The weather is now warm and sunny with gentle breezes from the west or occasionally the north, or as a birder might put it, bloody hopeless. Chuck June into the mix and its tempting to sit at home and do nothing.
But then you have to remember previous Junes when Red-backed Shrikes, Melodious Warblers and their ilk have turned up. You just never know.
So I went to Morton Bagot determined to ignore insects and look only at birds. You can probably guess how that went. But it was a solid birdy start. A male Stonechat was visible on the top of a willow before I'd even left the car, and I was determined to try and get some shots of the Reed Warblers now inhabiting the reeds at the dragonfly pools.
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| Reed Warbler wearing its bling with pride. |
One of them had been ringed, and it seems likely that this would be a bird Tony and Leigh ringed last year.
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| The second bird appeared unringed |
Pleased with my start I paused to watch a brood of recently fledged Chiffchaffs before continuing towards the scrapes. Here, the water level in some scrapes remains high, allowing no mud for any potential waders, while others had virtually dried up. A Little Egret took flight as I appeared.
A Lesser Black-backed Gull squawked, always a good sign, and I looked up to see it was mobbing a Sparrowhawk. Scanning across towards Bannams I noticed that a Red Kite was getting similar treatment from a Carrion Crow, and at least four Buzzards were also circling. Perhaps it would be a good raptor day?
A short while later my optimism proved well founded as I spotted a Hobby flying towards me. For once I had the opportunity to get a photo as it powered past at speed.
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| The Hobby |
It was now officially a good day. Right on cue a Kestrel turned up, adding one more bird of prey to the mix.
Unfortunately the flash field failed to rise to the occasion as usual, but I did hear a couple of Lesser Whitethroats giving their rattling song, having been largely silent for a few weeks.
Insects soon captured my attention, and I just couldn't help snapping my first Large Skipper of the year, followed by a newly emerged Black-tailed Skimmer looking nothing like the classic blue males of mid summer.
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| Large Skipper |
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| Black-tailed Skimmer |
I met Sam MacVie surveying butterflies for HOEF, and so tagged along with him for a while. The numbers seem surprisingly low at the moment, but until today it had usually been overcast and a little cool. That may account for it.
We still saw a few day-flying moths, including Burnet Companion, Mother Shipton and my first Straw Dot of the year.
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| Burnet Companion |
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| Straw Dot |
After we went our separate ways I spotted the two juvenile Stonechats again in the ridge field before returning home.
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