A Brit abroad

Feeling autumnal

An exceptional number of rare birds have shown up all over the country over the last week, but frustratingly work and yet another wedding have prevented me from getting out to the coast. The most excitement I've had since the raptor movement was this Spotted Flycatcher, seen from my kitchen window, and an obvious migrant in a city centre garden.

I decided to wander down to Grantchester Meadows in the hope of more passerine migrants, but the best I could muster was a few Chiffchaffs in with the local flocks of Long-tailed Tits.

This male Common Darter was still cold enough to be approachable.

Let's hope I can get out a bit more in October!

Attack of the parasitoids!

The cocoons attached to our unfortunate Harlequins have hatched into adult parasitoids Dinocampus coccinellae. Given their short lifespan, they waste no time in finding new hosts to oviposit into. In a moment of frivolity, I created a movie and slideshow of Dinocampus on the rampage - enjoy!

Cambs raptor madness continues!

Warning: incredibly bad photos to follow. Following my good luck with Thursday's Honey Buzzard, I returned to Magog Down late Friday afternoon. No more honeys, but several Common Buzzards over, including this very pale individual.

The reward for this trip was a distant Red Kite, the first I have seen this close to Cambridge.

The weather on Saturday was even more gorgeous, so I tried a morning visit. Meadow Pipits, hirundines and 3 Siskins all appeared to be on the move. By mid-morning the commoner raptors were up, and in the company of James Hanlon I enjoyed watching a Hobby hawking insects, and best of all, a Sparrowhawk mobbing a Peregrine. I couldn't resist a trip back on Sunday, and to my amazement, James and I got on a slender ringtail harrier circling in the distance. At this range with my 30x lens I couldn't see enough for a definitive ID, but James with his 60x was leaning towards Montagu's....

Whatever species the ringtail was, it was my 10th raptor species within a week in Cambs, all from spots an easy bike ride from Cambridge city centre! A more straightforward ID was the Red Arrows, migrating west over Cambridge in a tight V formation.

While cycling to and from Magog Down, I frequently saw this Kingfisher on a quiet stretch of the Cam; sadly it tends to be scared off my the first dog-walkers of the day, before the light is photographer-friendly.

After several unsuccessful tries for Grey Wagtail with CA birder Leigh, they are now, predictably, pretty easy to see around town again.

A ploughed field close to Addenbrooke's Hospital is teeming with Lesser Black-backed Gulls, though I haven't been able to pick out anything more unusual than the occasional Herring Gull.

A Common Darter enjoying the Indian summer.

Scenic Starling roost, central Cambridge.

I found my thrill...

... on Wandlebury Hill (or Magog Down, more precisely). After days of peering at the skies, seeing nothing but Common Buzzards and distant unidentifiable blobs, I decided to head to one of the highest vantage points close to Cambridge (a whopping 74m above sea level). To my great surprise it worked, and about 20 mins after arriving this Honey Buzzard flew up and over, heading SW. I even managed some dismal record shots as it flapped (looks almost Sparrowhawk-like in this shot!)...

... then glided past.

This is my second county tick in a week following a fly-by Tree Pipit on my way to work (it called twice, luckily) - all that skywatching finally paid off!

Skywatch

News of easterlies and a smattering of Honey Buzzard sightings along the east coast, plus the first sunshine I've seen in weeks, was ample motivation for the 40-mile bike ride from Cambridge to Upware and Wicken Fen (via the Dyke's End in Reach for a fabulous Sunday roast). My first pass through Upware yielded only distant sightings of probable buzzardy things in the distance - anyone want to hazard a guess at this one, digiscoped at full camera zoom into the sun?

At Wicken I enjoyed excellent views of a hunting Hobby, the first of at least five seen during the day...

... followed soon after by a Sparrowhawk.

I bumped into another birder hopefully scanning the skies for honey monsters, and it seems he succeeded - 15 minutes after I left him to head to Upware! About 3:30pm I had a couple more distant buzzardy things, plus definite Marsh Harrier and Common Buzzard. I spent about 15 minutes watch this distant dot transform into an Osprey, cruising slowly south along the Cam while making a couple of unsuccessful passes at fish. Not exactly crippling views!

A skywatch from the ladybird lab this morning yielded a Siskin (apparently movements of these have also been occurring across the country) and a low-flying Common Buzzard - a local bird (I hardly ever see them here) or migrant?

The ever-present Kestrel was my 6th raptor species of the weekend - this one appeared to be hunting for insects caught in cobwebs around the front quad of Peterhouse.

mid-September miscellany

My birding's been decidedly spotty since getting back from the US. I managed another trip or two to some local spots with California birder Leigh, where she finally got some nice looks at Green Woodpecker and Kingfisher, though only fleeting glances of Bullfinch and Grey Wagtail completely gave us the slip. Just before the heavens opened, we watched this Magpie attacking a huge grub, presumably leftover fishing bait? (In fact, it's a Goat Moth caterpillar - thanks to Chris Martin for the ID)

Mixed tit flocks are beginning to form around town, often with Chiffchaffs, Goldcrests and Treecreepers as hangers on. The latter species was doing a good wallcreeper impression in college...

It's been decidedly tricky to come across warblers apart from Chiffchaff (everywhere!) and the odd Blackcap recently. The best I've managed otherwise is a Lesser Whitethroat on my weekly jog to Grantchester, and this Willow Warbler at the Cam Washes.

During a wet weekend at my parents I met up with Neil to dip an Aquatic Warbler at Rainham, 8 years after first dipping one at Marazion. A Water Vole was little compensation.

A pit stop at Vange Marshes on the way back yielded one Wood Sandpiper, a Black-tailed Godwit, lots of Sand Martins and a Yellow-legged Gull.

Up at ladybird HQ, stragglers into the lab included this Common Toad...

... and a Devil's Coach-horse.

The buddleias have been attracting some smart, newly-emerged Comma and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies...

... as well as this formidable-sized hoverfly, Volucella zonaria.

ladybird update

Since arriving back from the US my focus has shifted back from birding onto ladybirding. The most exciting news is that a ladybird I found at the end of June has now been confirmed as the 1st Cambridgeshire record of Rhizobius chrysomeloides, a tree-dwelling cryptic coccinellid. It is also the 15th specimen to be recorded in the UK in the Biological Records Centre database (although the species is described as 'established in Surrey' by the London and Essex ladybird surveys), and the most northerly British record. If only it were this easy to find a first county bird!

Almost as surprising was finding this Cream-streaked Ladybird, a fairly scarce conifer specialist, flying around in my flat!

I've spent much time staring up into trees looking for ladybird pupae as part of an ongoing experiment to look at levels of parasitism in our native species and the introduced Harlequins. This adult is attached to a Dinocampus coccoon, a parasitoid wasp which lays its eggs in ladybirds. The ladybird remains alive but paralysed as they are slowly eaten from the inside out by the wasp larva.

Since it is not immediately apparent if a ladybird has been attacked by a parasitoid, we monitor the newly-emerged harlequins for a few weeks. Here's a recent batch tucking into some artificial ladybird food.

A group of exotic maple trees close to my flat are absolutely teeming with Harlequins...

.. and Pine ladybirds. This species superficially resembles the four-spotted black form of Harlequin, but is much smaller and rounder, with a distinct lip around the edge of the wing-cases.

A few adult Two-spots have also emerged on the same trees. The spots on this one resemble the eyes painted on ancient Egyptian sarcophagi.

Up at the field station, the young elm trees still hold some well-grown Orange Ladybird larvae.

An Orange pupa. The black eyes of the adult are already visible.

Adult Orange.

A tiny 22-spot pupa.