The temperature's rising again, and Dave was back in the field after being sidelined by covid for a couple of weeks. I was hoping a walk around Morton Bagot might give him a chance of catching up with the Great White Egret, but there was no sign of it. We did at least see the Spotted Flycatcher which was still present.
Tony was busy ringing, his best capture being a Willow Warbler. Although there was no Egret, the flashes did contain a Shoveler, and three Green Sandpipers.
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| Willow Warbler - Tony K |
Fortunately the warm weather was good for insects. We saw a Black-tailed Skimmer, which was only my second this year, and a few Common Blue butterflies, plus a suspected Brown Argus, and a Painted Lady.
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| Black-tailed Skimmer |
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| Common Blue |
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| Painted Lady |
The highlight was saved for last. I have caught the micro Small Magpie, and also seen them in the field. But as far as I know I have never seen the macro moth Magpie. Until today that is. I spotted it fluttering out of some brambles and into the bottom of a hedge where I got a shot. I called Dave over and pointed it out, saying that it was probably a Small Magpie. But on uploading the photo and checking the books I found that I was wrong, it was an actual Magpie.
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| Magpie |
They're not rare, but a tick nonetheless. It definitely saved the day for me.
And just to prove that more eyes will produce more birds, John Chidwick visited in the afternoon and saw two Whinchats in the pool field, and two Red Kites over Bannams.
Finally, I now have the ringing results for Friday and Sunday:
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| Lesser Whitethroat - juvenile |
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