Insects plus

Sunny intervals, 20°, light SSW.

Lollingdon and the River covered today: Little Owl, Yellow Wagtail, Corn Bunting, Cetti’s Warbler, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Swallow, House Martin and Swift.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Emperor, Four-spotted Chaser & Black-tailed Skimmer.

Butterflies: Small White, Common Blue, Small Blue, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown & Small Heath.

Moths: A good day for day-flying moths with several Silver-Y, Cinnabar and Mother Shipton.

Paul & Alan.

Mother Shipton

Emperor courtesy Alan

Silver-Y

Black-tailed Skimmer courtesy Alan

Four-spot Chaser courtesy Alan

Meadow Brown

Roe Deer courtesy Alan

Another sunshiny day

Another sunshiny day, 24°, light E.

Lollingdon hill relatively quiet today albeit a light passage of Swift and House Martin.

A mixed flock of c50 Swift and House Martin drifted over heading north at around 10:30 and then a thin trickle of Swift and a few House Martin over the next hour numbering around another 100 birds.

All the usual suspects present.

A pair of House Sparrow nesting in bushes and away from any buildings on the route out to Lollingdon. A little unusual?

Farmers are cutting fields for hay at the moment and I wonder how many Skylark and Corn Bunting nests get destroyed along with anything else living there?

Are Swallows and House Martins having a hard time of it at the moment as there is very little mud around for them to collect for their nest building process?

Dragonflies: a female Emperor hunting on Lollingdon Hill and a male Emperor hunting over a bean field just south of the railway.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Speckled Wood.

Moths: A couple of Cinnabar Moths.

Large Skipper

A female Emperor dragonfly hunting on the hill this morning. Could not get a photo with the long lens as flight too erratic. Tried phone camera and did not capture her either but to my surprise caught her shadow!

Meadow Grasshopper (courtesy Alan Dawson)

Just liked the pattern of the bark on this Downy Birch.

The Lees and beyond

Sunny spells, 19°, light W.

A walk out to the Lees and beyond today and a little warmer than of late.

The “long ditch” out beyond the Lees was dredged over the winter and subsequently all the growth in and around the ditch was either disrupted or destroyed.

There are no birds breeding along the ditch this year and it seems the Reed Buntings that bred along the ditch have moved out into the crop fields (5 singing males). A lot of the Bullrush, Reed and other plants that were in the ditch have been destroyed but some of the plants on the bank have survived. Any larvae or other life that was in the ditch has also been partially destroyed.

However nature has a way of coming back!

Several Dragonfly species seen along the ditch and a few small fish present (probably Stickleback) and a few Orchid species along the bank.

The “Reedy ditch” at the far end had 5 singing Sedge Warbler and 3 singing Reed Warbler (plus others present) present along with several Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer.

A family group of Swallow spent time feeding over the area (2 adults & 5 young) and a few Swift overhead and a distant Grey Heron.

From Alan: 2 Common Tern again on the river and Lesser Whitethroat. 

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Large Red Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, 4-spot Chaser and Emperor Dragonfly. Per Alan: Brown Hawker and White-legged Damselfly.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Large White, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Marbled White and Meadow Brown. Per Alan: Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Common Blue, Marbled White, Small Copper and Large Skipper.

Moths: Cinnabar Moth and Scarlet Tiger. Per Alan: Burnet Companion.

Insects: Black and Yellow Long Horn Beetle. Per Alan.

Orchids: Pyramid Orchid, Common Spotted Orchid and Poss Marsh Orchid hybrid.

Reed Warbler

Emperor Dragonfly

Burnet Companion

 Common Spotted Orchid

 Scarlet Tiger

 Small Tortoiseshell

 Large Skipper

 4-spot Chaser

 Azure Damselfly

Cinnabar Moth

Sunny with increasing cloud, 16°, light E.

A few hours on the allotment this afternoon with several Swift screaming overhead and the odd House Martin around.

A Cinnabar Moth caught on camera using mobile phones and I don’t know how she did it but Loren managed to get it in flight!

Cinnabar Moth (courtesy Loren)

Aston Rowant NNR

Sunny, 22°, light to mod WSW (cloudy later with some rain).

A trip to Aston Rowant NNR this afternoon mainly for butterflies.

The highlight was several Dark Green Fritillary seen speeding around and not easy to find settled and a single Chalk Hill Blue.

Also Meadow Brown and Marbled White were common, others noted were a single   Brimstone and Red Admiral a couple of Large White and Small White, several Speckled Wood, Small Heath, Small Tortoiseshell, Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Ringlet and Gatekeeper and a single day flying Cinnabar Moth.

A few birds noted: Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Bullfinch.

A Nuthatch present in the garden again this evening.

Thanks to Loren for most of the pics.

Dark Green Fritillary

Small Heath

 Meadow Grasshopper

Pyramid Orchid (of which there were many)