Some overnight rain encouraged me to give Earlswood a look this morning. I discovered one or two minor arrivals; a juvenile Little Ringed Plover and a Little Grebe on Engine Pool along with the continued presence of a Common Sandpiper, a Common Tern, and a Willow Warbler among the numerous Chiffchaffs.
I decided to walk around Terry's Pool after Engine Pool for a change, but other than lots of Tits it didn't hold that many birds.
Just before I left I joined John Oates on the dam. He asked me if I was into botany at all, and I had to admit that I wasn't. The main problem being that I can never remember the names of plants from one year to the next (or even a week later sometimes). John on the other hand is much more on the ball, and was pleased to show me at least seven species I have never knowingly seen, growing along the dam.
These were, if I've remembered correctly, the rather scarce Monk's Hood Skullcap, and Trifid Bur-Marigold, and also Orange Balsam, Corn Mint, Niger, Hemp Agrimony, and Gypsywort.
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| Trifid Bur-Marigold |
I'll have to come back one morning when I've got more time to try to find them again.
While we were chatting John was pleased to discover the first colour-ringed juvenile Black-headed Gull here since the breeding season.
It turned out to have been ringed near Marlingford, Norwich on June 10 2025. That's a pretty fair distance for a dispersing juvenile gull.
Changing the subject to the dreaded moths, I managed to find only my third Hawthorn Blotch-miner yesterday simply by opening the bathroom window. This species, Coptotriche marginea for those who prefer latin names, is common and no doubt resident in our garden.
It is of course a micro, and therefore not everybody's cup of tea. It is perched on the rim of my smallest glass pot just about to regain its freedom.
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