Saturday 25 June 2011

The above photo shows the dreadful conditions this morning, drizzle, low cloud and a stiff breeze, late in the afternoon it couldn't have been more different, the sun was out and the temperature was in the mid 20's C !

Unsurprisingly, in the conditions, very little of note was seen, in the 2 hours I spent walking over to the College grounds and back, just 32 species were recorded, most of those were only heard or glimpsed, it really was quite dire.

I left the second part of the walk until the afternoon, hoping for some improvement in the light, but the low cloud had only lifted slightly, and only another ten species were added to the list. It would be hard to pick out any highlights, but the LESSER WHITETHROAT was singing in the Greenhouse Grounds, I always enjoy its rattly song, 20 odd SWIFTS were hawking for insects in the humid air, and of course I cant take the COOTS for granted over on the Lakes, this is after all the first June they have been present :-)

By 3 o' clock the sun had finally started to break through, and the temperature shot up, although the wind was still brisk, so i went back out for a walk around the Tree Nursery for a butterfly hunt. I mostly found Small Skippers and Meadow Browns, but a Tortoiseshell, Small and Large White and a Green Veined White also showed up. There were also large numbers of White-Legged Damselflies about.

Whilst hunting for Butterflies, I added KESTREL, LESSER BLACK BACKED GULL and an immature BLACK HEADED GULL to the day list, bringing it to 45 species in the protracted days visit. Tomorrow is forecast to be blue skies and scorching hot, so i'll be out at the crack of dawn to avoid the heat, as will, I suspect, most of the sensible birds :-)

I did take the camera out eventually, and this CHIFFCHAFF posed briefly
I thought this Skipper below could have been an Essex Skipper, but i'm not so sure now, looks like a Small.

Lastly, a Green Veined White.

9 comments:

Derek Faulkner said...

If the weather forecast is correct you could be disappointed with the crack of dawn weather tomorrow, could be a bit murky, but after that a whole day of blissful weather.

Jason K said...

Looks like another poor day for you weatherwise Warren.

Nice flutter photos. The Skipper looks like a Small Skipper to me mate

ShySongbird said...

Dull for most of the day here Warren then it brightened up late afternoon but had a few things that had to be done so thought an evening walk would be good... it's gone dull again :(

Nice to see those butterflies, at least it reminds me what they look like! ;)

Greenie said...

Warren ,
Would agree with yourself and Jason on the Small Skipper .
That wind was a killer again .

Warren Baker said...

Jase,
I thought as much mate :-)

Songbird,
Tomorrows the day, Butterfly weather is immenent!! (Only for 2 days though)

Greenie,
The wind has plagued us all year, barely a day without it :-(

Chris said...

Very nice photos and tour Warren but it looks like the sun is hiding in your area too... I've not been out for more than 15 days... The weather in the evening is just crap!!

Kelly said...

...my goodness, Warren! What kind of weather are you having? Looks more like autumn. At least the little skipper comes with a warm golden yellow! (We also have been living behind clouds too...but the temps are warm enough...)

Anonymous said...

Similar conditons up here, Warren. But it turned out good in the end.

Kingsdowner said...

A hint on Skippers..... iof it's June, it's a Small, and if it's July it's an Essex.
Life's too short to study antennae!