SS15 wildlife watching: Visit to Noak Bridge Nature Reserve

Date: 13th June 2023

Time: from 8:45 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 18°C to 24°C

After my visit to my other local patch site around St. Nicholas Church yesterday, the very warm and sunny weather prompted a visit to Noak Bridge Nature Reserve, the focus being on reptiles, amphibians, dragonflies, damselflies and butterflies.

I had an excellent visit which provided the following records:

Butterflies: Red Admiral (1), Holly Blue (7), Speckled Wood (2)

Dragonflies: Black-tailed Skimmer (1 female)

Damselflies: Emerald Damselfly (1), Large Red Damselfly (2), Azure Damselfly (at least 10), Common Blue Damselfly (at least 1), Blue-tailed Damselfly (4)

Reptiles: Grass Snake (1)

Amphibians: Edible Frog (at least 3)

Red Admiral, Black-tailed Skimmer, Common Blue Damselfly and Emerald Damselfly were all new site records for 2023.

I spent around an hour at Meadow Pond which provided all of these records other than the female Black-tailed Skimmer which landed on the Meadow Boardwalk and the butterflies which I saw elsewhere across the reserve.

As I arrived at Meadow Pond, and as on my last visit on 24th May 2023, I quickly saw a Grass Snake swimming. It appeared intermittently whilst I was at Meadow Pond and I was able to get a number of photos, although this was slightly more challenging than on my last visit due to even more growth of the pond vegetation.

Photo: Grass Snake

Meadow Pond also provided sightings of 3 Edible Frogs plus occasional calling from the centre of the pond.

Photo: Edible Frog

The abundance of dragonflies and damselflies at Meadow Pond was slightly less than on my previous visit on 24th May 2023 but the Emerald Damselfly there and the female Black-tailed Skimmer on the boardwalk were both welcome sightings.

Photo: female Black-tailed Skimmer

Photo: Emerald Damselfly

Photo: Azure Damselfly

Photo: Large Red Damselfly

Photo: Large Red Damselfly

Photo: Common Blue Damselfly

With regard to butterflies, Red Admiral was the first species that I saw during my visit followed by 7 Holly Blues and 2 Speckled Woods.

Photo: Red Admiral

Photo: Speckled Wood

Photo: Holly Blue

I slowly walked round the boardwalk several times but, despite the warm and sunny weather, I again failed to see any Common Lizards which can show well on the southern section bordering East Meadow.

With regard to birds, it was relatively quiet being later in the morning than when I usually visit but highlights during my visit included the following: Common Whitethroat (a singing male again heard at the eastern end of the reserve whilst I was at Meadow Pond), Blackcap (1 singing male and 2 calling birds heard), Chiffchaff (4 singing males heard)

With regard to mammals, my only sighting was a sadly dead Common Shrew on the northern section of the boardwalk.