Sunday May 12

A beautifully sunny morning with a very light breeze. Dave was back, so the team was back up to full strength.

It didn't take us long to add a year tick to the bird list as we spotted a pair of Hobbies catching insects above the church. Unfortunately we were by the former pool at the time so the views were distant. A pair of Little Ringed Plovers had taken refuge in the puddles that remain, and they may have been flooded out from the flash field where the recent rain has left very little mud. A pair of Teal has reappeared though.

Earlier we had heard at least two Reed Warblers in the reed-bed at Netherstead and had good views of a calling Lesser Whitethroat. Two pairs of House Martins were flying down to collect mown grass and mud for their nests.

House Martin

As this was the first sunny day on the patch for a while we were playing catch-up with insects for the year. Several Small Whites were present along with a probable Large White, a few Orange-tips, Brimstones, Speckled Woods, Peacocks, and a Small Tortoiseshell.

Small White

Also new for the tear were at least eight Small Heaths present across most of the rough grassland areas.

Small Heath

We saw about a dozen Large Red Damselflies and one Beautiful Demoiselle which annoyingly vanished as soon as it appeared to land in a large bramble patch.

We flushed a small moth which did its best to elude the camera until I managed to get a shot of it on the underside of a leaf. The fact that I was unable to identify it until I got home and checked the books (even though it turned out I had caught one in the garden last year) doesn't reflect well on my identification skills. Anyway, it was a Clouded Silver.

Clouded Silver

We also spotted an interesting caterpillar in the hedge, my plant identification is abysmal so I can only say it might have been on Sallow. For this one I will be phoning a friend. Martin Philip from the Warwickshire Moth Facebook Page has supplied the answer captioned below. Thanks Martin.

Yellow-tail moth caterpillar

On my way home I stopped to chat to George about the possibility of moth-trapping on his land, and in the course of a very affable conversation I spotted a Holly Blue flying, appropriately enough, around some holly in his garden.

Holly Blue

So a reasonably productive visit.