I was very tempted to resume my wandering this morning, but as circumstances conspired to prevent me from doing any birding at all over the weekend I felt the patch needed a look.
As far as birds went it turned out to be just a case of confirming a few of the regulars to be breeding. The most noteworthy event being the fact that the Lapwing chick against all the odds is very close to fledging.
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| No longer a chick, with proud parent in attendance |
Fortunately, being a largely sunny and warm morning, insects were well able to take the strain. I am spoilt for choice regarding what to show. New butterflies for the year were Large Skipper and Meadow Brown. New dragonflies were Ruddy Darter, Broad-bodied Chaser, and Emperor. While day-flying moths new for the year were Timothy Tortrix, Straw Dot, Cinnabar, and Yellow Shell.
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| Large Skipper |
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| Ruddy Darter |
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| Yellow Shell |
Numerous other insects vied for my attention. My favourite was a Yellow-banded Sawfly which was not something I can remember having seen before....although I might have.
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| Yellow-banded Sawfly |
Also impressive was the tens (maybe over a hundred) of Azure Damselflies, most getting on with the important business of procreation.
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| Azure Damselflies |
I looked closely at many of them, but could not find a single Common Blue Damselfly.
I'm currently a little way into a new book, Rebirding by Benedict MacDonald. The early chapters provide a thought-provoking catalogue of the wonders on offer to our forefathers, highlighting how UK wildlife today is a pale shadow of what it once was.
I'd like to think that initiatives like Heart of England Forest and the Knepp Project in Sussex point the way to a brighter future. It's the kind of book which should be compulsory reading for our politicians. Highly recommended (and I haven't even got to the upbeat bit yet).
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