K. Blain
Dont know about what a difference a day made...how about a week....!! A week back it was all Captain Scott...now its Betty Swollocks....!! Im certainly not complaining....huzzah...flaming June is here...and long may it stay...well...till flaming July and August turn up!!
0900 - 1200 Overcast becoming clearer, warm but becoming hot!
What a fab visit today....so lets start with something exciting...what a great find today on site...my first ever....
Bee Orchid, Ophrys apifera
Ive had to mourn the loss of Southern March Orchid, possibly succumbed to the extended flooding that has occurred the past two Winters and well in to Spring. However, here we are...moving on...and hoping that it may be possible to have two species of Orchid on site one day.....but this was a fantastic find...and yes....I am excited about it...!!
And another first....
Grizzled Skipper, Pyrgus malvae
Yes, I know, they are out there....butterflies arent my best subject....im sure I will, no doubt, have walked past or seen loads....but its another one of those...if I had the time...anyway, thats immaterial, because here it is and I even managed to get a reasonable photo of it too....
And, back to something Great....
Great Lettuce, Lactuca virosa
Ive read that it grows up to 2 metres tall....this one is as tall as me, around 5' 7 (you will have to do your own conversion, im old school...!)....anyway, since locating the initial plant a couple of weeks ago I have now found around a dozen plants including this one, the tallest of them. Very impressive.
And yes...there were birds....the Greenfinch wasnt doing any flying display but was happily singing from a shrub across one of the fields. A family of Long Tailed Tits went past including brown juveniles and pink adults...nice...! Wont be long before the juveniles will rid themselves of their brown appearance and become indistinguishable from mum and dad.
3 Buzzards were around, 2 quite close and the other way up in the sky calling. A Kestrel was the other bird of prey around today.
Talking of display and song, 4 Lesser Whitethroats were readily singing and one in particular, at Warbler Corner, was flying/displaying and singing all at the same time....another first, never seen that before. And he was quite conspicuous at the top of a shrub giving it all.
Warbler Corner has become quite busy....Lesser Whitethroat obviously....Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Garden Warbler (3 singing today) were all singing as well....a nearby Nightingale (4 singing today) was happy to join in. A Linnet was carrying nesting material in to the brambles.
A Little Egret flew in to the pits as I was walking back along the South side. A female Mandarin Duck was on the island.
Over all...a pretty good visit.
I was equally excited when I found my first bee Orchids here graham, but they got ploughed in and turned to grass silage :-( No Grizzled skipper here though, be good to get that on my patch butterfly list :-)
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