Browse by Tags

The warm weather this week has meant that the grassy verges around the site have been humming with insect life. Lots of butterflies (brown hairstreaks, gatekeepers, meadow browns, small coppers, whites, red admirals, common blue etc), and of course grasshoppers and crickets. Below is a speckled bush...

Drake garganey still present on north brooks today (best seen from hanger viewpoint or Nettley's hide) though apparently disappears for long periods! Hobbies have been hunting over the brooks in the last couple of days - again the best place to watch this aerial display has been the hanger. Nightingales...

A look around the heath ('the triangle') this morning reminded me of why this habitat is so fascinating - saw plenty of Agelena labyrinthica (see photo), waiting in their funnels in the heather, and the place was alive wtih grasshoppers, hoverflies and various other insects. Much of the heather...

Need I say more? Possibly not, but just in case anyone was in any doubt I have finally seen the spotted flycatchers who have been nesting in the woodland above Jupp's View. A good view as well, not just a fleeting glimpse - needless to say I returned to the visitor centre with a happy smile! But...

Forgive me the title, but I just couldn't resist it. I've been out and about exploring the heathland trail over the last couple of days and the dragons and tigers bit is apt - I will just have to replace the bears with the similar-sized Highland cows. Reports of a spotted flycatcher out on...

At this time of year I always seem to struggle with the dilemma of what to look out for when out and about exploring; do I look closer to the ground and find butterflies and dragonflies, or do I stick to the skies and tops of bushes and find the birds. Very tricky indeed. Up until now, the choice has...

Spring continues to deliver it's 'firsts of 2011'. Anna saw the first swifts of the yr today - right on cue for the 28th April. A few sand martins and house martins were also 'high up' passing through. Low down, on the heath where I was checking the highland cattle, there were some...

A few very warm days this week and the reserve is humming with life - butterflies, dragonflies, grasshoppers, crickets, hoverflies, bugs, beetles and innumerable other beasties can be encountered around the trail. The two photos that I posted on the gallery today are of a short-cloaked moth, a tiny but...

A warm day yesterday brought a lof dragonflies and damselflies out - there were broad-bodied chasers zooming about the pond in front of the visitor centre and there were plenty damselflies along the public footpath on the edge of the north brooks. I found this beautiful demoiselle where the footpath...