I suppose a big incentive today was the recent reports I had earlier in the week of a definate Wryneck sighting, and a possible Icterine Warbler seen to the East of the Trig Point area on Monday last the 22nd August 2011, and the same observer went back the following morning Tuesday the 23rd, the Wryneck and Warbler had already moved on yet in this ever productive area, he did have 3 Greenland Wheatear and 5 Whitethroats.
So Another visit by me to that most wonderful of places Hutton Roof Trig point and beyond, became an absolute necessity today.
Whilst climbing up through Dalton Crags, it seemed so peaceful and you could almost hear a pin drop! but this was not to last long before I could hear the droning sound of distant aircraft, like the sound you would hear at airshows of when planes do circles and it sounds like their engines cut out and then restart up again. Later the culprits of the droning where to show with a rather close up flypast. I recognised them, they were two planes which come through here on a almost daily basis, they always fly low and carry the air force emblem on the side. A little like the shape of "Spitfires" or that sort of profile, I think perhaps they could be a sort of training plane.
Just on reaching the low summit of the climb through the Crags and before proceeding through the upper deforested area. I could not help but notice in the vale below almost opposite to where the recent now removed charcoal burners were, a Spotted Flycatcher regularly flying off its branch and doing its hover flycatching, I think there could well have been more of them, I could see odd flashes of similar birds in trees just below the bird I witnessed.
I had a couple of Small Heath Butterflies whilst heading up and through the deforested area.
High in the sky perhaps almost over the Park Wood area there was a group of five soaring Buzzards, and high over the Trig where a party of four Ravens continually honking as they moved across.
There were lots of hirundines feeding over the Crags deforested area along with the summit of the Trig Area on Hutton Roof, probably hundreds, but difficult to establish which were local birds, and which where birds of passage. One party of approximately 20 Sand Martins headed straight through to the South along with lots of determined Swallows and several House Martins, but a very large party of hundred plus seemed quite happy just to hunt and circulate the area. Did also have a pair of Tree Pipits which I think may have been passage birds.
All the local stuff seemed to have moved on, with no calling birds of Mipits or Warblers.
It was a great delight to find a new flower for me, which on checking was a "Autumn Gentian", and to my best knowledge a solitary specimen, I checked all over but could not find anymore. This particular specimen is probably of special interest in that it has white flowers.
