A Memorable Day! - on 8th April, 2017

I'm still not back in the groove, as far as paying attention to Bloggerland is concerned, mainly because of other pressures on my time.

However, on Saturday 8th April, I was to attend a party in honour of Tim Mackrill, the gentleman who has been the mainstay of The Rutland Osprey Project for many years, the inspiration to all of us volunteers on the project, and who is now leaving us to move on to pastures new. We all wish you all the best for a happy and rewarding future, Tim. 

As the location for the event was on Rutland Water, and around 50 miles (80 km) from my home, I decided to make an afternoon of it and visit Ketton Quarry (only around 4 miles from the venue) before the event.

We were looking after our granddaughter that day, and had promised her a lunchtime visit to the Scottish Restaurant. This took a little longer than expected, so I didn't get away until 13h30. It was, therefore, necessary to take the quick route to Ketton if I was to have any time there before getting to the event by 17h00. This turned out to work in my favour.

As I travelled along Beeby Road (a road that I don't usually take), just outside Barkby, out of the corner of my eye I saw a bird run out from a gateway and run back into the field again. I stopped the car and walked back, quickly locating the bird - a Grey Partridge. I used to see this bird on a regular basis on my local patch, but haven't seen one there in the past few years. I suspect that the local 'shooter' is largely to blame. They are a far-from-common bird in Leicestershire now.

Grey Partridge (Perdix perdix) - near Barkby

You may notice that this bird seems to have an abnormal growth from above its upper mandible. If you have any ideas what this might be, I'd be interested to know.

I arrived at Ketton Quarry at 15h00. The sun was shining brightly and it was quite warm. My main objectives were to see how the butterfly scene was developing and to try and find some lizards and, possibly, some snakes.

I found nothing unusual in the way of butterflies, although there were several species present - I'd been hoping for early Green Hairstreak or Grizzled Skipper. There were many day-flying moths around, and I took a little time photographing one. I believe that this is a Common Heath, but this species is not usually seen until May. 

Common Heath (Ematurga atomaria) - Ketton Quarry

There were also a number of  Peacock butterflies around.

Peacock (Aglais io) - Ketton Quarry

There were two other people in the area at the time (I only know that their names were Chris and Colin) and we chatted about lizards and snakes. One of them told me that he knew where there was a Grass Snake and that he'd be happy to show me it when he was on his way back in about 20 minutes. I continued to look around the area, and met up with these two  gentlemen again about half an hour later. We headed back towards the car park and, as we entered the area known as 'The Barbecue', we saw a couple busy taking photos of something on the ground. I called out to ask what they'd found and was told "a couple of Adders". The three of us headed over there, by which time the snakes had headed into the undergrowth. I did manage a record shot, however, of this male which had, apparently, recently shed a skin.

Adder (Viperus berus) (male) - Ketton Quarry

We then headed off to find the Grass Snake. It was a youngster, and exactly where they said it would be.

Grass Snake (Natrix natrix) (young) - Ketton Quarry

Chris and Colin then headed to their car for a cup of tea whilst I went off in a direction not previously covered that afternoon and where, in the past, I'd had most sightings of lizards. Unfortunately I came across a large family with noisy children who ware clambering over the rocks, so turned back empty-handed.

I did, however, stop briefly to photograph a Comma.

Comma (Polygonia c-album) - Ketton Quarry

I'd set myself a deadline of 16h30 to set off to the party, which would give me time for a quick sandwich and drink, and a change change of clothes. I now had a few minutes in hand so headed back to the Barbecue area. Here I found Colin and Chris once more, and they'd re-located an Adder, which was mobile but well-hidden for most of the time, giving its whereabouts away by movement of the foliage. I managed a few more photos (none of them more than records shots) and was increasingly aware that I was starting to seriously overrun my deadline!

The images, below, hopefully show the size of the problem - trying to get a meaningful shot when less than 5% of the snake was ever visible.

Adder (Viperus berus) (male) - Ketton Quarry

In the end, I decided that I had to go, or be embarrassingly late. I got there in time, but not with enough spare to change clothes or have my sandwich. Fortunately there was food and drink at the party.

Tim's farewell do was a splendid affair, and it was good to catch up with some old friends again.  The last half hour was given over to key people talking about their association with Tim, and expressing their appreciation of this truly remarkable person and his achievements. There was also a video  sequence shown at the end, featuring some people that weren't able to be there, and which included some light-hearted moments. My only regret was that I didn't take any photos at the event. The setting, in Normanton Church, on Rutland Water, was stunning and weather-wise it was undoubtedly the best evening of the year so far.

It was still daylight when I set off homeward, taking my usual owling route from Rutland Water. One of the Little Owls was visible at my Site No.34. However, I didn't bother with any photos.

John and I had not seen a Little Owl at my Site No.41 since Friday 24th February - the day after the big storm, when the nest tree had come down. The farmers had been hearing an owl and had a recent sighting of one on the debris of the old nest tree. When I arrived this day, it was nearly dark, and I spotted a Little Owl on the fallen tree.

It was so dark that I had great difficulty finding the owl in my viewfinder - I was standing approximately 60 metres away. A couple of attempts resulted in me finding that I'd been pointing the camera in the wrong direction. Eventually I managed a record shot.

Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.41

It wasn't until after I'd phoned pal John the following day that, when I came to process my photos, that I found a second owl was present in the top left corner of one of my 'mis-directed' photos! Great news - we still have a pair here! I suspect that they are nesting in one of the hollow limbs of the fallen tree.

2nd Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.41

After this it was an uneventful journey home.

Thus ended a day which will stay with me for some time. I managed images of a bird (Grey Partridge) that I'd not managed to photograph since June, 2011, I had my best ever image of a Grass Snake (with lots of room for improvement), my fist ever images of a wild Adder (with even more room for improvement!), excellent company, a party to enjoy, and the relief of knowing that a site feared lost is still home to a pair of Little Owls.

Hopefully I'll now find time to do a post on my week in Devon in mid-March.

Thank you for dropping by.