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a lovely May morning
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There was an excellent weather forecast on Wednesday so 9.30 found me walking through the gate at the Reserve. Half the pile of wood chip had been used along the paths, so someone had been busy! Certainly the muddy areas had now disappeared which made the walking much more pleasant. The air was full of birdsong but, as last week, the birds themselves were hard to spot amongst the vegetation. Here is what I recorded:Birds:
SC209693 Sedge Warbler x 2 ( one seen singing, the other heard at the same time nearby); Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Pheasant, Woodpigeon all heard but not seen. Jackdaw flying over carrying something in its bill.
SC209694 Moorhen x 2; Dunnock; Sedge Warbler heard not seen; Blackcap heard not seen; Wren; Swallow x 2 flying over; female Mallard with 8 ducklings.
SC208694 Robin, Chiffchaff heard not seen; Willow Warbler; Blue Tit; Magpie flying over; Woodpigeon; Pheasant x 2 heard at the same time; Song Thrush; Blackbird; Blackcap heard not seen. Goldfinch.
SC208695 Woodpigeon; Great Tit.
Butterflies:
SC209694 Green Veined White; unidentified white flying; male Orange Tip.
SC208694 Peacock on apple blossom; Holly Blue; unidentified White ( possibly Green Veined White) male Orange Tip x 2; female Orange Tip; Red Admiral on Hawthorn blossom.
SC209693 male Orange Tip.
Other:
SC209694 Rabbit.
SC208694 Rabbit.
SC208694 Carder Bee.
SC208695 Tetragnatha species spider.
SC208695 Oak apples developing on oak sapling ( evidence of Gall wasp).
SC209695 Common Wasp.
SC209695 more Gorse Shieldbug eggs and 3 Gorse Shieldbugs.
SC208694 Nursery Web Spider and Wolf Spiders.
SC209694 unidentified water beetle, several pond skaters.
SC209694 Wolf spider with egg sack walking on water surface tension.
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| Blackbird |
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Mallard with ducklings
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they were well camouflaged in the reeds
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Moorhen; the white dots are flying insects over the water
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Sedge Warbler in a birch tree
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close up of it warbling
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| Goldfinch |
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This Willow warbler was in the same tree most of the morning
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for me its song is the sound of summer
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male Orange Tip on Cuckoo Flower
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can you see the orange egg of the Orange Tip?
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Peacock butterfly on apple blossom
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Red Admiral on Hawthorn
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it stayed a long time
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Gorse Shieldbug eggs, usually laid in a double row
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Adult Gorse Shieldbug nearby
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A Tetragnatha species spider
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A Wolf Spider carrying egg sack & walking on water surface tension
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Campion and Hogweed
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usual view from the ramp
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hard to see the stream now
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usual view from the boardwalk
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Campion fighting its way through the Hemlock Water Dropwort
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Signage alerts visitors to presence of hidden stream
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the new pond continues to attract invertebrates
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Rowan now inblossom
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Garlic Mustard/ Jack by the Hedge/ Hedge Garlic
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Sycamore flowers
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Oak apples forming - evidence of a Gall wasp
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one of the few areas where the grass is kept short
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view from the hide ramp
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Hawthorn is in blossom throughout the reserve
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Annoying how people leave their litter behind!
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It's hard to take photographs or look through binoculars when you are also having to carry other people's litter away!
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the meadow area
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looking back as I left the reserve
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And a short video to close - this is a terrestrial Wolf Spider carrying its egg sack. It hasn't fallen in. I have watched them walk across the surface tension quite happily from rock to rock round the edge of the pond. Enjoy listening to the Willow Warbler in the background too.
Please click on photos to enlarge them
