The year moves on, and now we're in July. Arguably the best month for moth-trapping, and one of the worst for birds. But on the other hand, it's the month that adult waders start trickling back south so perhaps I should consider resuming the regular visits to watery habitats in the hope of getting lucky?
In the end I decided to keep on exploring for just a bit longer. This morning I went to Cruise Hill, and area of farmland just west of Redditch and still in my 10k Circle of course.
To my surprise I found I had been here before, sort of. In the late 1990s I recorded a Green Woodpecker as a casual observation. I have no recollection of the visit at all, so as far as I'm concerned this morning was breaking new ground.
The day got off to a bad start when I realised I had left my wellies at home. Ordinarily this shouldn't matter in July, but as it turned out I got very muddy indeed. The reason was that the route I followed took me down a densely bramble-strewn bridle path. It was fantastic for butterflies (mostly Meadow Browns), but became increasingly impassable.
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| The path ! |
In one section the hoof-churned mud was wet enough to suck my left shoe clean off. The reward for all this adversity were banks of brambles heaving with insects, and quite a few common insectivorous birds. Expectations were low, and the birds seen were just Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Whitethroats, etc.
Eventually I broke out of the jungle into a sunny glade where more insects took centre stage.
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| Small Magpie (moth) |
Walking back along the lanes I noted a pair of Linnets, and a few Marbled Whites to boost my butterfly biodiversity.
I know it all sounds very pedestrian, but I really enjoyed the visit and regretted not allowing more time. Ironically I didn't see a Green Woodpecker.
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