Avez-Vous un Cuppa?

Here is a few photos of the Mull of Galloway RSPB on a lovely sunny day! Mull of Galloway Lighthouse                 Mull of Galloway fog horn (Good for looking for  Black Guilemots and Puffins!) Mull of Galloway headland looking towards Luce Bay!

Just over a week ago I was in Dumfries and Galloway visiting my brother Tim's family and enjoying the scenery of this very under rated part of Scotland. The village me and my dad were based at was  Garlieston http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/landscapes/garlieston/ , famous for building the Mulberry Harbours for the D-Day landing in WW2 and my brother house/shop is in Whithorn , famous for the location of the cult British Horror movie " The Wicker Man" http://www.whithorn.info/history/index.asp . Wildlife highlights over the week included seeing Minke Whales and the usual seabirds ( Black Guilemots , Puffins , Guilemots , Kittewakes etc...) off Mull of Galloway RSPB http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/m/mullofgalloway/index.aspx . A wild Osprey over the Silver Flowe NNR http://www.welcometoscotland.com/things-to-do/attractions/nature-reserves/dumfries-galloway/silver-flowe-national-nature-reserve-snh whilst looking for Azure Hawker! and british butterfly ticks in the...

Knapweed Broomrape 1st for Leicestershire! Cheers to Mark Skevington  http://skevsblog.blogspot.com/  for finding these plants at Narborough Bog last week. Although these Broomrapes do occur at a few sites in Rutland, this is a MEGA plant for Leicestershire (1st record?). Knapweed Broomrape

Day off from work yesterday and I checked out a few sites in Rutland for some orchids and unusual flowers for most of the day (See the next post). However in the evening I found 6 Black-tailed Godwits feeding at Birstall Meadows !GET IN!!another tick for the city list. With these birds I am now on 106 for the year.

I'm currently in Scotland spending a week in Dumfries and Galloway! But here is a couple of photos of a hybrid orchid I found in NW Leicestershire. Any suggestions of the parentage of the orchid would be welcome! Hybrid Orchid (Southern Marsh Orchid x ?)

Just before my mapa course (work related) yesterday I found out that my Citroen C2 Loeb had been broken into and found that my TomTom Sat Nav, Kowa 773 scope, Manfrotto tripod with a Gitzo head and North Face coat had been stolen. Pissed off was putting it lightly!! So if you are offered a newish Kowa 773 angled scope with a 30x wide-angle eyepiece can you contact me or Leicestershire Police.

Another Classic tune byPropellerheads and David Arnold!