Recent Sightings

This page is a record of what has been seen out-and-about in our area.  The sightings don't have to be rare or unusual, the idea is just to give other people an idea of what to look out for.  If you have seen anything of interest, send an email to info@scarboroughwildlife.org.uk with details of what you saw, the date you saw it and the general area you saw it in.  If you took any pictures on that day, then feel free to include your favourite picture with the email (we are looking for current photos, rather than your best pictures from the archives).  Click on the links in the reports to see any attached photos.  Please note that the records on this page are not validated in any way.

If you are particularly interested in bird sightings, take a look at the Scarborough Birders' sightings page (formerly known as Scalby Nabs Ornithological Group), East Ayton Birding, Filey Brigg Ornithological Group daily records page, Race Birding and Spurn Bird Observatory as well.  There is also a separate page on this site for news and sightings from the Flamborough Wildlife Group.  For butterflies and moths, try Yorkshire Butterfly Conservation.

4 July 2008 
Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight, with the catch including their first Swallow-tailed Moth of the year.  Later, they had a walk on Brown Rigg and saw Emperor dragonfly, Four-spotted Chaser, Keeled Skimmer (with second photo showing female), Blue-tailed Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Large Skipper, Small Skipper, a single Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Peacock larvae, Green Tiger Beetle and Canada Goose. After that, they visited the ponds at Harwood Dale where sightings included Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Large Skipper and Common Blue butterflies, Emperor dragonfly (with second photo, and a third photo showing female), Four-spotted Chaser, Large Red Damselfly, a beetle, tadpoles, a Newt and Water Lily.  Dave Mansell has added photos of Common Crossbill to his East Ayton Birding website.

3 July 2008 
Brian Walker reports .... "I found this on the car at home on Thursday evening. It wasn't there when I came home, so it must have landed on it after Sue parked up. I'm sure its Tabanus sudeticus but have sent off the pictures for confirmation. I think its the UKs biggest horsefly and its only Yorkshire sites are in the south east corner of the national park. Don't fancy getting bite off it. Wingspan about 2 inches." (see also photo 2, photo 3 and photo 4).  Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight, with the catch including their first Bordered Sallow, Clouded Border, Rustic and Uncertain of the year. Later, they had a walk to Jugger Beck with butterfly sightings including Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Small Heath, Common Blue, Large Skipper and Ringlet. Moths included Clouded Buff, Five-spot Burnet and Grass Wave. Also seen along the way were Blue-tailed Damselfly, Cottongrass and a Fern,  Terry Rowe reports .... "Today at Lady Spring Wood, Malton - both male and female Meadow Brown, also a male Ringlet, Common Blue Damsels, House Martins, Swifts and Swallows feeding, also Pair of Kestrels still feeding young ones, then rain stopped play. Seen on Saturday at Ralphs Cross, possible Grey Scalloped Bar Moth, but not 100% sure, waiting for the rain to stop then go back, make sure i have camera with me this time and not the mobile phone."

2 July 2008 
Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight, with the catch including their first ever Poplar Grey. New for this year were Blood-vein, Fan-foot, Toadflax Pug, Light Arches, Single-dotted Wave, Sandy Carpet and Marbled Beauty. The catch also included Burnished Brass, Light Emerald, Dot Moth and Green Pug.  Dave Mansell has added photos of Honey Buzzard to his East Ayton Birding website.

1 July 2008 
Lee and Jax Westmoreland had a walk round Bempton today, where the Gannets were putting on a good show - see also photo 2, photo 3, photo 4, photo 5, photo 6 and photo 7. They also saw two Ringlets and a Large White butterfly while they were there, and a Chimney Sweeper moth. Earlier today, the moth trap catch included their first Gothic of the year.  Belinda Robson informs us that the Shield Bugs in yesterdays report were Spiked Shield Bug nymphs (Picromerus bidens).

30 June 2008 
Lee and Jax Westmoreland had a walk round Deepdale today, where the butterflies seen included Meadow Brown (their first this year), Ringlet, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary (with second photo), Small Copper, Large Skipper and Common Blue. Also seen were a dead Adder, a live Adder (very close to the boot that nearly stepped on it), a Frog, Shield Bugs, Large Red Damselfly and a Spider carrying a 'ball' of eggs.  Dave Mansell has added a photo of a Fox cub to his East Ayton Birding website.  Chris Fairchild (Fairchild's Green Shop) reports .... "Quite a few (more than 30, I'd think) Sea Gooseberries (aka Comb jellies, very probably Pleurobrachia pileus) on North Bay beach at about 8:45 this morning. There was obviously a shoal of some sort of fish about 100-200 metres out: Herring Gulls, Cormorants and Guillemots (about 50 birds altogether) feeding. Also a handful of Sandwich Terns feeding closer in."  Rob Stark saw a Minke Whale 7 miles NNE off Whitby on 29th June and 4 White beaked dolphins 13 miles NNE off Whitby.  Mike Randall reports "I have posted pictures of a Skylark and Common Blue Damselfly on the Blog site from the visit to Reighton Ponds yesterday led by John Hume. Not many Dragonflies but an Emperor was flying over the larger of the pools. Ringlet and Meadow Brown butterflies were seen. After lunch we visited Bempton RSPB which was extremely busy and before the rain started we viewed the Gannets. I especially like the colours of the young birds." See www.mikerandall.blogspot.com website for more details and photos.

29 June 2008 
Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight, with the catch including their first Miller, Common Wainscot, Codling Moth, Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix and Light Grey Tortrix of the year.  Chrys Mellor (see her 'Greeting Cards' here) sent in photos of Kittiwake (with second photo), Gannet (with second and third photos) and Guillemot chicks as well as an action shot of a Puffin.

28 June 2008 
Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight, with the catch including their first Small Angle Shades of the year, along with Willow Beauty, Dioryctria abietella, Apple-leaf Miner, Brown China Mark, Riband Wave and Peppered Moth (with second photo showing dark form). A Shield Bug was wandering around the outside of the trap, as was this Spider.  Belinda Robson reports .... "Yesterday as I watched the birds on my garden feeders I realised they were nearly all youngsters, so I decided to do a 'juvenile count' and came up with the following : 3 Blue Tits, 2 Great Tits, 1 Robin, 2 Dunnocks, 7 House Sparrows, 2 Greenfinches, 3 Blackbirds, 14 Starlings and 1 Song Thrush. There was also a quick visit from a Great Spotted Woodpecker (also a juvenile). Hopefully 2008 will prove to be a good breeding season for garden birds generally."  Belinda also says that she thinks todays Shield Bug is a Hawthorn Shield Bug and that she saw a female Siskin in her garden this afternoon, feeding on peanuts.

27 June 2008 
Lee Westmoreland was back on Scarborough's castle hill today, where the only two butterflies seen were a Ringlet and a Small Tortoiseshell. The only new moth for Lee and Jax Westmoreland overnight was a Riband Wave - their first this year.  Karl Mainprize has added photos of Gold Spot, Elephant Hawkmoth, Buff Ermine, Mottled Beauty and Silver Y to his website at www.mainprize.net.

26 June 2008 
Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight, with the catch including their first ever Small Blood-vein and Small Dotted Buff, along with the first Snout, Mottled Rustic, Clouded Brindle, Udea olivalis and Phlyctaenia coronata of the year. Also in the trap were Beautiful Golden Y and Bee Moth.

25 June 2008 
Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight, with the catch including their first Light Emerald, Purple Clay and Setaceous Hebrew Character of the year. Also in the trap were Flame Carpet, Burnished Brass (with second photo), Lesser Swallow Prominent, Barred Red and Poplar Hawkmoth. Not much seen on castle hill today, just a couple of Speckled Woods.

24 June 2008 
Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight, with the catch including their first Buff Arches and Burnished Brass of the year. Later, on castle hill, there was a Ringlet (their first this year), a Large Skipper, a Common Blue, two Speckled Woods and a Small White. Last night, they had a Badger, a young Fox and a Hedgehog in their garden - all at the same time.

23 June 2008 
Lee Westmoreland had a walk round Scarborough's castle hill today and saw a single Large Skipper along with three Speckled Woods and a Small White.  Chris Fairchild (Fairchild's Green Shop) reports .... "After the recent stranding of sandeels, last Saturday morning saw about ten jellyfish stranded on a fairly small area of the North Bay near the slipway by the Sands. I tried to return some to the water (no hands, of course) to see if they were still alive, with mixed results: some looked way too far gone, but others still looked quite intact. There were definitely others still in the water. They were up to about six inches (or 15 cm, if you prefer) across, with a slight bluey cast to the bell, and distinct purple gonads."

22 June 2008 
Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight, with the catch including their first ever Lime Hawkmoth (with second photo) and the first Elephant Hawkmoth, Mottled Beauty, Barred Red and Dark Arches of the year. Also in there were White Ermine, Chrysoteuchia culmella and five Silver Ys.  Karl Mainprize has added photos of Lobster Moth, Ghost Moth, Elephant Hawkmoth, Coronet, Pebble Prominent, Fox Moth and Buff-tip (amongst others) to his website at www.mainprize.net. These are from an expedition to Wales, and there are some rather nice scenery shots to go with them - see the entries on the What's New page for 8 June onwards.

21 June 2008 
Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight, with the catch including their first Flame, Large Yellow Underwing and Green Pug of the year. They also found this unusually marked Scalloped Hazel.  John Hume (fotomagic photography and video) reports .... "Brian Cockerill and I went to Ellerburn on Friday evening. Had a good night. At least 2 nightjars displaying and churring. Lots of bats for Brian to record and last but not least 6 female glow-worms."

20 June 2008 
Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight, with the catch including their first Green Silver-lines, Small Phoenix and Small Fan-foot of the year. On castle hill, the first visit of the week only turned up two Speckled Wood butterflies on a blustery day.  John Hume (fotomagic photography and video) reports .... "I spent an hour and a half counting the bee orchids (with second photo) in North Bay this afternoon. Came up with a total of 176. This is down on 2-3 years ago when Peter Robinson and Cedric Gillings had 365 but is still perfectly respectful. There are also plenty of pyramidal orchids coming into flower and common spotted orchids."

16 June 2008 
John Hume (fotomagic photography and video) has put his latest video on-line at Vimeo, featuring the Common Blue butterfly - see www.vimeo.com/1182104.

15 June 2008 
Chrys Mellor (see her 'Greeting Cards' here) sent in photos of a Kittiwake with chicks, Puffins, Guillemot and a Razorbill feeding a chick.  Belinda Robson reports "Set out this morning just to find the last two flower records for the Spring "Natures Calendar" - formerly Phenology-survey (Dog-rose and Ox-eye Daisy) but was tempted to photograph a few others between Hay Brow and the Turkey Carpet. These included Birdsfoot Trefoil, Common Spotted Orchid, Crosswort, Lesser Knapweed, Meadow Vetchling, Red Clover, Silverweed, Tufted Vetch, Yellow Rattle (with second photo) and (I think) Heath Bedstraw (mystery flowers1 and mystery flowers 2)."  Peter Robson (Newby Books) managed to get a photo of a Large Skipper on the same expedition.  John Hume (fotomagic photography and video) reports "Yesterday went to Ellerburn Bank. The recent rain followed by the hot weather of last week has really brought the plants out. Masses of rockrose and bird's foot trefoil. However only one spike of greater butterfly orchid (in the past there have been 10-12), the northern marsh orchid was also in flower but again not as numerous as past years. The fly orchids were past their best and again not as numerous. On the butterfly front there were reasonable numbers of male common blue (there will be a video of this in the next few days), a few females and some small heath."  Another quiet night for Lee and Jax Westmoreland's Newby garden moth trap, although it was nice to find a couple of Silver Y moths in there (with second photo), along with Heart and Dart, Pale-shouldered Brocade and Green Carpet.  Also in the garden overnight were two Foxes (an adult with a youngster - probably one of the three cubs seen together in the garden earlier in the week) and two Badgers, while the previous night had seen a Hedgehog feeding on the lawn.

14 June 2008 
Lee and Jax Westmoreland didn't catch much in their  Newby garden moth trap overnight, but here's a couple of photos anyway - Gold Spot and Buff Ermine.  John Hume (fotomagic photography and video) has put his latest video on-line at Vimeo, featuring the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly - see www.vimeo.com/1167045.

13 June 2008 
Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight - a colder night meant fewer moths were caught, but they did still get May Highflyer and Ingrailed Clay (both new for the year) in the trap and found a Peppered Moth nearby.

11 June 2008 
Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight, with the catch including Scorched Wing, Eyed Hawkmoth, Gold Spot, Straw Dot and Dusky Brocade.

10 June 2008 
Doreen Jaques reports .... "I was wondering whether anyone else had seen the gull feeding frenzy on the tide line in the North Bay last weekend. There was a huge number of birds feeding on the shoreline and a few yards into the sea. On investigation there were millions of dead sand eels to be seen in the water and strewn amongst the seaweed, it was quite a sight and I wondered if there had been some sort of disaster or whether this just happens sometimes, it was such a sorry sight but good for the gulls." (see also second sand eel photo).  Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight, with the catch including Pebble Prominent, Coxcomb Prominent, Dot Moth, Common Lutestring, Pale Tussock and the micros Epiblema cynosbatella and Tinea trinotella.  Later, butterflies seen on castle hill were 2 Small Copper, 3 Large Skipper and 2 Speckled Wood.

9 June 2008 
John Hume (fotomagic photography and video) reports .... "Yesterday went for my first visit of the year to Reighton Ponds. Broad bodied chasers are about (male photo), as are 4-spotted chasers, azure damselflies and large red damselflies. Exuvia of both male and female emperors were collected but none seen in flight. Went onto Sherburn where in the small quarry, north of the village, there were 2 male and 2 female beautiful demoiselles (male photo), which was interesting seeing as the quarry is at least 1-2 miles away from the river. Today went to Deepdale and got good shots of the small pearl-bordered fritillary on video. Will hopefully have something to show at tomorrow's meeting. Then went to Brown Rigg Moor were I wasn't really expecting to see much, but there was a male emperor and a 4-spotted chaser on the pond, and then much to my surprise just up the river an immature male keeled skimmer and a female broad bodied chaser.  Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight, with the catch including Small Magpie, Peach Blossom, Clouded Silver, Chinese Character and Broken-barred Carpet.  Lee Westmoreland saw a Common Blue, a Red Admiral and 3 Large Skippers on castle hill today.

8 June 2008 
Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight (it was National Moth Night after all), with the catch including White Ermine, Angle Shades, Small Rivulet, Bee Moth (all new for this year), Brimstone Moth, Green Carpet, Silver-ground Carpet, Garden Carpet, Flame Carpet, Common White Wave, Clouded-bordered Brindle, Flame Shoulder, Scalloped Hazel and Brown House Moth.  Later, they went to Deepdale where they saw Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Red Admiral, Dingy Skipper, Small Copper and this Weevil-like insect. This was followed by a trip to Pexton and Ellerburn where sightings included Common Blue, Small Heath, Dingy Skipper and Speckled Wood.  Common Spotted Orchids were just starting to come into flower and there were lots of small crickets / grasshoppers around too.  Belinda Robson reports "Watched tiny froglets yesterday and today practising climbing up pond-plants round edge of pond. Reckon they'll be off pretty soon. Strange as most are still "legless" tadpoles. Do they develop at different rates or were they from different spawn?"  Mike Randall reports "We went looking in Dalby Forest today for Turtle Doves following directions from Brian Walker and were not disappointed, at least two birds were seen but we suspect there were more. They were precisely in the area Brian had said with a lot of Prrrring helping us to locate the birds. Our sightings were rather distant though and I was surprised that today they were found at the top of dead trees. Also in Dalby we saw Whitethroats, Blackcaps, Chaffinch, Crows, Gold Finch, Linnets, Blackbirds, Wood Pigeon, Chiffchaff. At another site we saw a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers one of the birds had a grub in its bill and we managed to find a youngster looking out from its nest hole. A picture of a Common Marbled Carpet moth is attached which was on our living room window yesterday afternoon about 05:00pm. More pictures on the blog along with postings from last week spent in Dorset." - see www.mikerandall.blogspot.com website.  Chrys Mellor (see her 'Greeting Cards' here) has sent a collection of photos taken at Flamborough Head today, showing House Sparrow, Kittiwake with eggs, Kittiwake with chicks, Linnet, Meadow Pipit, a Weasel and House Martins (with photo 2 and photo 3).

7 June 2008 
Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight, with the catch including Bordered White, Pale-shouldered Brocade and Flame Carpet. Later, they had a walk along the Sea Cut where they saw Large Skipper, Small White, Beautiful Demoiselle (with second photo) and more moths, including Straw Dot, Silver Y, Brown Silver-line and some very small micro-moths (Chrysoteuchia culmella, micro 1, micro 2, micro 3 and micro 4).  Terry Rowe reports .... "Had a walk to Lady Spring Wood, Malton, Butterflies were 5 Common Blue, 1 Small Copper, 8 Green-veins, 4 Banded Demoiselle, 6 Common Blue Damselflies (male and female) and a Damselfly which I will ID. Seen later in day by the Railway bridge, in Norton, House Sparrows still 'hawking' Insects off the River Derwent, Male Kingfisher and a Beautiful Demoiselle."  Karl Mainprize has added photos of Setaceous Hebrew Character, Flame Carpet, Heart and Dart, Bright-line Brown-eye and Flame Shoulder to his website at www.mainprize.net.  Dave Mansell has added photos of Redstart to his East Ayton Birding website.

6 June 2008 
Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight, with the catch including Pale Tussock (with second photo), Swallow Prominent, Peppered Moth and Celypha lacunana.

5 June 2008 
Terry Rowe reports .... "Went for a walk down by Castle Howard Lake today, Bird life Ruddy Duck, Male, but staying close to reed bed (so hopefully Mrs Ruddy Duck and Little Ruddies were in there), 5 pairs of Tufted duck, 2 Great Crested Grebe (1 with 4 young), Reed Warbler, Grey Heron 3 Juv, Robin with Juv and Tree Sparrow Male, Hawking / picking up a lot of Common Blue Damselflies, which maybe why Pic 2 isn't such a bad idea, of note too this, was House Sparrow Male and Female, seen catching Mayfly on the River Derwent, ten days ago. Couple of Small White, 1 Green-veined and 1 Orange Tip Male, only Butterflies seen. Picture 3 of Blackbird Female sunning itself, while we had a cup of Tea (Yorkshire of course). Seen yesterday in Norton, 1 Comma, no chance of photo it stayed in garden for 10 seconds then away."  Lee and Jax Westmoreland ran their Newby garden moth trap overnight, with the catch including Beautiful Golden Y, Lesser Swallow Prominent, Marbled Minor (ag), Common White Wave, Common Lutestring, Green Carpet, Grey/Dark Dagger and  Epiblema cynosbatella. Meanwhile, the Large Skippers (3 seen today) were still around on castle hill and this Gall was noticed for the first time this year.

4 June 2008 
Lee Westmoreland was back on Scarborough's castle hill today, where butterfly sightings included his first Painted Lady and Large Skipper of the year, along with a Speckled Wood.  Moths included Silver Y (the first he's seen on the hill this year) and Common Carpet.  Also seen were this Spider (second photo shows it with lunch), a Ladybird larva, a Fungus which appears to have re-grown in the recent wet weather and the Beetle that is often seen near to it.  Karl Mainprize has added photos of Pale Prominent, Clouded-bordered Brindle, Rustic Shoulder-knot, Scalloped Hazel and a Twenty-plumed moth to his website at www.mainprize.net.

3 June 2008 
Karl Mainprize has added photos of birds (Common Redstart and Great Spotted Woodpecker), moths (including Small Magpie, Shears, Angle Shades, Treble Lines and Common Swift) and other insects (dragonflies, damselflies and hoverflies) to his website at www.mainprize.net.  Daniel Lombard has identified both the caterpillars from 31 May as the same species - The Drinker (Euthrix potatoria).