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lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
LurkyMclurkface
@lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
110 followers 160 following 140 posts
Hobby birdwatcher and insect-botherer, Suffolk-born, Newcastle-based.
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lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
Arse-end of a Woodcock that couldn't decide if it wanted to land on the moving blue and white landmass (the DFDS ship). For ten minutes, it was high and low, flying around all sides. It decided against the empty 'Skybar' and flew two metres past me. #birds #UKbirds
A rich brown, blurred bird in flight facing away from the camera with a deep blue sea occupying the bottom third of the picture, with pinky-grey cloud in faint blue sky at the top.
November 21, 2025 at 9:58 AM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
Some perilous bin-pics for this bird with me leaning over the wall - I had visions of my phone tumbling into the sea with a ferry to get on later, but I couldn't resist.
November 20, 2025 at 12:39 PM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
Nervous-looking Water Rail currently on the steps into the water north of Cullercoats lighthouse station. Seems trapped between fear of anglers above and the waves. #NEbirding #UKbirds
November 20, 2025 at 12:33 PM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
Some better illustrations (pictures cropped but unedited).
November 16, 2025 at 1:46 PM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
Snab Point, Northumberland - is this a Sab's? Help! #NEbirding #UKbirding
November 16, 2025 at 1:31 PM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
Ivy is pretty much the place to be for hovers right now. Not a particularly diverse species list, but these plants near to a site I'm working at West Denton-ish had literally hundreds. #hoverflies
Sprawk crossing the A69 a few times, probably based locally somewhere, I've seen it a bit. #NEbirding
A bulky black and yellow female hoverfly, _Myathropa florea_, sits on a ivy leaf. A female _Epistrophe grossulariae_ with a yellow abdomen with straight black stripes, feeds while still buzzing its wings on an ivy flower. A female _Syrphus torvus_, a black and yellow hoverfly with a gold thorax and hairy, red-brown eyes, sits on an ivy leaf A female _Eupeodes luniger_, a black and yellow hoverfly, hangs upside down from an ivy flower.
October 6, 2025 at 4:43 PM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
*dropped!
September 30, 2025 at 4:14 PM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
Lost to the avenues of trees as it flew west through the gap between avenue and crematorium building. Good luck!
September 25, 2025 at 6:38 PM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
Hovers getting less frequent in the NE, with some rainy days like today featuring zero records. Nevertheless still some pretty ones around. Here's an Eristalis arbustorum ♂️ from Wednesday, Eupeodes latifasciatus ♀️ from last Saturday and a Syrphus ribesii ♀️ from last Tuesday.
#hoverflies
#syrphidae
A yellow and black hoverfly with large connected eyes and a pale face sits on a green leaves and a dried and fallen Annual Honesty seed pod. A striking black and yellow band hoverfly with a yellow face and a black frons sits on the head of a dandelion A yellow and black hoverfly with yellow legs and a shining gold-looking scutum attends a pink flower with a yellow centre
September 11, 2025 at 7:52 PM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
Anyone got any insight into these sightings? Related? (I don't have a sub, so can't see for myself.)
A screenshot of a list of sightings from 7th September 2025 on the website Bird guides, showing three entries among bird sightings for Nathusius' Pipistrelle, a bat.
September 8, 2025 at 7:54 AM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
A small Grebe present in Druridge Bay, level with Chev. I'm a bit optically challenged, but it looks a bit too elegant and long to be 'just' a Little Grebe. Or am I underestimating both their elegance and seagoing tendencies? Answers pls #NEbirding
Shot of silhouettes of two birds floating on a grey sea surface in the middle distance, with a fishing boat in the background, albeit much larger. The silhouette of an elegant bird floating on a grey sea is present in the centre of the shot. The silhouettes of a smaller grebe and a larger auk are present on a grey sea surface offset from each other from the centre of the shot. Photos shows the silhouette of a grebe floating on the grey sea in the centre of the shot, with a small flock of Scoter visible in the background.
September 6, 2025 at 8:54 AM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
Cavenham Heath NR this morning: 6+ Stone Curlew present in the heather and a young Cuckoo still wafting around. A massive Pompilid (spider-hunting wasp) with orange abdominal banding wouldn't allow me to photograph it properly, so I'll post this beautiful silver birch texture instead.
The hand of the photographer is touching the tree trick at the bottom left of this close up of mature silver birch bark, featuring heavily textured grey-brown bark with a few patches of silver-grey bark.
August 16, 2025 at 1:12 PM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
Suffolk insects: Volucella inanis (a #hoverfly); Sphaerophoria rueppelli (also hoverfly); the #butterfly (two photos) is I think a Purple hairstreak, although it wouldn't open its wings for me.
A large and stout yellow and black hoverfly sits at a pink bramble flower among unripe green brambles Close up of dainty, tapering black, yellow and orange-brown hoverfly attending a white Mayweed flower with a yellow centre A butterfly with its wings folded up attends a wild carrot flower, side on to the lens. Its wing undersides are grey-brown with two white streaks and two black spots. Its antennae are black-and-white striped with the tips orange-brown. A butterfly with its wings folded up attends a wild carrot flower. It is face on to the camera, showing its dark eyes, grey frons and orange-brown antennae tips.
July 28, 2025 at 7:58 AM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
BLOOD/INJURY WARNING, don't look too closely if you don't like [mild] animal suffering.

Seal TSH78 looking a little worse for wear this evening at SMI. Looks like blood/flesh rather than a man-made item. I don't think it's food either, it appeared to be coming from a nostril.
July 20, 2025 at 9:08 PM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
Some people really are as stupid as they come. #NEbirding
July 12, 2025 at 7:44 PM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
I bought this phone well before getting back into insects and really lucked out with the camera. Some NE hoverflies of late:
- Cheilosia illustrata, m
- Scaeva pyrastri, f
- Eupeodes, probably corollae, f
- Pyrophaena (or Platycheirus) rosarum f
July 4, 2025 at 7:49 AM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
Insects of Druridge yesterday evening: a smart Morellia sp. male; Panorpa communis male; Common Blue #butterfly male; my first record of #hoverfly Sphegina sibirica, a female.

On the ponds, 2 Green Sandpiper and 3 Wood Sandpiper, my first ever chance at direct comparison.
#NEbirding
June 27, 2025 at 8:46 PM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
If anyone wants to watch a male Xylota jakutorum, a weird leaf-walker hoverfly, give itself a clean and hop about on its established bit of fence, THIS is your video.
#hoverfly #diptera
June 24, 2025 at 8:02 AM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
My fairly crap shot of a beautiful ?2nd summer Med hanging out at the top of the bay at Whitley.
#NEbirding
Two white gulls stand on a sandy beach. One, standing on dead centre of the photograph, is a Mediterranean Gull with a pure black head and a striking white eye ring, blood red bill and legs, the other is a Black-headed Gull with a more grey-brown head, darker grey mantle and black wingtip feathers.
June 22, 2025 at 7:37 PM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
A few hovers from the River Lark, near Bury St Edmunds yesterday. In order:
- Xylota sp., possibly florum, male
- Volucella inflata, male
- Xanthogramma pedisequum, female
- Xylota segnis, male
A lanky, thin, black hoverfly sits on a leaf. An orange and black hoverfly with wing spots and a rotund abdomen feeds at a light pink bramble flower. A smart-looking black and hoverfly with wing spots, yellow vertical stripes on the thorax and broken yellow horizontal stripes on the abdomen sits on a leaf with a spider on a curled brown leaf in the background. A thin black hoverfly with thick rear femora, a broad yellow-orange band on the abdomen and a bronzy thorax sits on a leaf.
June 9, 2025 at 7:45 PM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
A pretty Dutch #insect, Rutpela maculata. Never seen one in the UK, seemingly they're present north to Northumberland.
#insects
Close up of a long, thin, black beetle with yellow spots on its wing cases and long, black, segmented antenna. The beetle is sitting on a head of a grass plant.
June 3, 2025 at 6:49 PM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
Finally found Portevinia maculata in Armstrong Park, having not found any in April and having then spent the next ten days down south/abroad. A garlic specialist #hoverfly, this one's a male - the females tend to be difficult to find.
#hoverflies #diptera
A handsome black and silver-grey hoverfly with red eyes and wings held in delta position sits on a white Ramsons flower.
May 9, 2025 at 9:34 PM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
Missing out for now on bird times on the UK coast, I'll have to make do with this possibly just emerged Brachypalpoides lentus♀️ that landed on my back near Utrecht. We placed it on a garlic flower, which to my surprise, it gratefully sucked at. Look at that shrively left wing!
A lanky, all-black hoverfly with a red-banded abdomen and thick rear femora sips nectar gratefully from a white wild garlic flower.
May 1, 2025 at 7:23 PM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
Some stunning #insects at Tynemouth Haven yesterday. Pictures in order:
- Eupeodes luniger f
- Ancistocerus sp., poss nigricornis, idk the sex
- poss. Anthomyia procellaris m
- Gymnocheta viridis m
#diptera #hoverfly #hymnoptera
A black-bodied hoverfly with six yellow abdominal markings, a bronzy-grey thorax and scutellum, a straw-yellow face and red-brown eyes divided by a black frons sits on a spiny nettle leaf. Eupeodes luniger. A black wasp with antennae twice as long as the head, yellow and brown legs, irregular concentric yellow stripes on the abdomen, and wings with cobalt blue tips sits on a leaf. Probably Ancistocerus nigricornis. A light grey fly with red eyes, black spots visible on the thorax, and clear wings masking the abdomen sits on a green leaf. Probably Anthomyia procellaris. A broadly, metallic green fly with a silver-grey face, red-brown eyes, black legs, and black-veined wings sits on a part-eaten leaf. Gymnocheta viridis.
April 27, 2025 at 1:59 PM
lurkymclurkface.bsky.social
Working in upper Coquetdale again. Looked up from my lunch to see this beaut.

Also saw something I can only think was a littoralis RPipit on passage - peachy breast with top half darkly streaked, blue-grey head and upperparts. Seem plausible? I can't think of owt else that fits. 🤔
#NEbirding
A poor quality phone photograph through a binoculars lens of a small dark blackish-brown bird with a white crescent shape on its breast. The bird is sitting in the centre of the shot, on rough upland turf, cautiously looking upwards.
April 22, 2025 at 5:25 PM