedge & Reed Warblers chattering and the reeds themselves looking tall and resplendent. Walking back up the bank I looked up and saw my van, and remembered a promise to myself that I haven't kept .... to take a picture of my van 'in situ' whenever I go anywhere good. Well I forgot again as far as Thorne Moor is concerned but hey I remembered, so here she is at Breighton!
As you might have guessed I've taken a bit of a break from blogging of late ... no real and present reason, just general 'busyness', being going through a serious music phase with the new combo and my recruitment for YWT has been hectic too with numerous summer shows, but hey I'm still out there, the camera is still seeing action, so here's a quick post!
Took myself off on a mini tour of a selected few South Yorkshire reserves a few weeks back, including Brockadale and Blacka Moor (nr Sheffield). The most noticeable thing for me recently has been the number of butterflies on the wing lately. I suspect and hope it's been a good year for them after last year's wash out and by all accounts (mainly from the keen lepidopterists from Askham Bog) this does seem to have been the case. I hope you've seen plenty in your garden and not just the common white variety!
Here's a nice Marbled White for starters.
That was one of several I saw at Brockadale nature reserve nr Pontefract and an absolute haven for butterflies at the moment.
Same location and not really butterflies there were hundreds of these Burnett Moths in the fields around the reserve.
Burnett Moths on Field Scabious
OOk, here's a proper butterfly and one that really does seem to have done well this year ... its a Comma, been very noticeable these beauties and I have some cracking pics of some at Askham Bog but not developed yet so here's one at good old Brockadale.
Comma
There's been some Purple Hairstreak's at Askham Bog, rare butterflies indeed and I hope to get some pics soon if they stick around but here's my contribution to scarce butterflies ... a Dark Green Fritillary I spotted and captured nearby Ladybower Resevoir in the Peak District
Dark Green Fritillary
Closer to home here's a couple of recent ones from Askham Bog ... a nice Brimstone and a rather scarce Large Skipper (really tricky to see, let alone photograph!)
Brimstone on Purple Loosestrife
Large Skipper
Ok, I'm going to leave you with a beautiful Small Tortoiseshell, another butterfly that has surely done well this year. This one was shot near Stannage Edge, Sheffield but I've seen 'em everywhere this year!
Small Tortoiseshell
Yup, been a great year so far for Butterflies .... what have you seen?
Still plenty about folks so check out you're nearest natural hay meadow and get flutterby hunting!
Been so busy recently ... I never expected semi retirement to be so time consuming! In between some big recruiting events with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and beginning to get another band together, I've done 2 trips in the camper ... I popped down to the New Forest and South Downs a couple of weeks ago and then up into the Dales for a night last week, all great fun but it don't get the grass mown!
A few selected pics from those trips later but I'm feeling in a musical mood today and casting about for material to work with. You know how it is ... a u tube trawl, spotify playlists, and in my case also scraps of lyrics and chord progressions jotted down and filed away. Too much sometimes, but hey let me worry about that, in the meantime here's a couple of gems, both oldies, both goldies that have jumped out at me and reflected strumming today!
I can feel another timbobaggins song broadcast coming on ... maybe later and don't groan too loudly folks, I don't do it often and you don't have to listen to the end!
The New Forest, South Downs, Salisbury Plain
The New Forest is one of our biggest and best wildlife reserves and I'm sure there are still places where you can loose yourself, but my oh my it has changed since last I was down there some 15 years ago .... so many people, too many of them walking dogs and so many more intensively farmed tracts of land around the edges. I found it really difficult to get away from the beaten track and sense some degree of the magic I remember.
That said, I did hear Nightjars churring (and lots of them) on my first night there and one has to remember that mid June is always a time when birds n beasts alike go quiet and are naturally elusive whilst getting on with the business of breeding, so it was always going to be hard work, and add to that a hastily purchased guide to wildlife sites down there that turned out to be hopelessly inadequate, and already I'm feeling redeemed for not capturing a full on Honey Buzzard or a beautifully posed Dartford Warbler!
Not a glimpse of either sadly and bird pic opportunities were scarce but there were some awesome floral displays, one or two nice butterflies and best of all the sun shone throughout!
Birds first (hehe .... that'll be on my gravestone!), here's a smashing male Stonechat, a bird that seems to be doing much better down here than it is up North.
Hobbies are the falcon of choice in the New Forest and although I stalked this one hoping to get a full on 'in flight' close up, it never quite happened and this was taken almost at dusk and hence a bit grainy but its caught something in its talons and is munching away in mid flight!
...... on a similar theme this Common Buzzard seems to be transporting what I think is a Slow Worm to its nest, its not a snake but far too big and thick to be an earthworm ... what do you reckon?
Out of the skies and back down to earth, I couldn't resist taking a couple of pictures of the famous New Forest ponies, not least because one of them seemed to charging headlong towards me and the camera just came up in time!
More serene and typical shots of the ponies here ... they really are iconic creatures of the forest and always lovely to see.
Skulking through another, much smaller forest at Pamber, again trying to get off the beaten track and maybe spot something unusual, I just came across the usual .... common warblers diving for cover, a few Great Spotted Woodpecker nests and this nice Roe Deer that was looking at me as if to say 'what the feck are you doing in here!'
After a day and a half of trying to dodge the dog walkers and early morning joggers in the New Forest I decided to head into Dorset and Cranborne Chase .... it was like stepping back in time travelling through some of the leafy villages in this most idyllic of English counties. I saw an old style wooden bus shelter in one such village and in the next I swear I saw Miss Marples!
Adonis Blue?
Cranborne Chase is just lovely, typical south downland with chalky hills and steep grassy valleys. I was after some good butterflies ... anything blue basically and I think I got lucky with this one. Could it be an Adonis Blue?
Somewhat less colourful but no less beautiful, there were several Dingy Skippers knocking about and this one turned out nicely in the frame ..... a bit brown and easily overlooked but hardly 'Dingy'!
Dingy Skipper
Large Tortoiseshell
This is what I'm pretty sure a Large Tortoiseshell I snapped whilst I was having a sandwich and a cup of coffee at the top of Cranborne Chase, and whilst I was up there I took a landscape looking over Downs and towards Salisbury Plain.
Got my best bird of the trip here too but sadly no photograph .... a fleeting but definitive glimpse of a male Cirl Bunting, heard it calling too!
Salisbury Plain
Salisbury Plain itself was pretty disappointing to be honest .... hardly saw a thing apart from a couple of nice passing Ravens and a few singing Skylarks, but it was midday and my recently sprained ankle was hurting after I'd walked too far in the sun, so I didn't pursue to any great extent, preferring a nap in the camper instead - to recharge the batteries before driving back up to Yorkshire . Nice to be there again though after many years ... so quiet!
Common Raven
Lets end with a bit of colour and a few selected wild flowers, only a few because I haven't identified them all yet and some of these Orchids are devils to get right!
This one for instance could be a Man Orchid but its more likely to be some sort of Helliborine, I've tried to look it up but its a tricky business with it not being in full bloom.
This one could very well be a Long Spurred Orchid, and if it is then its a good find on Cranborne Chase
?Long Spurred Orchid
These are Marsh Orchids for sure!
Yellow Flag Iris
Yellow Flag Iris is everywhere in suitable habitat at the moment and you don't need to go far to see some... lots of it at my local reserve at Askham Bogfor instance, along with various Orchids and of course Water Violets
Bugle
Stroll through any decent sized deciduous wood at the moment and you should see clumps of ground hugging Bugle, one of flowers that's easily overlooked but reveals such beautiful detail when you get down and have a good look.
This last one has me stumped though ... there were maybe 3 or 4 clumps just like these in damp boggy ground and amongst Marsh Orchids and Yellow Iris. Another one to post on to the flower experts out there in cyberland!
I can distinctly remember a certain weatherman saying about 3 weeks ago .. ' be patient, Spring will return!' Well I guess on the law of averages this was a pretty safe missive to put out to the long suffering British public because the warmth just has to come doesn't it? Better late than never I suppose, almost June and the longest day just weeks away but YES we have warmth in the air, and with it finally we have bees a buzzing and butterflies a fluttering in some numbers, why I even smelt a BBQ in the village this evening!
And to celebrate here's a few late Spring pics I've been meaning to post starting with some stunning Water Violets that have been pushing up through the water at Askham Bog over the past week or so
A true bogland speciality flower that does well at Askham and very pretty don't you think?
Somewhat under rated and also a flower that proliferates on the bog is Lady's Smock (sometimes known as the Cuckoo flower because it tends to bloom when these birds first arrive) .. they're also a favourite destination of Orange Tip Butterflies and I was lucky enough to capture both here.
Been stacks of other butterflies on the reserve including Speckled Woods, Brimstones, Peacocks, Small Tortoiseshells and Commas. The Comma's often bask in the sun on the fence posts just like this one ...
......... but more often than not they're laid flat on in the undergrowth like this
Away from the bog, I had a pretty decent Adder experience on Hatfield Moor recently .... walking along the much improved tracks there I spotted this beastie and, risking a trip to Doncaster A & E, managed a half decent close up of this particularly fine looking specimen snaking towards me!
Maybe stupidly I tried to get closer for a head shot before beating a hasty retreat when I saw his tongue forking out, but I never felt threatened (I'm a Yorkshireman for god's sake!) and anyway it was worth it for this shot.
Precious few bird shots of late but maybe this is evidence to the contrary, in my daughter's eyes at least, that I'm totally obsessed with our feathered friends ... hehe I AM Ruth! I can't let a post go by with at least a couple of bird pics, rubbish as they may be!
Here's one of only 2 Sedge Warblers that have returned to Askham Bog this year so far ... really disappointing but maybe this is a sign of the times.
On a brighter note (though sadly this adjective does not apply very well to the photograph!), here's a couple of Avocets that plopped into a small pond adjacent to Fraisthorpe beach a couple of weeks ago as I was leaving .... it was very late on, about 8.30pm so the light wasn't great but awesome really as this was no more than a muddy pond in a farmer's field. Avocets are doing very well these days!
Ok, I'm going to start this piece with a top tip for the over 50s -
If you must walk the entire length of Spurn Point and back again, don't expect to be able to leap in and out of a campervan like a nimble young gazelle. I tried it and sprained my ankle the day after my last post!
I've been hobbling about ever since and although thankfully the ankle is now on the mend this has severely restricted my movements of late. After a trip to A & E to check that nothing was broken the advice I was given was gentle exercise of said ankle and walk on it as best I can - so what did I do? Well I had planned a trip out to the RSPB reserve Bempton Cliffs before I damaged myself and even though my own son astutely pointed out that a stroll along the top of the highest cliffs on the Yorkshire was probably not the brightest of ideas for an invalid I did it anyway. It was maybe stretching the medical advice a tad but I get madder with age and I was desperate to get out in the campervan again ......driving if comfortable to do so was also recommended as good exercise so that was all the excuse I needed!
Suffice to say I struggled and my ankle was killing me after just a few hundred yards but I did mange some reasonable shots of passing Gannets, Auks and Gulls. It really is a wildlife photographer's paradise but I was disappointed not to get more Puffins ... they've suffered recently due to some bad weather events in the North Sea and I do hope these comical creatures recover well and have a good breeding season.
Here's the place then. This is a view looking South towards Flamborough Head.
Gannet
Stacks of Gannets about and some smashing fly past birds at quite close range. This one turned out pretty good!
Kittiwake..... drifting by
There's always been a healthy population of Kittiwakes at Bempton and whilst I'm sure they've declined in numbers over the years along with the rest of the seabirds they certainly seemed to be in abundance on the day I visited. Lovely and gentle looking gulls, rarely seen inland they spend the entire Winter in the Atlantic, they breed on rocky coasts right around the UK and you can tell them from other gulls from their inky black wing tips and of course their distinctive cry from whence they get their name.
Common Gull ...'lazin on a sunny afternoon'
I've said before on this blog that gulls are 'tricky' little things to ID at the best of times, so maybe I can excuse myself for thinking I'd got a nice Kittiwake yawning in the sun, but just as I was processing this pic I realised it was in fact a Common or 'Mew' Gull ... nice all the same. Bloody hell I've only been birding 35 years and still making basic observation errors! Or maybe I'm just going senile, what the hell, it made a nice picture!
Yes it was a lovely sunny day and don't we just deserve this flash of Summer the weather gods have served up for us lately ..lets hope its the real deal and not merely an aperitif! Flowers always look 10 times better in the sun and I was amazed at how many Pink Campions were adorning the cliff edges and surrounding fields ... common they may be but anything that turns the normally bleak landscape of Bempton pink deserves an extra large pic in my blog!
Pink Campions
Onto the Auks then and of course at this time of the year the cliffs are thronging with Guillemots, Puffins and Razorbills and their whirring wings and frantic activity certainly bring in the visitors ... the car park at Bempton was full and the birds here attract more visitors than York City football club!
Really tricky to get good shots of auks in flight because their wings beat so fast and unless one has an ultra fast camera they usually come out as a bit of a blur but here's a reasonable Puffin passing by.
Puffin .. fly past
Oo er, ouch ... is that a razor Bill?
This is really what all the squawking is about of course ..... here's a couple of Razorbills caught on cam. May they all be doing a lot more of it regardless of who's watching (like they care!) ... Auk numbers have declined rapidly over the last few decades, mainly due to marine degradation and subsequent loss of sand eels so all power to the various Wildlife Trust's (and Yorkshire is up there and leading the way) for pursuing the creation of marine conservation areas.
Here's another couple of fine Razorbill specimens, one in flight and one standing proud on the cliff edge.
Razorbill ...fly past
Lone Razorbill standing proud
. Somehow I failed to get a single decent shot of a Guillemot on the day but there'll be another time over the next couple of months or so and I hear that certain spots around Flamborough Head are actually better for getting close up views of Puffins so I'll be beating up there soon for that lucky mouthful of sand eels shot!
Meanwhile here's a parting shot of another beautiful bird on the decline around our shores .. its an ocean going Fulmar, neither an auk or a gull, its a 'tubenose' and a relative of the mystical Albatross.
