Sunday June 10

A nice day for a stroll, but the birds at least were in short supply. I wasn't surprised that the Garganey had gone, but the apparent absence of the Little Grebe was disappointing. Dave and I also found the dismembered remains of a juvenile Kestrel under this year's nest site. I would imagine it had been taken by a Fox after leaving the nest too soon.

Goldfinch

It wasn't all bad news though. The Cuckoo was still calling, and Dave counted four Reed Warblers shortly before I got there. We also saw a fledged juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker, noted that the brood of four Lapwing chicks was still intact, and saw plenty of Goldfinches feeding recently fledged young. Finally, the Tawny Owl was again roosting in the shed.

This was one of the few warm sunny days I have spent on the patch this year, so we paid more attention to the insects than to the birds. Butterflies recorded including Red Admiral, a female Common Blue, and Peacock, while I finally saw some proper dragonflies (Four Spotted Chasers), and several damselflies, Common Blue, Azure, Large Red, and Banded Demoiselles. Day-flying moths included Mother Shipton and Silver Y, plus several others I couldn't identify. I must start taking my moth guide into the field.

Speaking of moths, Craig Round has identified the mystery moths I saw in the week as lekking Ghost Moths. The You-tube link he suggested left no room for doubt. Thanks Craig.