Owen's Wildlife 2025 (2 Viewers)

[Muppit17]

A few of the insects, Vagrant Emperor was everywhere and was a new one for me

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False Mallow Skipper and common tiger blue were my two new butterflies. someone on inaturalist has suggested Desert White for some photos but i cant find a good range map

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I wish I'd seen Copper Demoiselle closer

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Some amazing locusts and lots of striped hawkmoth

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Desert white (Desert Bath White) is very rare in Morocco and difficult to tell from Bath White, except in the second generation and the reduced under hindwing markings. Generally south of the Anti-Atlas but no confirmed records since 2005-2006. The best resource for Butterflies is "Les Papillons de Jour du Maroc" by J-P Peltier. All in French but a digital publication. The rains this year could mean it is possible but very difficult to identify - easier with second generation.

I think your hopper is Tiguana insignis

 

[Owene]

Desert white (Desert Bath White) is very rare in Morocco and difficult to tell from Bath White, except in the second generation and the reduced under hindwing markings. Generally south of the Anti-Atlas but no confirmed records since 2005-2006. The best resource for Butterflies is "Les Papillons de Jour du Maroc" by J-P Peltier. All in French but a digital publication. The rains this year could mean it is possible but very difficult to identify - easier with second generation.

I think your hopper is Tiguana insignis

Yeah. I think my photo is a worn/weird bath white with an unusual yellow tone. I’m usually quite tick happy but can’t find anything online suggesting desert white is likely to be there.

Yes I have the grasshopper down as tuarega insignia on igoterra. Massive squat thing

 

[Owene]

March 20th

Set out today hoping for Willow Tit and a few additions to the 2025 photographed list. Was a bit disappointed when i got to the feeders at the willow tit site and saw they hadn't been filled for a while but a nice singing wren photo did make up for it slightly. Decided to do a circuit of the site anyway even though almost all the sightings are at the feeders and eventually lucked out with two calling birds. Thankfully the call is one that always sticks in my head. Not the easiest bird and glad to get it.

A nice walk in a nearby saltmarsh site that was new to me didn't provide any Water Pipit but did have a very aggressive female Peregrine going at first a marsh harrier then a bunch of crows. Lovely to watch.

Back home to cardiff and some Sand Martins were taking an interest in last years nest holes.

234 Willow Tit
235 Sand Martin
16 Brimstone

Birds 235 photographed 161 Butterflies 16 Mammals 10 Herp 6

 

[Owene]

Enjoyable day in somerset, bitterns booming constantly but not showing so I guess I have an excuse to go back. Added a few new photos including surprisingly Redwing which i thought would have to wait until the autumn and Garganey to the year list (and Spotted Redshank for the uk) even if it was largely asleep. It only moved once in the 3 hours I was on viewing platform one to go a little further into the reeds. Ham Wall is one of my favourite places and one of the few places I'd be happy to just stand for that long.

Home via Cheddar Reservoir (and a lot of badly signposted diversions.) Five little gulls stayed firmly mid reservoir with any attempt to get closer to them turning out to be exactly the same distance away. A surprisingly big body of water as anyone who has been there will attest. Still great to watch them fly, one of my favourite species.

The Black necked Grebes I saw back in january had really come on and it was great to spend some more time watching them. Not quite breeding plumage but stunning.

236 Garganey
237 Little Gull






.

 

[Owene]

Family visit to the Gower had time for a little birding. Some Chough on the cliffs, scoter on the bay. Couldn't quite turn some quick bins views on choppy seas into something tickable on Red Throated Diver. Did get a raft of Kittiwake through the window while my daughter played the 2p coin pusher and there was a whole Welsh tick on the way home in the form of an Egyptian Goose on a cardiff lake. You would not believe the interest in that bird as it has toured cardiff parks and lakes of late. Catching up with it at Lamby Lake meant a nailed on year tick of Brown Rat too.

Having revived my flickr account in the last day or so I've found I've been really underestimating my photographed species count. 250 might be doable.

238 Kittiwake
239 Egyptian Goose Welsh/glamorgan tick
11 Brown Rat

Birds 239 Photographed 177

 

[Owene]

Spent the best part of the day around cardiff bay and bute park. Very enjoyable birding all around, nice lunch and a couple of extra photos but just the one addition to the list is a bird I've heard a lot this year but not seen until now.

240 Green Woodpecker

 

[Owene]

Was all set to be quite a domestic day but got everything done early then Clark griswold formerly of these parts texted to say he had ring ouzel at an upland site. I’d been planning on visiting in a week or so but decided to try this afternoon instead.

Ended up being quite a profitable visit to bannau brycheiniog. Ring ouzel took a while but eventually showed high above the track, goshawk while driving past a known forestry site and finally getting dipper after a few earlier goes. Throw in a British year tick willow warbler yesterday and it’s been a good few days. Still no wheatear though.

241 goshawk+
242 ring ouzel
243 dipper

 

[Owene]

Quick visit to the beach as we had proper warmth and sun for the first time. Quite a bit of butterfly activity including my first

17 speckled wood

 

[Owene]

18 holly blue. Through the window at work.

 

[Owene]

My wife wanted to visit some Dark skies sites in the beacons which in turn brought my first identifiable bats of the year as well as a uk year tick of Northern wheatear

12 pipistrelle
13 noctule

 

[Owene]

Lovely sunny visit to Goldcliff lagoons. Which coincided with quite a few people having a similar idea, a lot of friendly birders today. Sunshine aside I think the crowds had mainly been drawn by a garganey and despite it not being a year tick it was fun to watch, very actively feeding unlike the sleepy one i saw in somerset.

I missed out on a Yellow Wagtail, not the easiest bird near me, but had a great time enjoying the decent numbers of butterflies, Peacocks were especially numerous and large numbers of gorgeously red Black Tailed Godwits that looked really stunning.

244 Pink Footed Goose
245 Knot
19 Peacock






Birds 245 Photographed 185

 

[Owene]

Birding wise the only thing I did today was miss out on patch rarity Little Ringed Plovers, but an afternoon walk brought 5 butterfly species including my first

20 Comma

 

[Owene]

Popped onto the Blorenge after work. Probably a bit early for most target species but did manage a redstart and
21 orange tip

 

[Owene]

Quite a bit of birding this week that mainly got British sightings of birds I'd listed in Morocco; an osprey two streets from my house was probably the highlight. Today I managed to catch up with a few migrants that I didn't see earlier in Africa with a sunny walk about RSPB uskmouth in Newport providing some warblers (and a heard only cuckoo and Bittern) and Rudry common north of Cardiff a lot of song flighting Tree pipits.

A family birthday means I'll be spending the weekend in the Cotswold Water Park, maybe a few ducks to add to the list then I have a week off work before we head to Lesvos for a week.

246 Sedge Warbler
247 Common Whitethroat
248 Tree Pipit

Birds 248 Photographed 190

 

[Owene]

Staying for the weekend in Cotswold water park for my brother in laws birthday, very pleasant, albeit very sanitised and manicured.

Popped out for a bit just down the road to twitchers gate to year tick red crested pochard. Just a screen looking over a large and largely inaccessible lake but managed to find a single duck on the far side as well as a few cranes. Booming bitterns were a nice soundtrack.

Some helpful local birders pointed me towards a grasshopper warbler a few lakes away. Easy enough to find the right brambles and the slightest of movement inside the bushes provided a possibly fraudulent tick

14 rabbit
249 red crested pochard
250 grasshopper warbler

 

[Owene]

A rarity today. My wife joined me for a twitch. Albeit one that was only 20 minutes from our weekends accommodation.

A very nice little reserve that has had a lesser scaup for the last few weeks. Took quite a few scans through the tufties to nail it down but got it in the end

251 lesser scaup

 

[Owene]

Back home and looking at the weather it seemed that today was the one chance to get some birding in this week so an early start and headed down to Somerset to see the Whiskered Tern at Dursleigh Reservoir. Like most things in the last few days a little distant for photos but watching it feed was briliant. Marsh Terns are probably my all time favourite group of birds and while Whiskered isn't up there with White Winged for me it was still an absolute stunner and as so often being able to concentrate on a lone bird and really take it in added to the enjoyment.

Home via a few hours at Ham Wall where I did a good job of finally seeing my heard only birds for the year. Brief flight views of a bittern, a largely obscured cuckoo and in the end I decided to give it as long as it took to see a reed warbler in the uk, about 15 minutes at the pond-dipping pond by the carpark eventually got one scurrying from singing perch to singing perch. Leaves me with just Tawny Owl on the heard onlys.

Very brief Garden Warbler views too. Not been a great few days for photos but some useful ticks.

252 Whiskered Tern +
253 Garden Warbler
254 Cuckoo
255 Bittern

 

[Owene]

As I said photos aren't great but some record shots anyway

 

[Owene]

On our way to Stanstead for a family holiday. Large herd of
15 fallow deer

 

[Owene]

My first day in Greece, the plane was packed with birders (and my daughter noted no children). Incidental birds from the airport to the apartment include
256 Dalmatian pelican +
257 hooded crow (are we still counting those)

And the apartment garden has at least 3
258 nightingale +

Couple of new butterflies in the garden but none settled yet