Sightings from The Lodge

The Lodge

• Marbled Whites have been recorded from a number of places around the reserve this week, with the first observation of two on Sunday 26th (MG). According to Keith Balmer (Bedfordshire Butterfly Recorder), lots of reports are now coming in. Please report your sightings (of all species) here.

• Both the RSPB and BTO teams have now broken the 1,000 species barrier for the year: btovrspbbirdtrackchallenge2011.blogspot.com

Friday 01 July

• The pair of spotted flycatchers in the nestbox at the gatehouse is feeding at least three young at the moment. (Mark Ward/ Michelle Berry)

• I have a Prionus coriarius (Tanner Beetle) from last night.  Also more beetles new to the Lodge, including a very nice and odd weevil Platystomus albinus.  We are now over 1000 species for the TEAL challenge. (Mark Gurney)

Wednesday 29 June

• Hummingbird hawkmoth on the hollyhocks outside the canteen before whizzing off over the roof (Katie Fuller, Emma Brookman, Rosalind Knight, Lucinda King)

• 11 sp. of butterfly between us this lunchtime, with White-letter Hairstreak, 3 (MAW only), at the Deepdale end of the reserve, plus Purple Hairstreak (2), Ringlet (10+), Brown Argus, Marbled White (15+), Small Skipper (2+) and Large Skipper (3+) nearby. A Crossbill flew over calling (DOM only) (Mark Ward/ Darren Oakley-Martin)

• Hummingbird hawkmoth in flower border to rear of Avocet building at c.11:00. (Mark Ward)

• In amongst the numerous meadow browns were at least 4 small coppers, ringlet and red admiral. Spotted flycatcher by the gate leading to the hillfort/quarry tracks, four-spot chaser and black-tailed skimmer on the meadow in front of the house. Marbled whites out in good numbers over Biggleswade common and surrounding fields. (Ian Hayward)

Tuesday 28 June

• Late-summer Mistle Thrush flocks now forming, with 23 on Sandy Ridge at 14:30. (Darren Oakley-Martin)

The Lodge

    **The new Lodge Wildlife Flickr Group is now live**

www.flickr.com/.../lodgewildlife

Thursday 07 July

• Green sandpiper flying low (maybe flushed from around the swimming pool?) and calling over the gardens, 12.45 pm – first 2011 record on the reserve (Katie Fuller)

Wednesday 06 July

• Hummingbird Hawkmoth in border outside Avocet building at 10:35. (Kevin Middleton)

• Good view of sparrowhawk soaring over House / Stable block 8.58 am. (Chris Magin)

Tuesday 05 July

• Brown Hawker on ivy outside Avocet building at 16:30. (Darren Oakley-Martin)

• Marbled white on the lawn outside Avocet building (Katie Fuller, Andy Westley)

• Three Common Terns west over the gardens at 15:35; c.35 Swifts over the quarry/ Ivel Valley. (Darren Oakley-Martin)

• Marbled white, 2 small coppers and emperor dragonfly in the flower border by the swimming pool. (Ian Hayward)

Monday 04 July

• Painted Lady on the plateau at 13:00. (Darren Oakley-Martin)

• Up to four swifts screaming around Avocet block close to upstairs windows, early afternoon. (Chris Magin)

The Lodge

Friday 15 July

• Low level purple hairstreaks across the lawn and posing in a six foot conifer on the lawn yesterday and one (the same possibly) along, and in, the box hedge outside HR today; up to 25 red admirals on the buddleias this week, plus painted lady, 6 peacocks and small tortoisheshell.(Mark Ward)

• One Yellow Wagtail south over the fuel dump at 8am this morning. (Steve Blain) This is the 128th (bird) species on or from the reserve this year: btovrspbbirdtrackchallenge2011.blogspot.com

• Wren feeding young in gardeners’ open fronted shed at the gatehouse. (Val Tingey)

• Once again, a pair of oystercatchers probing in the grass of the caravan field below the Lodge this morning. Such a sight would have been unthinkable even five years ago, but judging by the peeping oyc traffic overhead in Sandy this year, they seem to have become a phenomenal breeding success in this part of the Ivel Valley. (Derek Niemann)

Thursday 14 July

• Brown argus on the new heath [today] and up to 7 small skippers on the shop lavender early in the week. (Mark Ward)

• Painted Lady on Buddleia at front of House building at lunchtime (Jamie Wells)

• My first Common Darter of the year at plantation ponds and a very nice Buff Arches moth in Osprey porch. (Nigel Willits)

Wednesday 13 July

• c.15 Crossbills over the new heath. (Andy Schofield)

• 24 Mistle Thrushes on Sandy Ridge at 06:00. (Darren Oakley-Martin)

Tuesday 12 July

• Hummingbird hawk moth at the buddleias outside the house on Tuesday. (Mark Ward)

Monday 11 July

• Poplar Hawk-moth on Finance walls (Adam Bassett, Jamie Wells)

• Male and female Banded Demoiselles at Jack’s Pond, male and egg-laying female Emperor dragonflies at swimming pool, Brown Hawker on the slope above Jack’s. Poplar Hawkmoth on Finance. (Nigel Willits)

• 5 hobbies over the Gatehouse [at lunchtime today], likely to be the family that have been nesting on new heath! (Mark Brandon)

• 1+ Crossbill(s) (heard only) over gardens/ Osprey building at 13:00. (Darren Oakley-Martin)

• Cormorant beside the lake between the bottom of the reserve and Biggleswade Common on Saturday. (Adam Marek)

50 Years ago (1961) The RSPB moved its Headquarters to The Lodge in Sandy Bedfordshire.

The Bedfordshire Bird Club July 2011 newsletter contains some great information from the summer on 1961.

50 Years ago (July and August 1961)

A Sparrowhawk at Flitwick Moor on the 1st of July was the first record of the year! A pair of Red-backed shrikes nested at Skimpot CIP, Blows Downs and produced two young. A collared Dove at Stagsden on the 9th August was the first county record.

25 Years ago (July and August 1986)

A good year for the Quail with up to four recorded at Galley Hill in July and August as well as records from several other sites. A Wryneck was in a garden at Ravensden on the 30th and 31st of August. Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers were reported from 23 locations.

                                                                                                                                                         - Dave Kramer

The Lodge

Friday 22 July

• Pair of Spotted Flycatchers feeding chicks (at least 2) at a nest along the driveway. (Nigel Willits)

• Volucella zonaria (hornet hoverfly mimic) busy in the border outside this morning. (Mark Ward)

Thursday 21 July

• Hummingbird hawk-moth yesterday in the border outside Avocet building, plus the same or another whizzing across the quarry car park after work. (Mark Ward)

• Three Little Owls on fence at Deepdale crossroads this morning. (Darren Oakley-Martin)

Tuesday 19 July

• Gatehouse: Brown-tail, Volucella pellucens, Red Admiral, Peacock, Small Skipper, Brown Argus and Meadow Brown. Outside canteen: Six-spot Burnet (first record on MapMate!), Red Admiral and Peacock. (James Clark)

• Hummingbird hawk-moth on the lavender outside the shop this lunchtime. (Mark Brandon)

• 56 Mistle Thrushes on Sandy Ridge at 06:00 - an increase of ~30 birds over the last week. (Darren Oakley-Martin). Previous years’ largest flocks have been:

2009: 39, Sandy Ridge on August 21st

2008: 80, The Lodge (new heath) on August 28th

2007: 34, Sandy Ridge on August 24th

2006: 35, Sandy Heath on September 12th

2005: 30, Sandy Heath on June 26th

• (09.30 - 11.45, warm & cloudy, with rain forecast). Firstly, a Buzzard high on a perch on the right hand side, on the Carthagena Road towards Deepdale, en route to the RSPB.  It is quite often  around this area so I always slow down to check, just before the 'Greensands' entrance on the right & OK to stop on the grass verge. Walked along the trail by the Sandy Warren, down where towards the sign to the Quarry, Great Spotted Woodpecker & Green Woodpecker both sighted and calling.  Wondered if the wet weather had brought out the insects to attract these as throughout the walk they were around. Continued up towards the Hillfort, nothing else much around, except the call of the wren. Following along the road trail from the Hillfort an abundance of assorted bees on the thistles plus we believe we saw a 'robber fly' . Only 2 species butterflies - meadow brown & gatekeeper - probably due to the weather conditions. Along the route near the rosebay willow herb a whitethroat was sighted.  We continued towards the hide, but only chaffinch, great tits, a great spotted woodpecker and dunnock were viewed. Early afternoon,(13.30h)  a sparrowhawk was near the hide area - thus no small birds around. A walk from the gardens towards the heath, a young Jay was spotted on old tree. Outside the reserve by the man-made lake- one heron sat by the tree. (Jan Murphy)

Monday 18 July

• Single Crossbill in pines to south of Avocet carpark at 10:40. The Crossbill reporting rate graph here (Darren Oakley-Martin)

Saturday 16 July

• Between 07:15 - 09:15 (Sandy Ridge/ The Lodge) during intermittent drizzle, a precursor to heavier rainfall: Swift 395 SW (largest flocks 120, 90, 70), Swallow 53 SW; also Sparrowhawk (m) carrying prey over meadow towards new heath. (Darren Oakley-Martin)

Friday 15 July

• Little Owl sat on the new reserve sign at Deepdale crossroads [this] evening. (Mark Gurney)

The Lodge

With the addition of Ring-necked Parakeet and Nightjar, The Lodge year list moves to a very respectable 130: btovrspbbirdtrackchallenge2011.blogspot.com  The BTO remain one species ahead, but we have several ‘manageable’ ticks to come: Yellow-legged Gull, Common Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Greenshank etc...

Thursday 28 July

• Probable silver-washed fritillary flew past at the HR building at rapid speed; fresh purple hairstreak showing very well on bracken near to the information hut; tree bumblebee nectaring on lavender at the gatehouse; pair of hobbies catching dragonflies over the new heath; calling crossbill/s (unseen) at the bottom of the quarry trail and in the gardens. (Mark Ward/ Darren Oakley-Martin/ Lloyd Scott)

• Common lizard darting to cover from the footpath on the heath; at least 5 small copper butterflies also on the heath and a banded demoiselle flying around by the upper pond. (Charlie Butt)

• 5 buzzards circling over Sandy Warren 11am. (Peter Bradley)

Wednesday 27 July

• Good view of uncharacteristically slow hobby cruising along New Heath parallel to Potton – Sandy road. 1.15 pm. (Chris Magin)

Tuesday 26 July

• Dusky Sallow and Clouded Border on west end of Osprey. (Nigel Willits)

Monday 25 July

• A ring-necked parakeet over the gatehouse heading towards the Lodge this morning. (Andy Schofield)

• Juveniles of both Hobby and Cuckoo on the new heath early this morning. (Darren Oakley-Martin)

• I startled a hummingbird hawk moth by the stone bird bath in the long pond. It was apparently sitting on the paving slabs, presumably basking, and only took off on my close approach. I’ve not seen one do that before, but it would have been really hard to see against the stone – that’s my excuse for why I didn’t see it until it was about six inches of the ground, anyway. (Sarah Niemann)

• Brown Hawker egg-laying at swimming pool, Southern Hawker laying at Jack’s, and Ruddy Darter pair laying at plantation ponds. (Nigel Willits)

• 8 Crossbills over the old heath this afternoon. (Steve Blain)

Sunday 24 July

• Nightjar on new heath this evening, but no sign subsequently or the following morning. (Graham Wilton-Jones)

The Lodge

Thursday 6 October

• 1.30 pm: a two foot grass snake (length, not limbs) slithered across path between hide and gatehouse. (Chris Magin, Alex Hipkiss, Sarah Sanders)

Wednesday 5 October

• Red kite over Avocet carpark and building, mobbed by two corvids 11.22 am (Chris Magin)

• Visible migration (new heath, 07:05-08:35), moving birds only, predominantly south-west:

 Meadow Pipit, 67

 Grey Wagtail, 1

 Siskin, 34

 Chaffinch, 6

 redpoll sp, 3 (blogging)

 alba wagtail, 1

 Sand Martin, 3

 Skylark, 6

 Goldfinch, 1>S

 Swallow, 3

 House Martin, 2

 Redwing, 3

 Yellowhammer, 5>W

135 individuals of 13 species. (Guy Anderson/ Darren Oakley-Martin)

Tuesday 4 October

• Saw a weasel in the Memorial garden carrying off a dead great tit at about 12.15 today. (Evelyn Johnson)

Monday 3 October

• Merveille du Jour on Osprey (above the bike shed), plus Angle Shades, Brindled Green and Silver Y. (Jamie Wells)

Friday 30 September

• The Sallow and The Snout. (Jamie Wells)

• Hummingbird hawk-moth outside the canteen, c10:15. (Phil Burfield)

Thursday 29 September

• Dusky Lemon Sallow (and still 30 Sept), Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing & Least Carpet. (Jamie Wells)

Tuesday 27 September

• Grey Shoulder-knot & Treble bar. (Jamie Wells)

The Lodge

Friday 28 October

• Osprey seen again near Stratford Road this lunchtime by a number of staff members. (pers.comm. Barrie Cooper)

• Stoat on the strawberry tree behind the Film Unit, late lunchtime today. (Mike Pinhorn)

• 2 ravens on the pylon on Sandy ridge trail at 13:15. (Anne Harley)

• Raven east over the gardens, displaying, at 12:55. (Richard Gregory)

• Good movement of woodpigeons south-west over the plateau early morning. Flocks totalling c420 birds seen during casual observations - no doubt many more would have been recorded by a proper ‘vis mig’ watch; grey wagtail in the gardens. (Mark Ward)

Thursday 27 October

• Brambling SW over the hillfort at c.08:00 was the highlight of a damp, miserable vis-mig watch this morning. (Guy Anderson/ Darren Oakley-Martin)

Wednesday 26 October

• Osprey viewed south-west from the plateau mid-pm for c10 minutes fishing over pits on the east side of the A1 – last seen heading south over the north end of Biggleswade. (Mark Ward)

• One woodcock flushed from near Jack’s Pond; flew off and hid near the hide. (Dave Buckingham) [1st recorded here of the autumn]

• Unringed Firecrest with large mixed flock (mainly Coal Tits and Goldcrests) at 11;30; also three Bullfinch and several Crossbills. (Andy Schofield)

Tuesday 25 October

• Two Crossbills calling over Avocet carpark and alighted in pines at 15:00. (Darren Oakley-Martin)

• Crossbill in the Hill Fort area; tree bumblebee nectaring on a tree in the gardens. (Mark Ward)

• Large wainscot and up to three merveille du jour on the walls. (several observers)

• 6 Red Admirals in Memorial garden at 13.20, 2 sunbathing & 4 nectaring on ivy also 1 Comma, 1 Hornet & 1 wasp. (Peter Almond)

• Osprey again sat in a tree near the Hill Fort at around 11:30. (Andy Schofield)

• 09.30- 11.30 Weather warm, blue skies, few clouds & no wind. Overflow Car park crossbills heard but not seen but mistle thrush  & greenfinch sighted high on the tree. Green woodpecker sighted flying over. Across the road on the new heath, fieldfare & redwing in old larch but then sparrowhawk spooked them. Great spotted woodpecker seen too   Long-tailed tits flew above us on trees by road. Ventured towards hide but only great tit & chaffinch & great spotted woodpecker around feeders or on ground. Continued along the meadow trail and then towards the Hillfort hoping to see the Woodlark, but not around. Other sightings included a kestrel flying high above. (Jan Murphy)

Monday 24 October

• Merlin (probable male) chasing finches over the pine belt on the new heath at 07:35 this morning, before heading off towards Woodcock Covert/ Sandy Heath. (Darren Oakley-Martin)

Sunday 23 October

• Firecrest trapped and ringed in the gardens during ringing demo in the gardens this afternoon. (Guy Anderson et al)

• Osprey again in a dead tree eating a fish on the new heath at The Lodge this morning and subsequently seen in flight on a number of occasions. If flew off towards Warren Villas at around 11am. (Colin Campbell/ Tony Payne)

• Black Redstart on the roof of the Avocet building intermittently during the afternoon. (Tony Payne) [1st of the year]

• Results of our watch at The Lodge for the Bedfordshire BIGmig morning were as follows. (Passage mainly SW/ W, moving birds only, 07:15-10:00)

 Crossbill, <12

 Starling, 220

 Redwing, 220

 Chaffinch, 64

 Bullfinch, 3

 Yellowhammer, 3

 Reed Bunting, 1

 Linnet, 8

 Fieldfare, 78

 Greenfinch, 27

 alba wagtail, 2

 Brambling, 4

 Meadow Pipit, 7

 Goldfinch, 2

 [Lesser] Redpoll, 1 (+ blogging birds)

 Siskin, 1 (+ blogging birds)

 Wood Pigeon, 250

 Skylark, 11

 Blackbird, 1

 Song Thrush, 1

 (Woodlark, 2)

 (Raven, 2)

(922 individuals of 22 species)

(Richard Bashford/ Darren Oakley-Martin)