The passage of a weak cold front meant a cloudy start followed rapidly by bright sunshine. Still reasonably warm, but with a moderate south-westerly adding a slightly fresher feel.
For the first hour I was determined to prove my previous posts wrong by searching for warblers. Helped by two tit flocks which typically carried a few warblers with them, I eventually tallied five Whitethroats, a Lesser Whitethroat, a Blackcap, and seven Chiffchaffs. Clearly they are still around, but probably in reduced numbers.
Another difference from my last visit was that the exceptional numbers of hirundines have now reduced back to more expected levels, with about 30 House Martins and 20 Swallows present.
By the time I got to the flash field I had not photographed anything, and was dismayed to find that the nearest flash was completely birdless. The furthest flash by contrast contained at least 58 Teal and a newly arrived Greenshank.
So time for a token bird shot.
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| Juvenile Greenfinch |
The walk back took in the brambles and nettles which border the field, an absolutely splendid place for looking for insects (and blackberries).
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| Female Dark Bush Cricket |
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| Rosel's Bush Cricket |
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| Fly on a Blackberry |
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| Ichneumon Wasp Achaius oratorius being approached by a small spider |
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| Small Copper |
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| Common Blue - a bit past its best |
Further on, I was noticing that there were a great many Daddy Long-legs's on the wing, when a passing Hornet was obviously thinking the same thing. It landed abruptly and started munching on something.
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| Strangely long legs for a Hornet |
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| Watch out, there's a Hornet about |
I'll try to get back to looking at birds next time.
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