30 Days Wild:Day 11 - The Chimney Sweeper, the Damsel & The Colony Of Gulls

  I couldn't think of a good title so I have the above though it does sound like some fantasy adventure movie where the Chimney Sweeper saves the Damsel from the evil land of the Gulls ;)

  Anyways, I thought I would have the whole day to get out somewhere but it turned out to be a few hours of work first (til 3pm) so had to think of somewhere nearby to pop into for a "wild" walk.

  As we were near Lincoln we decided on the Whisby Nature Park.The first thing you hear once you get past the visitor centre is the deafening sound of the Black-headed Gull colony.I gave up counting Gulls once I got past 600 lol with around 50% of them chicks.

  

  Some strange new species were being hatched like this Push-Me-Pull-You Gull ;)

  A quick check of the feeding station only produced a couple of Great Tits but also this Brown Rat.I know some people don't like them but I think they're kind of cute :)

  I stood watching and enjoying been serenaded by this Robin.

  The hedgerows and ditch vegetation were alive with hundreds of Damselflies, Moths, Bees and Dragonflies.

 Chimney Sweeper Moth

  Common Blue Damselflies(photos by Majella Fox)

  Large Red Damselfly(photo by Majella Fox)

  Female Black-tailed Skimmer

  Bee watching(photos by Majella Fox)

  Somehow among the Gull colony that had pretty much taken over the islands and the rafts, Common Terns were still managing to breed among the mayhem.

  I also saw Bullfinches, heard a Blackcap(even with my limited hearing) as it was that close but could still not see it through the foliage and a couple of Song Thrushes.

  If you are ever around the Lincoln area then its a great place to check out.You can easily spend the whole day there with such a massive area to explore and it's a good place to see and hear Nightingales.We didn't see them this time but have done on previous visits.

http://www.naturalworldcentre.co.uk/

  Thanks for staying with us til Day 11 and reading and looking at the photos.Lots more to come.

30 Days Wild: Day 10 - Babies Day Out

   
                                                           



  It is going to be a pretty quick blog tonight as unfortunately I'm suffering from a lot of pain so plenty of painkillers later and I need my bed lol
  A busy day with work today so on the way home we were coming past the entrance to Far Ings Nature Reserve so just popped in to the car park for 20 minutes.
  A minute after leaving the car we were surrounded by babies, Canada Geese Goslings.There were ten of them and they were quite happy to come check us out for food.

  There were also 100+ Greylag Geese on the lagoon as well as Black-headed Gulls and a pair of Common terns.
Greylag Geese(photo by Majella Fox)

  The mist and rain starting to arrive over the reserve.

  On the nearby grass, protected by wire fences to prevent people and geese trampling them were stunning groups of Bee Orchids.The first ones I have seen this year.

  A newly fledged Great Tit was sat on the feeding station calling for its parents attention to fetch it some food.

  Just after we left the heavens opened making the drive home a bit more interesting.Hopefully I will have a bit less pain and more time over the weekend to be out connecting with Nature.
  Hope you all have a great weekend and have fun outdoors.