Clouded Yellows

Sunny, 24°, light WNW.

A walk out to the Lees and an unprecedented number of Clouded Yellow butterflies (7) seen. They were present in a field of Lucerne along with c8 Painted Lady, numerous Common Blue and a Hummingbird Hawkmoth.

It is certainly the most CY’s I’ve seen in one go in the UK.

As for birds, they were in short supply. Although the first Willow Warbler of the autumn was a good one, a few Chiffchaff, c20 Swallow passing over, a Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer, Blackcap etc.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle and Ruddy Darter.

Butterflies: Clouded Yellow, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

Clouded Yellow with an un-identified Bee in the top right. Enlarged crop below.

Melitta tricincta or M. leporina ?

A bit of light precipitation

Cloudy with a few sunny spells, 26°, light WNW.

A cooler day and a walk along the Bunk area up to the gravel pit and back.

A bit of light precipitation which I believe is called rain!

Still pretty slow bird wise with the gravel pit being the most active from what little I could see.

100+ large Gulls, mainly, if not all Lesser Blackback Gull, c50 Black-headed Gull, a Mute Swan, c100 Canada Geese, 6 Greylag Geese, 2 Tufted Duck, loads of Mallard and 6 Lapwing.

Elsewhere, several Chiffchaff and Yellowhammer, 3+ Blackcap feeding on ripened Elderberries and few Swallow, House Martin and Swift overhead.

Dragonflies: Emperor, Migrant Hawker, Common Darter and Ruddy Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

Garden: a Blackcap bathing, and Painted Lady and Hummingbird Hawkmoth. The latter 2 species have been around for approx. 6 weeks on and off. Possibly not the same ones but seen virtually every day.

And an impromptu productive meeting with the gravel pit manager.

Lesser Stag Beetle, courtesy Bill Nichols

 

River

Mainly sunny, 21°, light WNW.

River area, per Alan.

Spotted Flycatcher, Reed Bunting, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Yellow Wagtail, Kingfisher, Swift, House Martin, Swallow, Garden Warbler, Chiffchaff and Common Whitethroat.

Dragonflies: Emperor, Black-tailed Skimmer, Four-spotted Chaser, Ruddy Darter, Common Darter, Emerald Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Brown Hawker and Southern Hawker.

Butterflies: Red Admiral, Peacock, Brimstone, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Brown Argus, Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Comma, Small Skipper and Essex Skipper.

Photos courtesy Alan

Ruddy Darter

Four-spot Chaser

Southern Hawker

Common Darter

Moorhen with young and a Dragonfly snack

Spotted Flycatcher

Lollingdon

Sunny spells, 21°, breezy W.

A cooler day than of late thankfully and a less tiring walk out to Lollingdon and back.

Little change with the usual Yellowhammer, Reed and Corn Bunting, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff all regular.

A Lapwing heard but no visual.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle, Southern Hawker and Black-tailed Skimmer.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Large White, Small White, Comma, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper (foy), Ringlet and Speckled Wood.

Black-tailed Skimmer

Comma

Greenfinch

Speckled Wood

Yellowhammer

Lollingdon & Thames

Mainly sunny, 25°, light NNW.

Pretty quiet bird wise out at Lollingdon today. The Lapwing appear to have departed other than that all the usual present.

Alan had very much the same along the river.

A day all round for insects. Plenty of Marbled White and Meadow Brown on the wing and a few Common Blue on the hill.

Also Large and Small Skipper, Red Admiral, Ringlet and Comma noted.

Alan found about 4 Emerald Damselfly and a female Ruddy Darter.

And the first Southern Hawker for the year out at Lollingdon.

Spent about an hour on the allotment this afternoon with up to 20 Swift screeching around overhead plus the odd House Martin and Swallow.

There was also a male Black-tailed Skimmer hunting on the allotment plus several Common Blue and Azure Damselfly and a Cinnabar Moth.

Full list from Alan: Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Kingfisher, Skylark and Reed Bunting etc.

Dragons: Beautiful Demoiselle, Banded Demoiselle, Ruddy Darter, Common Darter, Four-spotted Chaser, Black-tailed Skimmer, Emperor, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Brown Hawker, Red-eyed Damselfly and Emerald Damselfly.

Butterflies: Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Comma and Red Admiral.

Young Blackbird bathing ↕

Emerald Damsel courtesy Alan ↕

Large Skipper

Ruddy Darter (imm m) courtesy Alan

Southern Hawker

Speckled Wood

Wild flower meadows or not

Sunny, 26°, light NE.

A source has informed me that 2 fields between the railway tunnel and the rail bridge that was being worked on (out by the Lees) have been planted with wild flowers. The reason being that the farm cannot now get a combine over the bridge to harvest the crop. So uneconomical to sustain it.

I had a walk out there today and the fields have been worked but all I could see were mainly thistle growing and sparse areas of other plants otherwise quite devoid of any insect life. Will wait and see how this develops.

Further out beyond the Lees, both Sedge (5) and Reed Warbler (2) present, Chiffchaff (2), Blackcap (2), Common Whitethroat (1), Yellow Wagtail (3), Yellowhammer (5), Reed Bunting (6), Skylark (10+) and Corn Bunting (1).

Although insects were relatively sparce there were a few:

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly, Emperor and Black-tailed Skimmer.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

A few more Bees, solitary Wasps and others noted.

Alan out and about along the river and added: Cuckoo, Chiffchaff, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Kingfisher, Common Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting, Swallow, House Martin, Swift and Grey Wagtail.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Beautiful Demoiselle, Emerald Damselfly, White-legged Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Black-tailed Skimmer, Four-spotted Chaser, Emperor, Broad-bodied Chaser, Ruddy Darter and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Brimstone, Speckled Wood, Small Blue, Brown Argus, Small Heath, Red Admiral and Common Blue.

Still no sign of Swallow and House Martin nesting in the Church Road area of the village.

The House Martins that turned up last week probably have not been able to find mud to either repair or rebuild their nests and have not discovered pre-built nest boxes nearby?

Or, could it be lack of aerial insects?

Emerald Damselfly courtesy Alan

Marsh Orchid or hybrid sp ?

 Sedge Warbler song

A little quieter

Sunny, 22°, light WSW.

Lollingdon rather quiet today, 4 Raven on the hill for a time mixing with the Red Kite and Buzzard thermalling overhead.

Several Chiffchaff present with some in song, a single Blackcap, Little Owl, several Meadow Pipit and Jay and 2 Kestrel.

A few House Martin and Swallow over.

Alan out and about on the other side of the village with Jay, Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting, Cetti’s Warbler, Sparrowhawk, Kingfisher and Swallow.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Willow Emerald, Brown Hawker, Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker, Ruddy Darter & Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral, Peacock & Speckled Wood.

Ivy Bees courtesy Alan

Willow Emerald courtesy Alan

Ruddy Darter

Sunny spells, 19°, light to breezy S.

Another good one from Alan today with a Ruddy Darter Dragonfly. A common dragonfly that is often overlooked. And the Willow Emerald Damsels seen again.

Also Chiffchaff and a flyby Kingfisher.

Alan along the Bunk line earlier, again fairly quiet, 10-15 Yellow Wagtail, 9+ Chiffchaff plus the usual.

A fairly quiet but pleasant walk out to Lollingdon and back today.

A couple of Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff around Lollingdon, plus a Little Owl and a Sparrowhawk.

A good day for thermals as numbers of Lesser Blackback Gull, Red Kite and Buzzard spiralling over the hill.

Another steady flow of Hirundines moving south, up to 80 birds with 90% Swallow and the rest House Martin.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Willow Emerald Damselfly, Migrant Hawker, Southern Hawker, Common Darter & Ruddy Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral, Comma & Speckled Wood.

Moths: a few notable ones from Tony Rayner recently: Gypsy Moth, Clifdon Nonpariel, Jersey Tiger & Lime Hawk Moth. Also a Hornet Robberfly.

Ruddy Darter pics courtesy Alan.  

Comma

Little Owl