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 damselflies: Emperor 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)

Butterflies: Ringlet (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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Restore and rewild our natural world
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