The weather continues to be warm, and inevitably things have started to settle down.
I've still been tempted to pay early morning visits to Earlswood, yesterday joining Joe Owens on the causeway in time to see two distant waders turn out to be nothing more exciting than two Common Sandpipers. A single Red Kite made up the numbers. This morning a solo vigil following impressive overnight thunderstorms was rewarded with a Little Ringed Plover and thirty Swifts.
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| Little Ringed Plover |
After breakfast I opted for Morton Bagot. The birding highlight was discovering that the pair of Lapwings at the flash field now has three tiny chicks in tow.
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| Lapwing with one and a half chicks if you look closely |
The nearest flash has been reflooded, so we are back to square one where the mud is concerned. Another pair of Lapwings was still quite agitated on the HOEF scrape field, so it's still possible there is a second brood there.
Skylarks seem to be doing quite well this year. I'm not sure how many pairs there are, but my guess would be a minimum of six across the site. Most views are of flying birds, usually singing. Today however one sang from the top of a small bush.
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| Skylark with crest most definitely not erect |
With relatively little new bird activity to talk about, the time is approaching when this blog becomes rather insecty.
A couple of days ago we saw our first Humming-bird Hawk-moth of the year in the garden. Plant some Red Valerian, and the species is almost guaranteed to turn up. Another migrant insect which is getting commoner year on year.
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| The blur of wings that is a Humming-bird Hawk-moth |
This morning I saw Common Blue butterflies, and a newly minted Large Skipper. Dragonflies were all over the place, but unlike at Earlswood a few days ago they were all the expected resident species.
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| Common Blue |
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| Large Skipper |
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| Four-spotted Chaser |
Sleepy summer is just around the corner.
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