An Interesting Day

As I pulled the kitchen blinds up this morning, it was a bit of surprise to see the Buddleia covered in butterflies. Considering that yesterday I only saw 1 Large White, it was a bit of shock to count 10 Small Tortoiseshells on it today. Mind you when I checked the outdoor thermometer it was reading 20°C, so the heat was definitely a key factor in drawing them out.

Two of the 10 Small Tortoiseshell butterflies on the Buddleia this morning.

The pebbles help warm up a pair of Small Tortoisehells

As I stepped out of the back door a pair of very vocal Yellow Wagtails flew over the house heading in a southerly direction. In the opposite direction 4 huge flocks of Racing Pigeons flew fast and low over the house. The whoosh of of their wings was very noticeable.

Just a few of the Racing Pigeons that were released this morning

As I walked around to the back of the house a large butterfly caught my eye. A Painted Lady, my first of year was also feeding on the Buddleia. Most come from the continent, this one was in pristine condition, so maybe a British hatched one! 

My first Painted Lady of the year.

In pristine condition.

Other butterflies to arrive were a Large White and a Green-veined White. A couple of Small Tortoiseshells caught me out. They were so pale and worn, that for a fleeting second I thought one of them was a damselfly. The wings were so transparent, that the only part of its body you could see clearly was the  abdomen. It really did look like a small damselfly. The other was just battered and in shreds.

A very worn and battered Small Tortoiseshell

As I turned to go back indoors a Red Admiral landed on the wall of the house and began sunning himself.

Red Admiral

Red Admiral

In the afternoon we visited Dawn's Mum and Dad in Aldbourne and as soon as we got out of the car, we had fantastic views of a Red Kite sailing over the house. As ridiculous as this sounds it was so close to the rooftop I couldn't get far enough away to photograph it. In fact I had another opportunity later in the afternoon, but yet again it was too close. Other birds of interest were juvenile Goldfinches, Blue Tits and Long-tailed Tits passing through the garden. There was also a Song Thrush having a good feast on a snail.

Song Thrush

With a snail

Long-tailed Tit

Small Tortoiseshell

On the way back to Swindon, I noticed what look like a dead Buzzard in the sheep field on the right-hand side of Lottage just as you come out of the village. If it was a Buzzard it look like a light phase. Further up the road a Weasel scampered across the road and as we dropped down into Liddington a Fox was hunting in a recently harvested field.