Loglands Nature Reserve

We joined the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust event 'Bug Safari' in the new Loglands Nature Reserve today. It was a glorious, warm and sunny day, perfect for the event, which was very well attended. It was a pleasure to meet Roger Key and learn about all sorts of insects and other animals. It was our first visit to this nature reserve, on the NE edge of the city of Hull. The reserve is bordered on one side by Holderness drain, on the others by playing fields and crops. As it used to be a tree nursery, there are plenty of semi-mature trees and bushes, but also grasslands and recently dug up scrapes and ponds.
Today there were plenty of butterflies around, 7 species. We spotted 6 Small Tortoiseshells, Ringlets were everywhere, one Gatekeeper, one Speckled Wood, one Meadow Brown, 2 Large Skippers, a small White, a Silver Y and another moth.

Speckled Wood

Meadow Brown

Male Large Skipper

Gatekeeper

 Small Tortoiseshell

Gatekeeper

The kids did a bit of pond dipping and got many newt larvae, backswimmers and a couple of tiny sticklebacks. By the pond, damselflies were plentiful, especially the Blue-tailed Damsefly, with several pairs mating. There were also many courting Poecilobothrus nobilitatus flies.

Pond dipping

Poecilobothrus nobilitatus males

 Snail-killing Fly Coremacera marginata. Roger identified it for us and explained their unusual life cycle. The flies lay their eggs on snails, and if the larvae finishes eating the snail before it is quite fully develop it emerges and finds another snail.

Helen examines an azure damselfly

Helophilus hoverfly by the pond

Mating Blue-tailed Damseflies

Soldier beetles

Black Clock, possibly Pterostichus niger

Brachipteran female mirid bug Leptoterna dolabrata, thank you to Wildlife Ranger from iSpot for ID.

 With so much bug life about, it was easy not to pay much attention to birds, but we heard plenty of Linnets and Bullfinches flying overhead, had wonderful views of a female Kestrel hunting and were serenaded by several Blackcaps.

Hovering kestrel

Location map
There are two entrances to the reserve, one through Frome Road and the other through East Carr Road. There are car parks by both of them. The reserve can also be reached by bus.


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