Week 42

Activity this week was around the bird table with Long tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Coal Tit all around this week, the Nuthatch was around this week also seen and heard.Common Buzzard put in a brief appearance, highlight this week was a flock of a dozen Redwings (winter Thrush) going thru

Insects no butterflies this week only single Hawthorn and Green Shieldbugs

Hawthorn Shieldbug

Advertisements

Week 41

A good week weather wise with some late high temperatures but unfortunately very few highlights but what was about was good.

A few Common Buzzards were over the site and Green and Hawthorn Shieldbugs could also be found but the prize for this week goes to a Small Copper aberration caeruleopunctata see photo, as you may see it has 4 blue spots on the hind wings as in Small Copper they are absent

Week 40

Haven’t  been around for a few week due to lack of time and lack of highlights, so I’m going to put the last four-week together now.

Bird highlights have been Common Buzzards on occasion, and Jays. Around the table Long tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Coal Tits.

Butterflies over this period have been Small Whites, Speckled Woods, Small Coppers but a single Red Admiral was the first for this year

Shield bugs have been Hawthorn and Hairy and a few Fungi have been appearing, highlight being Shaggy Ink Caps

The bonus however was a Southern Hawker Dragonfly , which actually landed for a photo opportunity

Week 36

Hols and being ill has seen me off site for a while but my return sees me coming back to a cut field and very few insects, but I did find some in another field. Small White, Small Copper, Green veined White and Speckled Wood.

Bird life was quiet this week a single Swallow over the lower car park was about the only highlight this week

Week 33

An exciting week with a new butterfly on site, one I’ve been hoping for a number of years, and the 15th August it happened, two Male Common Blues, it was a great sight to see them both. This brings the Butterfly list to 21 and a figure I now feel has reached its limit…….can I hope for a Brown Argus or even a Essex Skipper, you never know

Over butterflies this week were Small Copper, Small White and Speckled Woods

Moths this week included a Large Yellow Underwing on the Moth wall

Dragonflies were pinned down at last with Brown Hawker and a Southern Hawker ID on site this week

Birds this week included the Great Spotted Woodpecker, but sadly the Swallows haven’t been on site this week so I presume they are now on their southern migration

Southern Hawker

Common Blue

Week 32

Exciting week with a new moth species for site and Small Copper butterflies still being found on site and a new Ichneumon wasp species being found but I think this week main attraction has to go to the Swallows

Four young birds fledged this week and gave to those who saw them , great interest in their flight antics as they took flight for the first time. They rested up on the building structures as they allowed their parents to still continually feed them as they waited around, periodically stretching their wings, a short video can be seen here at my Flickr Site PRESS

A couple of Moth species found this week included the favourite Orange Swift and the new species being the Small Phoenix 

Butterflies this week included a few Small Coppers, Green veined White and Speckled Woods, these are slowly coming to the end of their flight periods for the year

Birds around this week included the Swallows, Nuthatch heard calling, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Wren and Goldfinch, a bit quiet at the moment

Small Phoenix Moth 

Week 31

Still busy on the insect front with plenty of butterflies about, Large Whites, Small Whites, Green veined Whites, Commas, Speckled Woods, Small Coppers, Holly Blues, with most of my time being spent with the Small Coppers.

Plenty of Hoverflies still about with Marmalde Hoverflies (Episyrphus balteatus), Sphaerophorias scripta and a Volucella inanis ( This hoverfly is slowly making its way northwards and was a nice one to find. A large Hoverfly of which this species is mainly a parasite of wasp larvae)

Moths this week have been low on the ground with only Udea lutealis of note

There is also of note a few Ichneumon wasps species about, these are a large and colourful species, did mange to get a photo of a Coelichneumon deliratorius. (see below photo)

Bird action was held up by the Swallows this week with the parents being very busy doing food runs, you can now clearly see the young birds at the nest edge, come early next week I think they will be flying around

Coelichneumon deliratorius