Sunday May 13

It's been a slightly below par year for birds here. This morning was bright and largely sunny with a very light westerly breeze. Quite a few of the expected species have been absent, and after a good look round, they remain so. No Swifts, no Sand Martins, no Whinchats.

On the other hand we had an absolutely belting view of a Tawny Owl in a small oak along a hedge which has never held one before. Or at least we hadn't seen one there.

Tawny Owl

We rang the photographer Mike Lane, who we had seen earlier, and tried to explain which tree it was in. I hope he saw it.

Inevitably, the week after an all-dayer, you find yourself noticing birds you missed on the big day. In our case this comprised a female Wheatear (it looked possibly to be the Greenland race to me) and five Black-headed Gulls.

Wheatear

Black-headed Gull

The flash field looks in great nick, as it has done all Spring, but although it was nice to see that the two broods of Lapwing chicks are still doing well, a single Little Ringed Plover remains the only wader present.

We started to consider other creatures.

Brown Hare

There were plenty of Hares visible, if you looked carefully. But our main attention was taken by insects. Some early dragonflies are now on the wing.

Broad-bodied Chaser

Blue-tailed Damselfly

As well as a Broad-bodied Chaser and a Blue-tailed Damselfly, we saw about 20 Large Red Damselflies. We spent a little time at the one spot on the patch where you sometimes see Beautiful Demoiselles, but we drew a blank. Compensation was provided by the sight of an enormous queen Hornet.

Hornet

The butterfly count was steady, with single figures of Large White, Brimstone, Orange Tip, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Green-veined White, and Speckled Wood.

Speckled Wood

We also spotted a small moth, which has turned out to be the first of its kind I have noticed. It took me a long time scrawling through images of moths before I worked out what it was.

Small Yellow-underwing

This is a day-flying moth which is described as fairly common in Warwickshire, although there have been no local records for fifty years. Probably only because no-one has looked.

Another group which interests me, but is a minefield when it comes to identification, are bees. Here are some we saw today.

Probably Ashy Mining Bee

Nomad Bee sp

No idea

In the last image the apparent yellow of the hind leg is, I suspect, a coating of pollen. If anyone comes up with an identification I will update the caption.

Finally, I have news (well rumour). I have heard from two sources that shooting of Pheasants and Partridges at Morton Bagot will not resume in the autumn. It will be interesting to see what affect this will have on the local bird population.