This morning I had a visit to Benfleet and Hadleigh Downs. This large hilly area comprising a mosaic of grassland, scrub and light woodland runs down to grazing marsh and the seawall and saltmarsh alongside Benfleet Creek. There are spectacular views of the Thames estuary down to Southend and across to Kent.
Prompted by a sunny morning and temperatures of up to 16°C, my main target species was the Adder on the assumption that some of these reptiles would have emerged from their winter hibernation.
My last trip to the site, albeit about a month later, was on 17th April 2020 and this proved to be very successful with numerous sightings of Adders and many opportunities for photos.
Unfortunately, this morning's visit was unsuccessful with not a single sighting of an Adder.
Nonetheless, it was an excellent visit on a warm and sunny spring day. Other than the usual and expected range of common species, the highlights were Common Buzzard (2 seen soaring together), Sparrowhawk (2 seen displaying together plus another individual) and Chiffchaff (9 singing males seen plus at least a further 5 heard). Whilst Chiffchaff song was evident continuously throughout my visit, I failed to hear or see my first Blackcap of the year.
In addition to the birds, the warm and sunny weather produced many butterflies: Peacock (9), Comma (3), Brimstone (2), Small Tortoiseshell (2) plus several others unidentified due to distance or light. These were my first records of the year of Peacock, Comma and Small Tortoiseshell.
💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature
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