Portugal

Have just got back from 2 weeks on the Algarve and a report/photos are in prep.  Highlights were 24 species of dragons/damsels and about the same number of butterflies, with quite a few new ones.  the weather was mostly hot and mostly sunny so birds were at a premium, especially raptors but there were plenty of waders in our second week at Laguna Salgados.  This has to be one of the best sites in the area, if only they would leave it alone!! 

12th May 2010

More cold northerly winds but the weather was mostly sunny so did a couple of trips out either side of lunch. After photographing small long horned moths (which I need to identify) at East Runton, a visit to Beeston Common produced my first dragon of the year, a Large Red Damsel as well as Green veined White.

Large Red Damsel

Trimingham in the afternoon was cold but a sheltered patch inside the wood had a couple of very fresh Green Hairstreaks amongst a swarm of St Marks flies, so the lack of birds was slightly compensated for.

Green Hairstreak

The local Swallows look well fed though in the shelter of the hedgerow and there seem to be lots of Blackcaps and Whitethroats around generally, so the birds aren’t all staying put round the Med!

6th-9th May 2010

More cold northerly winds and not much to see, though I did at least get half decent views of the three Temmincks Stints at Cley on 6th. Mothing is chronic with between nil and 6 moths in the trap and there are few butterflies about. The local Early Purple Orchids mostly look a little stunted this year, perhaps as a result of the cold winter (?) and I did manage to find a photographable Orange tip braving the cold, windy conditions. Roll on spring (again)!

Early Purple Orchid and Orange tip

28th/29th April

28th April


One of those days which made me glad to have moved to Norfolk. After a couple of days of steady migration locally, a phone call took me to Sheringham where a fair selection of migrants had arrived including two Ring Ouzels, 50+ Wheatears, several flava wags and odd Garden and Sedge Warblers, Lesser Whitethroats, Whinchats and lots of Whitethroats. The Hoopoe took longer to locate but showed well enough while icing on the cake were the three Common Cranes and two Red Kites which drifted west.

More butterflies are about with Holly Blue, Orange Tip and Speckled Wood seen in the last few days while moths on 28th/20th included two Streamers (our second and third locally) and a Herald.

29th April

Cley was pretty good on my day there with two distant Wood Sands, several Common Sands, Whinchat, two Blue-headed Wags with a few Yellows, more Wheatears and stacks of singing Sedge Warblers. No sign of any groppers though and moths in the trap were quite poor. Flowering Alexanders were attracting a variety of insect life including plenty of St Marks flies and some distinctive wasps (see below) and bees I’ve yet to identify

St Marks Fly and Wasp sp, Cley