Monday 26 May 2014

Long-tailed Skua, Hatfield Moor

Long-tailed Skua 1 adult
Turtle Dove 1 displaying and calling
Tree Pipit 1 displaying
Cuckoo 1 calling
Garden Warbler 1 singing

Year: 246 (Long-tailed Skua)

Dragonflies: 4 Hairy Dragonflies, 1 Broad-bodied Chaser, 5 Four-spot Chasers. These were my first Hairy Dragonflies.

Beetles: Green Tiger Beetle

The Long-tailed Skua was both a stunning and remarkable sight, flying around in the middle of the Hartfield Moor NR peat diggings known as Packard South. This is a huge reserve, and it was nearly a 3 mile walk from the car park to where the bird was showing, and yet three quarters of the reserve still stretched away in front of us. At first I thought that it was an odd place to see a Long-tailed Skua, but I suppose that's only if you consider the species from a British point of view as a passage sea bird, but Hatfield Moor is probably quite similar to its breeding grounds.

With a year list of 246, this year is now already my second best year ever and I'm only 13 behind last years record of 259. This time last year I was on 197.











Green Tiger Beetle.

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