Date: 29th June 2026
Time: from 6:30 a.m.
Weather: dry, sunny, light
wind, 14°C to 18°C
Following
several days of extreme temperatures of up to 35°C, it was nice to return to
some normality.
I
had an early morning visit and walked the whole site which proved to be very successful with 10 further additions to my 2026 site
list: Purple Hairstreak, Wall, Ringlet, Comma,
Peacock, Red Admiral, Ruddy Darter
My
year-to-date site list for butterflies has now increased to 19
species, just short of the highest year total of 23 species in 2023 and
2025.
However,
dragonflies and damselflies continue to be scarce this year both in
terms of the number of species (only 6 recorded) and abundance
After a relatively cool start, the warming temperature meant that I eventually recorded 12 butterfly species (Marbled White, the skipper species and Meadow Brown in remarkable numbers) as follows:Grassland
area at the bottom of “Hilly Road” and adjacent to St. Nicholas Lane in the
southern section of the site: Marbled White (at least
10), Large/Small/Essex Skippers (combined total of at least 10)
Immediate
vicinity of the church: Purple Hairstreak (1), Wall (1), Red Admiral
(1), Meadow Brown (1)
Church
car park: Purple Hairstreak (1), Red Admiral (1)
Church
cemetery: Painted Lady (1), Wall (2), Marbled White
(1), Comma (1), Peacock (1), Red Admiral (1), Meadow
Brown (5)
Woodland at the end of the access track from Larkins Tyres: Red Admiral (1)
Grassland
area in the northern section of the site: Marbled White (at
least 60), Large/Small/Essex Skippers (combined total of at
least 80), Ringlet (1), Peacock (1), Red Admiral (1), Meadow
Brown (at
least 80)
I
recorded just a single dragonfly/damselfly species as
follows: Ruddy Darter (2 in the
northern section of the site and another 2 in the eastern section of the cemetery)
The
notable birds during my visit were as follows:
Swift: “screaming party” of
5 birds seen on several occasions flying high over Church Hill and the church
Common
Whitethroat:
1 heard alarm calling and seen very briefly in the northern section of the site
Blackcap: at least 5 singing
males heard across the site but none seen
Chiffchaff: at least 5 singing
males heard across the site but none seen
Green
Woodpecker:
1 seen flying over Church Hill and 1 heard calling in the northern section of
the site
Great
Spotted Woodpecker:
single birds heard calling but unseen in the woodland adjacent to Church Hill and
in the woodland area adjacent to the access track from Larkins Tyres
Species
recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Swift
Common
Whitethroat
Blackcap
Chiffchaff
Green
Woodpecker
Great
Spotted Woodpecker
Blue
Tit
Robin
Wren
Blackbird
Magpie
Carrion
Crow
Woodpigeon
Lesser
Black-backed Gull
Painted
Lady
Purple
Hairstreak
Wall
Marbled
White
Ringlet
Comma
Peacock
Red
Admiral
Large
Skipper
Small
Skipper
Essex
Skipper
Meadow
Brown
Ruddy Darter
Here
are some photos from my visit ….
Photo: Painted Lady
Photo: Marbled White
Photo: Marbled White
Photo: Red Admiral
Photo: Red Admiral
Photo: Small Skipper
Photo: Small Skipper
Photo: Buff-tailed Bumblebee
Site totals for 2026 to date (2025 and 2024 totals in brackets):
Birds = 37 (50) (49)
Mammals = 3 (4) (3)
Butterflies = 19 (23) (17)
Dragonflies and damselflies = 6 (11) (11)
Reptiles = 0 (0) (0)
Amphibians = 0 (0) (0)
Total species list for the site
Birds = 70
Mammals = 8
Butterflies = 26
Dragonflies and damselflies = 15
Reptiles = 1
Amphibians = 0
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