Date: 21st June 2026
Time: from 7 a.m.
Weather: dry, sunny, light
wind, 19°C to 25°C
Due,
to the predicted increasing temperature during the day, I had an early morning visit to the site although it was already very warm.
I walked the
whole site and had an extremely successful visit with 10 further additions to my
2026 site list: Painted Lady, Marbled White, Small
Tortoiseshell, Small Skipper, Essex Skipper, Large White,
Small White, Black-tailed Skimmer, Emperor Dragonfly, Common
Blue Damselfly
I
recorded 10 butterfly species, some in remarkable numbers, as follows:
Woodland
in the southern section of the site: Small White (1)
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 50), Common Blue (1), Large/Small
White (combined total of at least 5), Meadow Brown (at least 15)
“Hilly
Road”: skipper sp. (1), Meadow Brown (6)
Church
car park: Painted Lady (2), white sp. (2), Meadow Brown
(1)
Church
cemetery: Painted Lady (2), Small Tortoiseshell (1), Meadow
Brown (at least 30)
Grassland
area in the northern section of the site: Marbled White (at least 15), Large/Small/Essex
Skippers (combined total of at least 50), Meadow Brown (at least 75)
I
recorded 3 dragonfly/damselfly species as follows: Black-tailed
Skimmer (1 in the northern section of the site), Emperor Dragonfly
(1 in the central section of the cemetery), Common Blue Damselfly (at
least 5 around the pond in the northern section of the site)
The
notable birds during my visit were as follows:
Lesser
Whitethroat: male heard singing occasionally in the northern section of the site but unseen
Common
Whitethroat: male seen singing almost continually 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 through the central section of the cemetery 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 Hilly Road
and in the central section of the cemetery
Stock
Dove: male
heard calling briefly in the northern section of the site but unseen
With
regard to mammals, I saw a single Grey Squirrel in the cemetery
immediately adjacent to the church and heard a “barking” Reeves’ Muntjac in the
northern section of the site.
Species
recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Lesser
Whitethroat
Common
Whitethroat
Blackcap
Chiffchaff
Green
Woodpecker
Great
Spotted Woodpecker
Stock
Dove
Blue
Tit
Great
Tit
Long-tailed
Tit
Robin
Wren
Dunnock
Blackbird
Song
Thrush
Magpie
Carrion
Crow
Woodpigeon
Herring
Gull
Reeves’
Muntjac
Grey
Squirrel
Painted
Lady
Marbled
White
Small
Tortoiseshell
Common
Blue
Large
Skipper
Small
Skipper
Essex
Skipper
Meadow
Brown
Large
White
Small
White
Black-tailed
Skimmer
Emperor
Dragonfly
Common
Blue Damselfly
Here
are some photos from my visit ….
Photo: Small Tortoiseshell
Photo: Small White
Photo: Black-tailed Skimmer
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
= 13 (23) (17)
Dragonflies
and damselflies = 5 (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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