Another few drops of snow

We are past the middle of February, the snowdrops are out and the weather is said to be warming up.

Lesser celandine are blooming, birds are singing all over the place. Avocet have been seen back in Lancashire at Leighton Moss, Marshside and Martin Mere. Raven are nesting in Warton Crag. The Bittern has started booming (February 12th) Spring is definitely in the air.

Yesterday a chough was seen and photographed at Warton Crag, although I missed it by 10 minutes.

Orkney interlude

My wife and I visited Orkney for the first time this September. We accompanied our daughter who had come over from New Zealand to attend her brother's wedding.

Although we only spent two nights there we found it to be a destination we have to re-visit. There are many amazing places there including Skara Brae, a neolithic village over 5000 years old, and the Circle of Brodgar, a stone circle to rival Stonehenge. These sites coupled with the wildlife and local produce such as Highland Park Single Malt Whisky and Orkney Dark Island draught beer make the Orkney Islands truly wonderful

Wedding

Our son was married at Preston Registry Office on Friday 14th September followed by an informal family meal at the Calderbank Country Hotel, Oakenclough. The day afterwards, Saturday September 15th, the blessing took place at St Lawrence Church, Barton. The reception was held at Tino's Restaurant in Preston.

Friends and family came from Wales, Scotland, USA and New Zealand to celebrate the happy event. The photograph shows the bride and groom with both sets of parents.

August wildlife

This beauty was one of the wildlife highlights seen during a hectic August at Leighton Moss RSPB reserve.
During the first week we saw an amazing Grayling butterfly as we stopped for lunch at the Pepperpot in Eaves Wood, Silverdale. It was perfectly camouflaged but moved for a split second giving away its position against the limestone where it was hiding.
The second week saw a group of young people enjoying a "Wildlife Discovery Week" which included osprey, marsh harrier and various species of moths as well as learning about the plight of the Sumatran Rainforest
The third week included sightings of 18 little egrets, three spoonbills, an osprey successfully fishing and the kingfisher in the photograph. We also saw stoat and at least ten species of butterfly together with common darter, black darter southern hawker and migrant hawker dragonflies.
The last week was capped off by some magnificent views of red deer and the visit of a great white egret to the Eric Morecambe complex

Butterfly search

This was one of the butterflies seen last week during the brief spell of good weather. Searching for them around Gait Barrows NNR and Arnside Knott we saw Gatekeeper (above) High Brown Fritillary, Brimstone, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood, Scotch Argus and Ringlet.

RAIN

This has been the view from my window for over FOUR weeks now. Any attempts to enjoy spring or summer have been thwarted by the current spell of wet weather.
I have seen virtually no birds, butterflies or dragonflies. The moth trap at the nature reserve where I work on a volunteer basis is out of order.
I went on a deer watch last night and it was actually fine with sunny periods. We managed to see at least eight Red Deer as well as one female and two juvenile Marsh Harriers and a common sandpiper.
It is raining again today so I have done some ironing and am settling down to watch the golf from Loch Lomond on TV - roll on winter.

Dragons abound

This is a female Black-tailed Skimmer dragonfly. It was flying around on Arnside Knot a couple of weeks ago.

There is currently a survey of dragonflies and damselflies in progress in Lancashire and Greater Manchester which will continue until the end of 2009.

This lovely thing will not be recorded as she was in Cumbria - just outside the recording area.

Anyone in Lancashire or Greater Manchester can take part. Simply click on the link "Dragonfly Atlas Project" which will take you to the website then click on "Taking Part"