As I set off the bird song around me comprised mainly of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs. A Song Thrush was quite audible and other birds noted in quick succession were Garden Warbler, Wren, Robin, Blackbird, Dunnock, Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Mistle Thrush, Wood Pigeon, Goldfinch and Greenfinch. And I hadn't even left the car park!
As I made my way down towards the Hide at Brook Meadow a pair of Roe Deer crossed the track in front of me and disappeared into the wood on my right. Further down just past the Log Run another Roe Deer watched me from the cover of the trees and them wandered off further into the trees.
Roe Deer
In the meadow yet another Roe Deer was feeding and also here were 2 Willow Warblers, a Reed Bunting and a Common Whitethroat singing. Just beyond the hide a Chiffchaff was singing but with a few extra notes added in.
Around at the pool a juvenile Moorhen was lurking and as there wasn't much else to see there I headed off down towards the River Cole, following the Brook on my right. Not surprising really but there were very few insects about and my first butterfly of the day was a Meadow Brown half way down the brook at 6:55am. Still quite early for butterflies but it was warm and sunny. This was quickly followed up by a Beautiful Demoiselle, but both were pretty reluctant flyers. Along the brook were lots of White-lipped Banded and Common Amber Snails.
White-lipped Banded Snail
Common Amber Snail
At the river I turned left and made my way through the meadow, but after covering about 100 metres something caught my eye. A white butterfly. suspecting Marbled White I walked across the field to the hedgerow on the other side. The "Marbled White" if it was one, wasn't anywhere to be seen, but I did come across a Comma, Ringlet and another Meadow Brown. As I headed back across the meadow a small flock of Starlings landed on the telephone wires next to me, having just come off the recently mown field by the Pond.
Comma
Ringlet
Starlings
I followed the track between the river and pond and though there were no demoiselles to be seen, I did come across a Scorpion Fly. In this area there were both Sedge and Reed Warblers clamouring away, plus a few squawks from a Moorhen.
Scorpion Fly
Leaving the pond I made my way through the woods and as I approached the clearing where the trees were felled last month, there were juvenile Common Whitethroats and Garden Warblers being fed by their respective parents all along the hedgerow to my right. In amongst them was a pair of Dunnock and close by a Great Spotted Woodpecker was inspecting the fallen logs.
Great Spotted Woodpecker
The wood is about midway and I started heading back towards the main wood, passing the cattle on my left in the field with the tall aerial. As I walked down the track with Roves Farm behind me I caught a flash in my eye and there parked/abandoned in the trees half-way down the field was a green Peugeot 206. It certainly wasn't parked "properly" and being concerned that it had been abandoned by joy riders I gave the police a quick call just in case someone was missing a car this morning. As I was calling them a Small Tortoiseshell landed on my mobile and was quite happy to stay there while I spoke to the police desk at Devizes. The feedback I got was that there hadn't been any cars reported missing but they would let me know if anything came up. If that wasn't bizarre enough, the Small Tortoiseshell was still on the phone when I hung up and moved onto my hand when I put my mobile back in my pocket.
Small Tortoiseshell
I carried on down the track and turned into the wood towards the cottages, as I did so a Fox shot across the path and disappeared into the brambles. That's the second time I've seen a Fox in this area, which is hardly surprising as there were dozens of rabbits everywhere. Once pass the cottages I took the path to my right which almost double backs on yourself and takes you on the other side of the cottages. I've seen Marbled Whites here before by the wooden posts and sure enough there was one albeit half asleep and looking very worn.
Marbled White
From here it was just a case of following the path around to Roves farm, pass the dog dip pool and back to the car park. As I did so I came across a pair of Lesser Whitethroats, Red Admirals, Small Skippers, Gatekeepers, a Volucella pellucens Fly and a Ichneumon Wasp (Apechthis compunctor). A surprise was finding a Beautiful Demoiselle in the wood so far from water. All in all this was a lovely walk with a lot of interesting things found!!
Hogweed Bonking Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)
Beautiful Demoiselle
Ichneumon Wasp (Apechthis compunctor)
Hoverfly (Syrphus ribeshi)
Fly (Volucella pellucens)
Large Skipper
Red Admiral
Drone Fly
Birds Recorded: 2 Moorhen (1 adult and a juvenile), 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, 1 Collared Dove, 1 Kingfisher, Green Woodpecker, 4 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Skylark, 2 Swallow, Dunnock, Robin plus a juvenile, Blackbird, Song Thrush, 5 Mistle Thrush, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, 5+ Garden Warbler, 5 Common Whitethroat plus 3 juvenile, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 14+ Blackcap, 15+ Chiffchaff, 3 Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Starling, Chaffinch, Linnet, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, 10+ Bullfinch and Reed Bunting.
Butterflies Recorded: 5 Red Admiral, 2 Green-veined White, 2 Large White, dozens of Small Tortoiseshell, Ringlets and Meadow Brown, 8 Large Skippers, 1 Marbled White, 5 Gatekeepers and 2 Comma. No Peacocks or Speckled Woods seen.
Damselflies and Dragonflies: 3 Beautiful Demoiselles, 1 Banded Demoiselle and a Broad-bodied Chaser.
Mammals: 5 Roe Deer, a Fox, dozens of Rabbits, 1 Grey Squirrel and a Shrew.
Other Invertebrate: Grasshopper sp., Hogweed Bonking Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva), Scorpion Fly, Blue Bottle, Cluster Fly, Fly (Volucella pellucens), Flesh Fly, Drone Fly, Hoverfly (Syrphus ribeshi), Ichneumon Wasp (Apechthis compunctor), White-tailed Bumblebee, White-lipped Banded Snail and Common Amber Snail (Succinea putris).