Phil Saunders

‘I love midges because I know what their hearts look like’: is the passion for taxonomy in danger of dying out? Insect taxonomist Art Borkent has described and named more than 300 species of midges but fears his field of science is dying out, despite millions of insects, fungi and other organisms waiting to be ...

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Ross’s Gull in Newlyn Harbour

I couldn’t resist another look at this rare gull today (Sun 1st March). Present for its 9th day. I’m sure it has developed more pink in its body plumage? Or maybe it’s just the grey background. Either way, it’s a real stunner and certainly created national interest.

A spot of work up north nicely coincided with the lingering White-billed Diver in Blyth Harbour today - my 1st Bananabill in nearly two decades! Good to see this fabulous bird actively diving & in apparent good health, despite its overgrown upper mandible.

Eastbourne: Many thanks to Harvey for turning up this zinger of a Wheatear at Sovereign Harbour today. What a treat and my first EVER in February. Spring is offically here!

An intricately marked Pale Pinion moth rests at a jaunty angle on the pale wooden inner wall of a moth trap.

Pale Pinion was the NFY highlight amongst a modest 13/6 in the Upton garden trap this morning, with neither numbers or diversity really increasing despite the warming weather #TeamMoth @dorsetmoths.bsky.social

Hey Mick. Yep, digivid from the west end of the Common.

A dirt track runs out to the horizon under a bright blue sky, flanked by wire and post fencing and green agricultural fields, with a row of cottages and a small chapel visible in the distance.

A sniff of spring at a beautiful St Aldhelm's Head this morning, with a smattering of Mipits, wagtails, & thrushes on the move, & most of the local breeders bqck in full song. At least 5 Peacock butterflies were also enjoying the sunshine @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

I finally caught up with the local flock of Glossy Ibis again on Wareham Common this afternoon, having last seen the 10 of them when they 1st turned up back in the autumn, with some today certainly living up to their name in the glorious spring sunshine @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

An intricately patterned brown, black, and off-white coloured Oak Beauty moth rests just off the vertical on the pale inner wooden wall of a moth trap.

A brace of ever-lovely Oak Beauty were NFY amongst the small haul in the Upton garden trap this morning - absolutely stunning creatures #TeamMoth @dorsetmoths.bsky.social

Cheers Cliff! It was basically running around my feet at one point...

The sunshine has just encouraged my 1st Brimstone of the year to flutter past my Upton office window - spring is on its way! @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social

An Early Grey moth rests vertically on a grey-green egg box

Two Common Quakers rest adjacent to one another on the pale wooden floor of a moth trap

A Hebrew Character rests horizontally on the pale wooden outer wall of a moth trap

A Grey Shoulder-knot rests vertically on a grey-green egg box

There've been few opportunities to run the Upton garden trap so far this yr, so the 21/8 recorded this morning during its 2nd outing produced several NFY spp, incl'g a lovely Grey Shoulder-knot, Early Grey, Common Quaker, & Hebrew Character, plus Ypsolopha ustella #TeamMoth @dorsetmoths.bsky.social

Ross's Gulls are the perfect Larid & one of the best birds in the world (as far as I'm concerned anyway), so it was great to take in the rose-tinted 1st winter currently residing in & around Newlyn Harbour this morning, with an Iceland Gull on the Hayle this afternoon the best of the supporting cast

It sure did!

No sign of RB Gull from Lelant Station 1245 to 1410hrs (but pale-eyed Common Gull present) @birdguides.bsky.social

Now showing well on roof of Lidl @birdguides.bsky.social

Ross's Gull showing well in southern end of Newlyn Harbour at 1045hrs @birdguides.bsky.social

Saturday night

Saturday

Monday

Monday

We should see the 1st arrivals in the west tonight, however it's later in the period that looks most promising. There should be a direct airstream from N. Africa from Mon, with Tues & particularly Weds looking promising at this stage, when high concentrations of Saharan dust are possible. #teammoth

An excessively furry, grey, black, and rufous-coloured Fox Moth caterpillar rests horizontally on a grey garden fence, with dead grass stems and green leaves forming a blurred backdrop.

This fabulously furry Fox Moth caterpillar was making the most of the sunshine on my Upton garden fence earlier today #TeamMoth @dorsetmoths.bsky.social

A grassy track on St Aldhelm's Head stretches into the distance on the left of the image, bordered by a wire and post fence, with a yellow and green rough grassland field to the right of the fence, and with a low, dark green, copse visible on the horizon.

Singles of Red Kite & Isle of Wight-tailed Eagle, plus 75 Linnet, were the only notables during a morning wander around St Aldhelm's Head this morning @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

I think it's still there? Definitely worth a look if you enjoy a subdued colour palette! :)

There are few birds better than a Red-flanked Bluetail & the wintering Crockham Hill bird was a typical (& occasionally showy) stunner this morning. Surprisingly only my 2nd in my old home county of Kent, after my first ever on its eastern extent at Bockhill back in my teens, many moons ago...

Distant digishot of a second winter Caspian Gull (left) resting on the edge of a grey mudflat, alongside single adult and second winter Great Black-backed Gulls, with choppy grey water visible behind the birds.

Scrutiny of the Shellness Point (Sandwich Bay) gull roost this morning produced 4 Caspian Gulls (three 1st winters & a 2nd winter) & 3 YL Gulls (two 2nd winters & a lovely adult) amongst the mass of accumulated large gulls on the falling tide @kentishplover.bsky.social

Nice to have an absolute beast of a 1st winter Caspian Gull fly south along the shoreline and then off inland at the end of a fairly humdrum survey at Sandwich Bay this afternoon @kentishplover.bsky.social

A rufous-coloured Ruddy Shelduck, facing right, stands on the edge of tidal mudflats, with blue-brown sea behind.

A rufous-coloured Ruddy Shelduck, facing right, stands on the edge of tidal mudflats, with blue-brown sea behind.

A distant Ruddy Shelduck on the tideline off Cleethorpes seafront this morning, loitering amongst a flock of DB Brents - definitely not a species on my winter bird survey bingo card today!

What looks like a dark morph Lapwing seen at #RSPBGreylake #Somerset this morning. It was very aggressive to any other Lapwing that came to close.

A Snow Goose distantly faces the camera and raises its wings, showing off it's black primary feathers, amongst a flock of larger Whooper Swans, all resting in two neighbouring fields (one green with vegetation, the other mainly mud) set against a backdrop of reeds.

Geese & swans are the quintessential winter birds for me, so it was lovely to catch up with the wintering Snow Goose in Lincs this pm, whilst on route to Humberside for a few days work, even if it was 1km distant in the mizzle amongst a Whooper Swan herd (which also contained at least one Bewick's).

A rare opportunity y'day morning to get out and about in Dorset this winter produced 3 Slav's, 6 BN Grebe, 25 GC Grebes, & 3 GN Diver from Jerry's Point (but sadly no sign of the long-staying RN Grebe), plus a pair of C.Scoter & single BN Grebe & GN Diver off Middle Beach @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

starting the day with a Drakensberg Rockjumper

#WildlifeTravelling in South Africa

The Pacific coast of Costa Rica at Uvita, viewed from the sea, with a small motorboat in the mid distance and rising forested hills in the background, all set against a cloudy tropical sky.

A panorama across the Talamanca Mountains, taken from the summit of Cerro de la Muerte, with paramo-shrouded rocks in the foreground, forested hills in the mid distance, and a cloud-topped mountain ridge in the distance, set against a cloud streaked azure sky.

A view upwards into the Costa Rican oakwood canopy, with huge tree trunks rising up to meet a leafy green canopy, with patches of blue sky visible in between.

Our Wildlife Travel group (on board a small motorboat & all wearing red life jackets) explore the narrow tributaries dissecting the tropical lowland riparian forest in Tortuguero National Park, with towering green palms and other trees bordering a muddy brown channel.

The diverisity of habitats within Costa Rica is staggering, & our @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social group were able to experience a fantastic sample of them, incl'g Pacific coastal waters & seasonal forest, Caribbean lowland forest, mid & high elevation tropical forests, & the fascinating paramo