Date: 30th
July 2020
Time: from 9:15 a.m.
Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 19°C to 22°C
Yet again, July
has been producing several days of weather not typical of July: cool, windy,
cloudy and rainy. This was hardly an incentive to get out and about. However, given
that it was a warm and sunny morning, I visited the site for the first time in 10 days, primarily for the purpose
of finding and photographing butterflies.
During this visit, I recorded 11 species of butterfly: Purple
Hairstreak (2), Brimstone (1), Common Blue (2), Small
Copper (1), Ringlet (3), Small Skipper (2), Speckled Wood
(3), Gatekeeper (50+), Meadow Brown (3), Small White (c.5), Large White (c.5)
Having seen my first ever Purple
Hairstreak on 17th July 2020
at my other site around St. Nicholas Church, I found 2 more this morning on the
reserve. Obviously, this was my first record
of Purple Hairstreak for the site taking my butterfly list for the site
to 18 species. One of these individuals showed particularly
purple upper wings although unfortunately they close their wings when they are
not flying, hence my record photos are closed wing shots. They are also of rather tatty individuals.
In addition to recording total butterfly numbers, I also recorded sightings over 15 minute periods at 2 separate locations within the site and submitted these to the Big Butterfly Count organised by Butterfly Conservation.
During this visit, I only managed to record 1
species of dragonfly but at least it was the UK’s largest species: Emperor Dragonfly (2).
With regard to
birds, it was exceptionally quiet with few birds seen and only sporadic singing
and calling and as such there is a relatively short list of species recorded.
The only notable
records were single calling Green Woodpecker and Great Spotted
Woodpecker plus a briefly alarm calling Blackcap, none of which I
actually saw. I also heard the repeated calling of what may have been a Sparrowhawk
or Kestrel but what ever it was, it remained stubbornly hidden in dense
vegetation.
Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Blackcap
Blue Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Robin
Wren
Dunnock
Blackbird
Goldfinch
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted
Woodpecker
Jay
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Magpie
Purple Hairstreak
Brimstone
Common Blue
Small Copper
Small Copper
Ringlet
Small Skipper
Speckled Wood
Gatekeeper
Meadow Brown
Small White
Large White
Emperor Dragonfly
Here are some photos from my visit:
Photo: Purple Hairstreak
Photo: Common Blue
Photo: Small Skipper
Photo: Gatekeeper
Photo: Emperor Dragonfly
Site totals to date:
Birds = 35
Mammals = 2
Butterflies= 18
Dragonflies and damselflies = 9
Reptiles = 1
Amphibians = 0
💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature
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