Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 13th June 2024

Date: 13th June 2024 

Time: from 7:15 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny/cloudy, light wind, 12°C to 15°C

Compared to my last visit on 8th June 2024, it was slightly warmer and this resulted in greater success with sightings of butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies.

I added 3 new butterfly records for the site for 2024 .... Common Blue, Large Skipper and Meadow Brown

I also added 3 new dragonfly and damselfly records for the site for 2024 .... Four-spotted Chaser, Azure Damselfly and Emerald Damselfly

I walked the complete site and recorded the following:

Northern section including the grassland and pond: Four-spotted Chaser (2), Azure Damselfly (at least 10), Emerald Damselfly (1), Large Skipper (1), Holly Blue (1), Meadow Brown (3)

Church cemetery: Speckled Wood (2), Meadow Brown (3)

Area bordering the church car park: Large Skipper (1), Holly Blue (2), Meadow Brown (3)

Southern section bordering St. Nicholas Lane: Common Blue (1), Meadow Brown (2)

Southern wooded area: Speckled Wood (1)

Having eventually recorded my first Common Whitethroat of 2024 for the site on my last visit on 8th June 2024, albeit an unseen singing male, I finally saw what I assume was the same bird this morning in the northern section of the site.

Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps are still very evident across the site and, although I didn’t see any, I heard at least 4 singing males of both species.

I heard a distant calling Green Woodpecker in the northern section of the site plus a distant calling Great Spotted Woodpecker in the southern section of the site bordering St. Nicholas Lane. I also heard a calling Stock Dove as I walked home through the wooded area in the southern section of the site.

Yet again, I failed to see any Red Fox adults or cubs.

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

Common Whitethroat

Chiffchaff

Blackcap

Great Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Robin

Wren

Dunnock

Song Thrush

Green Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Stock Dove

Woodpigeon

Herring Gull

Common Blue

Holly Blue

Large Skipper

Speckled Wood

Meadow Brown

Azure Damselfly

Four-spotted Chaser

Here are some photos from my visit ….

Photo: Common Blue

Photo: Common Blue

Photo: Large Skipper

Photo: Large Skipper

Photo: Meadow Brown

Photo: Speckled Wood

Photo: Four-spotted Chaser

Photo: Four-spotted Chaser

Photo: Azure Damselfly

Photo: Azure Damselfly

Photo: Azure Damselfly

Photo: Azure Damselfly

Photo: Azure Damselfly

Photo: Azure Damselfly

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

Birds = 40 (47)

Mammals = 3 (3)

Butterflies = 10 (23)

Dragonflies and damselflies = 3 (12)

Reptiles = 0 (0)

Amphibians = 0 (0)

Total species list for the site

Birds = 65

Mammals = 7

Butterflies = 25

Dragonflies and damselflies = 13

Reptiles = 1

Amphibians = 0

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Visit to Noak Bridge Nature Reserve – 9th June 2024

Date: 9th June 2024

Time: from 7:45 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 11°C to 15°C

This was my first visit to the site since 22nd April 2024, largely due to my trips to various parts of the UK (see here) and to Slovenia from 18th May to 3rd June 2024 (more on this to follow).

I had a very successful visit this morning with 7 new records for the site for 2024: Common Buzzard, Edible Frog, Large Skipper, Holly Blue, Speckled Wood, Azure Damselfly and Blue-tailed Damselfly.

With regard to birds, a single Common Buzzard soaring high over the eastern end of the reserve was the undoubted highlight and my first record since 2022.

At Willow Pond, I saw 4 well-developed juvenile Mallards, presumably the same birds that I had seen as very young ducklings on my last visit on 22nd April 2024. I also heard a single calling Moorhen on Meadow Pond although the dense vegetation now meant that it was impossible to see it. Whether the pair that I had seen on several early spring visits remained to breed successfully is unknown.

Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps are still very evident across the reserve. Surprisingly, given the full tree and bush cover now, I actually managed to see 3 singing male Chiffchaffs and additionally heard 2 other singing males. However, despite hearing 5 singing male Blackcaps, I failed to see any of these birds.

There were at least 5 Edible Frogs at Meadow Pond judging by the “plops” in to the water as I approached but I did manage to see and photograph one of them.

I was not expecting to be successful in seeing any butterflies, dragonflies or damselflies given the relatively cool temperature and the experience at my other local patch site around St. Nicholas Church yesterday.

However, an early Large Skipper showed very well in the bushes adjacent to the track to Fox Pond and I also saw a Holly Blue in bushes adjacent to the southern section of the boardwalk. Finally, I saw 3 individual Speckled Woods at various locations along the paths in the wooded areas.

In addition, I saw at least 10 Azure Damselflies, both at Meadow Pond and adjacent to the southern section of the boardwalk, plus at least 2 Blue-tailed Damselflies at Meadow Pond. I also saw a flying medium-sized dragonfly from the boardwalk approaching Meadow Pond which I was unable to identify although I suspect it was one of the chaser species.

With regard to mammals, I saw 2 Grey Squirrels, the first at Meadow Pond and the second between the storage shed and the Spanish Steps, the latter enabling a photo.

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

Blackcap

Chiffchaff

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Robin

Wren

Song Thrush

Blackbird

Common Buzzard

Jay

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Woodpigeon

Mallard

Moorhen

Grey Squirrel

Edible Frog

Large Skipper

Holly Blue

Speckled Wood

Azure Damselfly

Blue-tailed Damselfly

Here are some photos from my visit ….

Photo: Large Skipper

Photo: Large Skipper

Photo: Large Skipper

Photo: Holly Blue

Photo: Holly Blue

Photo: Speckled Wood

Photo: Speckled Wood

Photo: Azure Damselfly

Photo: Azure Damselfly

Photo: Azure Damselfly

Photo: Blue-tailed Damselfly

Photo: Blue-tailed Damselfly

Photo: Common Buzzard

Photo: Common Buzzard

Photo: male Chiffchaff

Photo: juvenile Mallards

Photo: juvenile Mallards

Photo: Edible Frog

Photo: Grey Squirrel

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

Birds = 32 (36)

Mammals = 3 (2)

Butterflies = 6 (15)  

Dragonflies and damselflies = 2 (11)

Reptiles = 0 (1)

Amphibians = 1 (2)

Total species list for the site:

Birds = 49

Mammals = 4

Butterflies = 22

Dragonflies and damselflies = 14

Reptiles = 2

Amphibians = 3

Love nature .... act now

Restore and rewild our natural world

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Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature

Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 8th June 2024

Date: 8th June 2024 

Time: from 7:15 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 10°C to 13°C

This was my first visit to the site since 17th May 2024 due to my trip to Slovenia from 18th May to 3rd June 2024 (more on this to follow).

Surprisingly, I added 2 new records for the site for 2024: Common Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat. Having failed to record either species in April or May prior to my time away from the site, I was not confident in seeing them with the onset of early summer. However, I heard a distant singing male Common Whitethroat in the field and horse paddock to the north of the access track from Larkins Tyres and I saw 2 juvenile Lesser Whitethroats together in bushes adjacent to the pond in the northern section of the site.

Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps are still very evident across the site and, although I didn’t see any, I heard at least 5 singing males of the former and 4 singing males of the latter.

I heard a distant calling Green Woodpecker in the northern section of the site plus 2 calling Great Spotted Woodpeckers, the first from the access track from Larkins Tyres and the second in the northern section of the site. I also heard a calling Stock Dove in the wooded area at the eastern end of the cemetery.

For the fourth successive visit, I failed to find any Red Fox cubs and again I didn’t even see any adults.

The relatively cool temperatures were not favourable for finding any butterflies, dragonflies or damselflies but I did see a single Speckled Wood along the access track from Larkins Tyres.

During the time that I have not visited the site, it has become even greener with full tree cover and a significant growth of grasses in the unmown areas. The pond adjacent to St. Nicholas Lane which was excavated last year is now surrounded by poppies and other flowers.

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

Common Whitethroat

Lesser Whitethroat

Chiffchaff

Blackcap

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Robin

Wren

Dunnock

Blackbird

Song Thrush

Green Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Stock Dove

Woodpigeon

Herring Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Speckled Wood

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

Birds = 40 (47)

Mammals = 3 (3)

Butterflies = 7 (23)

Dragonflies and damselflies = 0 (12)

Reptiles = 0 (0)

Amphibians = 0 (0)

Total species list for the site

Birds = 65

Mammals = 7

Butterflies = 25

Dragonflies and damselflies = 13

Reptiles = 1

Amphibians = 0

Love nature .... act now

Restore and rewild our natural world

Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature

It's always a joy to see Red Fox cubs!

The only problem is that I failed to locate any Red Fox cubs on my St. Nicholas Church local patch site before my trip to Slovenia from 18th May to 3rd June 2024.

Unfortunately, the opportunity to see any really young cubs has almost certainly gone for this year. 

It's always a joy to see fox cubs! ✨

Now that it's May, you can see more cubs playing outside their dens 💚 https://t.co/6ckkgG34nn pic.twitter.com/waK9ihWvdL

— The Wildlife Trusts (@WildlifeTrusts) May 17, 2024

Love nature .... act now

Restore and rewild our natural world

Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature