A young male Beautiful Demoiselle
A male Banded Demoiselle
Other sightings were lots of Meadow Browns and Brimstones with one or two of the latter showing signs of wear and tear. A Holly Blue was only my second sighting this year and a Small Skipper my first. Dawn is very good at spotting caterpillars and it wasn't long before she found one crossing the path. I've yet to ID it but she also found a moth in the vegetation, which at first glance looked as if it had died. In fact it was the contrary, what she had spotted was a Large Yellow Underwing newly emerged and pumping its wings up.
Meadow Brown
Possibly an Oak Eggar caterpillar
Possibly an Oak Eggar caterpillar
A newly emerged Large Yellow Underwing
Other bugs out and about were Drone Flies, Scorpion Flies, a Leaf Beetle (Donacia vulgaris) and a surprise when we got back to the car was a Wasp Beetle sunbathing on the car roof.
Leaf Beetle (Donacia vulgaris)
Leaf Beetle (Donacia vulgaris)
Wasp Beetle
Wasp Beetle
On the bird front there were plenty of juveniles about, with young Blue Tits very much evident wherever we were. A Wren was spotted with a juicy caterpillar in its beak heading off in to the heart of the woodland, which then got me thinking how very wrong it was off the Forestry Commission to be cutting huge swathes of trees down with thick vegetation around their bases. Surely they could have waited until at least the end of the Summer. Judging by the destruction I saw, there must have been an awful lot of casualties. But hey whose going to now know!
There are still plenty of warblers about and we heard Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Sedge Warbler. By the cottages there was a male Common Whitethroat letting every one know that this was his patch and as he flew from tree to tree and back up onto the telegraph wires he was joined momentarily by a Yellowhammer.
Common Whitethroat
Common Whitethroat
Yellowhammer
Yellowhammer just about to move on
Other birds of interest were a pair of Red-legged Partridges in the fields beyond the giant compost heap, a Green Woodpecker in the meadow, a Water Rail calling from the reed beds, a Grey Heron which flew over the pool by the River Cole and had a white tag on its right wing. Unfortunately I couldn't tell if there were any letters, numbers or anything else on it and also seen a Grey Wagtail flying over the car park when we got back to the car. The walk was just over an hour, which was long enough if you suffer from Hay Fever or if your a young pup.
A Water Rail calling from the Reed beds. (Courtesy of xeno-canto)
Shade at long last
Birds recorded: were 1 Grey Heron, Buzzard, 2 Red-Legged Partridge, Water Rail, Moorhen, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Grey Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, 5 Sedge Warbler, 3 Garden Warbler, 8+ Common Whitethroat, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 11+ Blackcap, 8+ Chiffchaff, 3 Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting.
Butterflies: 12+ Meadow Browns, 4 Small Tortoiseshell, 5 Brimstone, 2 Green-veined White and 1 Holly Blue.
Moths: Large Yellow Underwing
Damselflies: Beautiful Demoiselle and Banded Demoiselle.
Other insects: Drone Flies, Scorpion Fly, Leaf Beetle (Donacia vulgaris), Wasp Beetle and Meadow Grasshopper