A few hours walking the patch early morning produced 53 species which included 1 Cuckoo, 67 Swift, 1 Lesser Black backed Gull, 2 Common Tern, 1 Barn Owl, 2 Great spotted Woodpecker, 3 Green Woodpecker, 2 Raven, 5 Sedge Warbler, 3 Reed Warbler, 5 Swallow, 5 Chiffchaff, 3 Blackcap, 3 Whitethroat, 1 Treecreeper, 2 Stonechat, 1 Yellow Wagtail,,1 Bullfinch, 3 Greenfinch, 2 Yellowhammer, 3 Reed Bunting, 1 Marsh Harrier, 3 Coot and 2 Common Buzzard. I decided to take a walk through the meadow in the hope of seeing a few dragonflies of which there were plenty of Ruddy Darter and a Black tailed Skimmer. As I walked past some Elm trees, it reminded me that I had seen quite a few photos of White-letter Hairstreaks on social media so stopped to have a scan. It wasn't long until I picked up a small dark butterfly chasing another and when it come to rest and I got it in the binoculars, I was stunned to see it was indeed a White-letter Hairstreak, what a result and a new species for the area. I continued checking and in about 30 minutes, had found at least 12+ White-letter Hairstreak. I must have walked past hundreds of times and never checked but it just goes to show you if you watch a patch intensively, there are surprises to be found. I also managed to find a female Southern Migrant Hawker a while later. Still very quiet on the 'nocmig' front with only a Green Sandpiper and Barn Owl recorded at night.
Barn Owl
53 species seen is a really impressive record, Marc, and many of those are very enviable too. However you've really got me jealous now, with yet another wonderful shot of a Barn Owl, and excellent shots of the White-letter Hairstreaks. I think that I'm going to have to look into the possibility of a stay at Nethergong next year - maybe in one of their huts. Best wishes - - - Richard
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Richard. You would certainly like your stay here. Time it right and you wouldn't even need to leave the site, plenty of wildlife etc to see. Take care.
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