On a fairly windy Monday evening, we enjoy a walk around the fields near the area of Ulnes Walton. The fields occupied several Crows, Woodpigeons, Gulls and a couple of Lapwing. But the highlight of the walk was certainly the Yellowhammers that sang the surrounding hedgerows. They allowed us some fantastic views as the sun glistened off their yellow plumage. Sadly due to the winds, many birds seemed to stay hunkered down, but the swifts certainly delighted us by flying very low to the ground, perhaps due to the flying insects being lower down out of the wind.

A full species list can be found below:

Lapwing 
Swallow 
Swift 
Black Headed Gull 
Lesser Black Backed Gull 
Wood Pigeon 
Carrion Crow 
Rook 
Starling 
Blackbird 
Goldfinch 
Linnet 
Yellow Hammer 

Brown Hare
Roe Deer 

A full list of species seen on this walk can be found below:

Canada Goose 
Mallard 
Cormorant 
Grey Heron 
Common Buzzard 
Ringed Plover
Kestrel 
Swallow 
Black Headed Gull 
Herring Gull 
Lesser Black Backed Gull 
Wood Pigeon 
Stock Dove 
Carrion Crow
Magpie 
Goldcrest 
Chiff Chaff 
Nuthatch 
Tree Creeper 
Blackbird 
Pied Wagtail 
Grey Wagtail 

Grey Squirrel 
Roe Deer 

17 members attended the moth morning on 26 July. Three traps were opened up and moths identified
using a variety of guide books, ID charts and AI. These were then verified by Steve & Carolyn Palmer,
our invited experts. We had 100 species of moth – slightly down on last years total of 110.

Interestingly, despite the number of species being similar, there was only 42 species the same over the 2 years. Whilst we didn’t count the number of each species this year, there seemed to be many yellow underwings and flame shouldered moths found in the traps. It took over 3 hours to to empty the traps and identify the moths – an enjoyable morning for all.

A full list of all the moth species from the morning can be found below.

A full list of species found on this walk can be found below:

Pheasant 
Little Egret 
Grey Heron
Common Buzzard 
Oystercatcher 
Lapwing 
Swallow 
House Martin
Black Headed Gull
Wood Pigeon 
Kingfisher 
Great Spotted Woodpecker 
Carrion Crow 
Raven 
Blue Tit 
Chiff Chaff 
Tree Creeper 
Starling 
Blackbird 
Goldfinch 

Brown Hare
Roe Deer 

A full list of species seen on this walk can be found here:

Canada Goose 
Mallard 
Red Legged Partridge 
Common Buzzard 
Marsh Harrier
Kestrel 
Oystercatcher 
Lapwing 
Swallow 
Wood Pigeon
Carrion Crow 
Jackdaw
Chiff Chaff 
Blackbird 
Tree Sparrow 
Linnet 
Reed Bunting 
Corn Bunting 

Brown Hare 

Small Moth
Red Admiral
Grasshopper

A list of species seen on this lovely summers evening walk can be found below:

Mute Swan 
Mallard 
Little Egret 
Kestrel 
Grey Heron 
Oystercatcher 
Curlew 
Swallow
Sand Martin
Lesser Black Backed Gull 
Common Tern 
Wood Pigeon 
Collared Dove 
Carrion Crow 
Jackdaw 
Magpie 
Blue Tit 
Wren 
Blackbird 
Song Thrush 
Mistle Thrush 
Goldfinch 

A full list of species that was seen on this walk can be found below:

Mallard 
Common Buzzard 
Kestrel 
Oystercatcher 
Swallow 
House Martin 
Swift 
Lesser Black Backed Gull 
Black Headed Gull 
Wood Pigeon 
Carrion Crow 
Jackdaw 
Chiff Chaff 
Blackbird 
Song Thrush 
Goldfinch 
Reed Bunting

Setting off from the parking area, we headed down the road scanning the fields either side of the road. Amongst the swooping Swallows, Swifts and distant Gulls, the tufts of long grass between the heather held several Stonechats, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks. Many of these were seen with caterpillars and insects in their bills, a sign of hungry mouths to feed in nests hidden in the undergrowth. 
A Buzzard soared above us as we arrived at the public footpath leading us up Jeffrey Hill. But we were soon focused on where the call of a distant Cuckoo was coming from. All binoculars were fixed on the trees in the plantation down the hill but the Cuckoo sadly remained elusive to us.
We made our way up Jeffrey Hill, scanning Gannow Fell to our right in hope of a Hobby sighting, however we got to enjoy a wonderful hovering Kestrel instead. More Stonechats and Meadow Pipits kept us company as we reached the top, where a lone Curlew was seen flying around the fell. 
We crossed over to the other side of Jeffrey Hill and made our way back to the cars, enjoying the stunning views around us as the sun began to set. 

A full list of species seen on this walk can be found below:

Canada Goose 2
Pheasant h
Kestrel
Curlew
Swallow
Swift
Black Headed Gull 5+
Lesser Black Backed Gull 15+
Wood Pigeon 5+
Feral Pigeon 2+
Cuckoo h
Carrion Crow 10+
Skylark 2
Willow Warbler h
Wren h
Starling
Blackbird 2
Mistle Thrush h
Stonechat pr
Dunnock h
Meadow Pipit 3

A full list of species seen on this walk can be found below:

Crow
Kestrel
Meadow Pipit
Skylark
Willow Warbler
Goldfinch
Chiffchaff
Cormorant
Pied Wagtail
Blackbird
Buzzard
Herring Gull
Woodpigeon
Jackdaw
Collared Dove
Stonechat
Green Woodpecker (heard only)
Wren
Whitethoat
​Linnet

​Another great break all around was enjoyed by 8 members of the Preston Society, that then became 5 on the last day - due to previous commitments.


89 species of bird were seen/heard, which was far more than expected - along with many wildflowers, fungi, moths/butterflies and mammals. The weather was beautiful throughout and the hotel was very accommodating. A lovely county - flat, but interesting and we explored many different types of habitats throughout the week.

Monday 19th May was the date of arrival at the Quayside Hotel, Boston - after an approximate 4 hour journey. Met in the bar for drinks and then had an evening meal out and discussed the week ahead.

The week consisted of visits to:-

o Frampton Marsh RSPB Reserve
o Fosdyke Bridge, Moulton Marsh, and Freiston Shore - passing through several villages and hamlets
o Kirkby Moor and Kirkby Gravel Pits

o Gibraltar Point NNR - visiting most of the hides on the West side of the access road plus the Viewpoint on the East side
o Long Sutton, River Nene
o The Wash - being quite a distance across a marsh

Sunday 25th May was time for the 4 hour journey home - leaving the Quayside Hotel at 10.00 am

We all enjoyed a packed lunch each day, either sat in a hide or enjoying the warm sunshine, which we were lucky to have every day throughout the week. Evening meals were enjoyed at the Quayside Hotel and various other establishments in Boston, including an evening at Goodbarns Yard, situated behind the Boston Stump, a very old area of Boston. Goodbarns Yard is over 600 years old and was a very popular eatery.

Species seen/heard were:-

Mute Swan
Canada Goose
Greylag Goose
Brent Goose
Mandarin Duck
Shelduck
Mallard
Shoveller 
Wigeon
Teal 
Com Pochard
Tufted Duck
Pheasant 
Red Legged Partridge 
Little Egret
Great White Egret
Great Crested Grebe
Little Grebe
Grey Heron
Cormorant 
Spoonbill
Bittern
Kestrel
Red Kite
Common Buzzard
Peregrine?
Moorhen
Coot
Oystercatcher 
Avocet
Ringed Plover
Lapwing
Redshank
Greenshank 
Black Tailed Godwit
Swallow
Sand Martin 
House Martin
Black Headed Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black Backed Gull
Common Tern
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Green Woodpecker h
Great Spotted Woodpecker 
Carrion Crow
Magpie
Rook
Jay
Cuckoo h
Swift
Skylark 
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Long Tailed Tit
Whitethroat 
Blackcap
Garden Warbler
Sedge Warbler 
Cettis Warbler h
Lesser Whitethroat h
Chiff Chaff h
Willow Warbler h
Wren
Robin
Starling
Blackbird
Mistle Thrush h
Song Thrush h
Dunnock h
House Sparrow 
Chaffinch h
Goldfinch h
Linnet h
Pied Wagtail 
Meadow Pipit
Reed Bunting 
Yellow Hammer 
(89)

Brown Hare
Rabbit
Stoat/ Mink
Grey Squirrel 
Muntjac Deer

Burnet Moth
Orange Tip Butterfly
Small Blue Butterfly

h=heard only
 
Thanks to Graham Thomas, once again, for all his hard work in arranging, planning and executing yet another very enjoyable and memorable Society holiday.