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Showing posts from June, 2013

Common x Heath Spotted Orchid in North Leicestershire?

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Hi all, I took this photo last weekend at a private site in North Leicestershire and I just wondered what people think of the ID of the plant? Personally I think it is a Common x Heath Spotted hybrid, but it might also be a Heath x Southern Marsh hybrid. Relating to the plant, it had no spots on the leaves and occurred on boggy ground, but was part of an old meadow dated back 300 years! Any help with the ID would be helpful?  

Red-crested Pochards at Watermead CP South

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Here is a few shots of the pair of Red-crested Pochards which have been around Watermead Country Park South for the last month or so...

Wet my lips, Skippers and Chicks!!

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Ok the title sounds like a bit of porn but it's based on my wildlife highlights yesterday!! Birding highlights included finding a calling Quail in roadside fields between Harston and Woolsthorpe by Belvoir in the Vale of Belvoir just 100 metres inside the Leicestershire county boundary! Not far from the Vale of Belvoir I also visited Saltby Airfield hoping to find Turtle Dove which I had recorded at this site in the last few years. However disappointing I didn't find any Turtle Doves but I did see good numbers of Dingy Skippers (30+)  on the nearby limestone outcrops. Ok so your asking were are the chicks?! Well the chicks came in form of seven Red-crested Pochard chicks by the car park at Watermead CP South when I returned to my local patch later in the evening.  I'm not sure if it's the first time that Red-crested Pochard have bred in Leicestershire but it is the first time in the Soar valley recording area! Dingy Skipper@ Saltby Airfield Dingy S