Friday, 26 July 2024

Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 26th July 2024

Date: 26th July 2024

Time: from 11:30 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 20°C to 22°C

The main purpose of my short visit this morning was to again record and photograph butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies.

This morning, I only visited the northern section of the site including the grassland and pond and gained 2 new site records for 2024, namely Ringlet and Common Darter.

I recorded the following during my visit:

Dragonflies and damselfliesEmperor Dragonfly (1), Ruddy Darter (4), Common Darter (1), Azure Damselfly (at least 10), unidentified “blue” damselflies (at least 20 but probably most or all were Azure Damselflies given that I had no photos of Common Blue Damselfly), Blue-tailed Damselfly (at least 5), Emerald Damselfly (1)

ButterfliesRinglet (1), Small White (at least 5), Gatekeeper (at least 20), Meadow Brown (at least 20)

In addition, I saw a single Red Admiral and 2 Speckled Woods from along the access track from Larkins Tyres.

Generally, but as expected during the summer months, birds were more difficult to see and hear and I only recorded 8 species!

Up until my visit on 29th June 2024, singing male Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps were still very evident across the site. However, on this visit, I only heard 2 calling Chiffchaffs and 2 alarm calling Blackcaps.

In addition, I heard but did not locate a “screaming” Swift and I also heard a calling Green Woodpecker and a calling Pied Wagtail.

Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):

Swift

Chiffchaff
Blackcap
Blue Tit
Pied Wagtail
Green Woodpecker
Magpie
Woodpigeon

Ringlet

Red Admiral
Speckled Wood
Small White
Gatekeeper
Meadow Brown

Emperor Dragonfly

Ruddy Darter
Common Darter
Azure Damselfly
Blue-tailed Damselfly
Emerald Damselfly

Here are some photos from my visit ….
















Photo: Emperor Dragonfly
















Photo: male Ruddy Darter















Photo: male Ruddy Darter















Photo: female Ruddy Darter

Photo: female Ruddy Darter















Photo: female Common Darter
















Photo: female Common Darter
















Photo: female Common Darter

Photo: mating male and female Azure Damselflies
















Photo: Gatekeeper
















Photo: Gatekeeper
















Photo: Large Black Slug .... I have no idea how it got its name!

Site totals for 2024 to date (2023 totals in brackets):

Birds = 40 (47)

Mammals = 3 (3)
Butterflies = 17 (23)
Dragonflies and damselflies = 10 (12)
Reptiles = 0 (0)
Amphibians = 0 (0)

Total species list for the site

Birds = 65

Mammals = 7
Butterflies = 25
Dragonflies and damselflies = 14
Reptiles = 1
Amphibians = 0

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