I thought I’d get a sightings blog in today before the weather totally changes and the rain and wind takes over! Firstly I have seen loads of speckled wood butterflies fluttering about this week whilst walking amongst the birch trees! These butterflies feed on honeydew in tree tops and are only rarely seen feeding on flowers, hence why they are named speckled ‘wood’ butterfly as they favour woodlands. I was shown how to look out for orange-tip butterfly eggs the other day which was amazing! You have to look really carefully for the tiny orange blobs stuck to garlic mustard stems. The orange-tip butterfly will only lay one egg per plant as well so you have to look really carefully! These can be seen (with keen eyes!) opposite the feeder screens along the discovery trail.
Speckled wood butterfly – Alan Kelly
There have been regular sightings of swallows, sand martins and swifts again this week, with over 20 swifts counted at big hole. I was lucky to see a few common terns fishing this week opposite Charlie’s hide which was quite a lovely spectacle. I used to think these were quite similar to black-headed gulls from a distance but now I can see they are far more elegant flyers and are easy to distinguish from their forked out tails and high pitched (less repetitive!) call. Whitethroats, blackcaps, chiffchaff and garden warbler are all still singing merrily away. We are hoping to get our televisions back as soon as possible so we can catch some nesting action, especially from our star blue tit! Mallard chicks can now be seen taking their first cautious dips in the water; impossible not to feel happy watching that classic slight of mummy duck and a host of chicks struggling to keep up behind her!
Common tern flying – David Tipling (RSPB-images)
I feel it is worth noting what an amazing moth collection we have here at Fairburn! Our assistant warden has been setting out moth traps most nights this week and every morning I’ve been blown away by the variety and beauty of these creatures! With poplar hawkmoths, iron prominent, white ermine, flame shoulder, common quakers and probably my favourite name green carpet moths! I am thoroughly enjoying learning all these moths, it’s definitely worth investing in a moth book to see all the great types we get around Fairburn... oh and don’t forget we have ‘meet the moth’ sessions here at Fairburn if you fancied dropping by for a look at what we’ve caught in the moth trap!
White ermine
Whilst changing bins outside the centre I was taken completely by surprise as I heard my first cuckoo of the year! I was both happy and sad at this fact as I remembered that old wives tale where the task you’re doing when you hear your first cuckoo of the year is supposedly what you’ll be doing for the next 12 months! So I am now refusing to do anymore bins! I was not the only one to hear the cuckoo this week judging by our sightings book, as a few other people were lucky to hear the classic cuckoo call around the visitor centre. It is considered to be either unlucky or lucky to see a cuckoo depending on what superstitions you believe in, but judging by their scarcity I would definitely consider it lucky!
Cuckoo – John Bridges (RSPB-images)
A male sparrowhawk was seen by pickup hide yesterday feasting his eyes on the garden birds on our feeders. To me these look like pretty menacing birds mainly because of their bright wide yellow eyes and long talons for catching prey! Kestrels have been seen over big hole this week and I also saw one on cut lane near to Fairburn village. I could literally spend ages transfixed watching these birds! A kestrel’s ability to keep its head perfectly still whilst hovering patiently above a potential catch is an awesome sight to behold. Kestrels were sadly on the decline because of farming changes but they are slowly starting to adapt to more urban environments and can quite often be seen hovering over a verge on a busy road. Nests of great crested grebes and lapwings have all been seen this last week so hopefully we’ll be seeing some extra additions to our wonderful Fairburn bird collection very soon!
Sparrowhawk – Ben Hall (RSPB-images)