Brian Hill

Good morning from Exmoor 💛

“A lovely last lunch at Horner Vale Tea Room as Mike and Janet retire after 42 yrs, and close for their final time Sunday.”
Photos by Adrian Campbell.

UK is well on course for losing Willow Tit, Spotted Flycatcher & Wood Warbler as breeding species in our lifetime. Wood Warbler already virtually gone from England. I think Willow Tit would be first extinction of a resident bird since Capercaillie in 1700s or White-tailed Eagle in 1918. #ornithology

Large&leggy Wheatear Cheddar Res yesterday. Suggestive of Greenland but certainty impossible.
Good cluster of waders. among which Temmincks/Little Stint & Wood Sandpiper #somersetbirding

6 Whinchats West Moor Creech St Michael this morning. Pre-dawn drizzle likely helped. #somersetbirding

3+ Whinchat Grasshopper Warbler 9 Cattle Egrets and Clouded Yellow West Moor Creech St Michael this mng #somersetbirding

Britain has gained a new butterfly!

The long-anticipated arrival of Southern Small White (Pieris mannii) has been confirmed.

Female Brown Hairstreak found by a friend yesterday in his Monkton Heathfield garden.
First for year in Somerset I think.

Spotted Flycatcher catching moths well into twilight. Several bats. 2 Glowworms & Noctilucent Cloud. Must stay up late more often.

Brown Hawker Shapwick Heath. I rarely see them resting.

Fortunate to witness an astonishing spectacle at the beach tonight: tens of thousands of (mainly Small) white butterflies pouring in over the sea, as far as you could see. Pulses of butterflies swept in-off everywhere, an extraordinary sight.
@linnetincley.bsky.social
@norfolknats.bsky.social
1/2

Smart male Purple Hairstreak in Creech just now @rogermusgrove.bsky.social

4 very active Norfolk Hawkers RSPB Greylake today. Reluctant to settle so this photo from a 2017 trip to Norfolk with @rogermusgrove.bsky.social Never expected to see them in Somerset.

Bright Aurora visible Creech St Michael

Cattle Egret. Unremarkable now in Somerset but only my second within walking distance of the house.

Was it that long ago? 🤔

Green Hairstreak Exmoor today. Seem to be a few around this year.

Around 5 fresh Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries zooming around Hurscombe Reserve Exmoor this afternoon.

Single Heath Fritillary Haddon Hill this afternoon @rogermusgrove.bsky.social

A rather special songster kept me company on last night's crake survey at #RSPBLakenheathFen #UKBirding #SuffolkBirding 🪶

Empis tessellata a species of Dance Fly.
And there my knowledge ends. 😀

Small Eggar larvae baling out. Creech St Michael yesterday.

One of the many Sedge Warblers singing with gusto at Greylake this morning #somersetbirding

Indeed Roy. Same to be in every available habitat locally

Shaping up to be an excellent year for Whitethroats and Sedge Warblers near Creech. Double figures for both in one small area. #somersetbirding

Much the same here Steve. Just started trickling in.

Prey includes moths, butterflies and a wide variety of other insects (Mikkola Owls of Europe Poyser 1983)

Whiskered Tern Durleigh favouring distant buoy 3. Good flight views when dark underparts obvious. 3rd record for the Res. #Somersetbirding

Glossy Ibis within 30 feet of Tor Hide Ham Wall this afternoon. 2 Red Kites over. Long stayers at VP1. Ring-necked Duck from Railbridge.
Male Orange Tip. #Somersetbirding

2 of 4 Wheatears Hinkley Point. Early Willow Warbler on nearby Wall Common. #birdingsomerset

Glossy Ibis Ham Wall RSPB. One of the two regulars. #somersetbirding