Date: 19th July 2024
Time: from 8 a.m.
Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 18°C to 24°C
Despite a relatively early start, it was very warm
and turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far. The main purpose of my visit was to again record and photograph butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies.
Although initially slow going, I eventually had a
very successful visit with a new site record, namely Brown Hawker, and a
further 2 new site records for 2024, namely Small Skipper and Gatekeeper.
This morning, I only visited the northern
section of the site including the grassland and pond. However, on reaching this
area, I was extremely disappointed to see that all the wild grasses, flowers
and other plants had been completely cut back to ground level. Result …. a complete
desert with none of the butterflies, bees or other insects that are usually
present. Whoever made the decision to undertake this “maintenance” should be ashamed
of themselves!
Fortunately, the perimeter hedges and the pond
still held some butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies
and I recorded the following during my visit:
Dragonflies
and damselflies: Brown Hawker (1), Emperor
Dragonfly (2), Ruddy Darter (2), Azure
Damselfly (at least 10), unidentified
“blue” damselflies (at least 30 but probably most or all were Azure Damselflies given that I had no photos of Common Blue Damselfly), Blue-tailed
Damselfly (at least 2), Emerald
Damselfly (4)
Butterflies: Marbled
White (1), Small Skipper (1), unidentified “golden” skipper
species (at least
5), Comma (1), Red Admiral (1), Large White (at
least 5), Small White (1), Gatekeeper (at least 20), Meadow
Brown (at least 20)
The pond very quickly produced 2 Emperor Dragonflies
which were eventually joined by my first ever sighting of a Brown Hawker
for the site. Unfortunately, like the Emperor Dragonflies, the Brown
Hawker was extremely active and did not settle at all to enable any photos.
Generally, but as expected during the summer
months, birds were more difficult to see and hear.
Up until my last visit on 29th June 2024, singing male Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps were still very evident across the
site. However, on this visit, I only heard a distantly calling Chiffchaff.
I saw 3 Green Woodpeckers during my visit, a
presumed pair together in the wooded clearing area at the end of the Larkins
Tyres access track and another in the northern section of the site. I also
heard a single calling Great Spotted Woodpecker in the
northern section of the site.
Species recorded during this visit were as follows
(heard only records in italics):
Chiffchaff
Blue Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Robin
Dunnock
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Pied Wagtail
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Jay
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Woodpigeon
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Marbled White
Small Skipper
Comma
Red Admiral
Large White
Small White
Gatekeeper
Meadow Brown
Brown Hawker
Emperor Dragonfly
Ruddy Darter
Azure Damselfly
Blue-tailed Damselfly
Emerald Damselfly
Here are some photos from my visit ….
Photo: Emerald Damselfly
Photo: Emerald Damselfly
Photo: Emerald Damselfly
Photo: Emerald Damselfly
Photo: mating male and female Azure Damselflies
Photo: Azure Damselfly
Photo: Azure Damselfly
Photo: Azure Damselfly
Photo: Azure Damselfly
Photo: Azure Damselfly
Photo: Blue-tailed Damselfly
Photo: female Ruddy Darter
Photo: Small Skipper
Photo: Small Skipper
Photo: Gatekeeper
Photo: Gatekeeper
Photo: Gatekeeper
Photo: Meadow Brown
Photo: Meadow Brown
Site totals for 2024 to date (2023 totals in
brackets):
Birds = 40 (47)
Mammals = 3 (3)
Butterflies = 16 (23)
Dragonflies and damselflies = 9 (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
Love nature .... act now
Restore and rewild our natural world
Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife
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Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature
