Date: 18th April 2025
Time: from 8:45 a.m.
Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 12°C to 14°C
Other than the recent work party, this was my first visit to the reserve in April 2025.
Butterfly season has arrived with the warm temperatures and during my visit this morning, I added my first 4 butterfly species to my site list for 2025:
Orange Tip: male and female along the track to Fox Pond and frequently feeding on the flowering Common Lilac
Speckled Wood: 2 along the track to Fox Pond
Green-veined White: 1 along the track to Fox Pond and 1 at the edge of Thorny Wood
Small White: 1 along the track to Fox Pond and 1 between the Spanish Steps and the A127 pedestrian gate
During my visit this morning, I also added another bird species to my site list for 2025 taking it to 32 species: House Sparrow (a small group of birds largely hidden but calling from the hedge bordering the path and Thorny Wood)
Having recorded both Willow Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat on my visit to my St. Nicholas Church local patch site on 13th April 2025, I was hoping for the same during my visit to the reserve this morning but unfortunately this was not the case.
Other highlights during my visit were as follows:
Chiffchaff: at least 6 singing males (1 seen) plus 1 calling bird heard and 3 birds (assumed 2 males and 1 female) seen engaged in much flying and chasing in the area around the boardwalk and the start of the track to Fox Pond
Blackcap: at least 6 singing males (2 seen)
Great Spotted Woodpecker: male seen for several minutes at the top of a tree adjacent to the path between the storage shed and the Eastfield Road entrance
Green Woodpecker: 1 heard calling in the wooded area behind Willow Pond
Stock Dove: 1 again heard calling from the wooded area behind Meadow Pond following my first record of the year during my last visit
Moorhen: 1 again seen on Willow Pond and the pair on Meadow Pond now have at least 4 very young juveniles
I also saw a Grey Squirrel in the wooded area around the Spanish Steps.
Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Blackcap
Grey Squirrel
Orange Tip
Here are some photos from my visit ....
Photo: male Blackcap
Photo: male Blackcap
Photo: juvenile Moorhen
Photo: male Orange Tip
Photo: male Orange Tip
Photo: male Orange Tip
Photo: Green-veined White
Photo: Green-veined White
Photo: Small White
Photo: Dark-edged Bee-fly
Site totals for 2025 to date (2024 totals in brackets):
Birds = 32 (38)
Total species list for the site:
Birds = 49
Love nature .... act now
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