Pittswood Birds

It was mainly cloudy with a few sunny spells this morning, but it felt much warmer than of late with higher humidity and little wind.

A three hour patch visit provided much of what can be expected here for the last third of May, no more additions to the months species list were found, but I am still clinging on to the hope that both Turtle Dove and Spotted Flycatcher might just put in an appearance, if not, this May would be the first ever that these two species have not been recorded here.

At this time of year my visits are mostly all about trying to locate recently fledged birds, so as to prove successful breeding on my patch, but no new species were found today, there are plenty of species dashing around carrying food though, like BLUE TIT, GREAT TIT, WREN, DUNNOCK, BLACKBIRD, CHAFFINCH, GREENFINCH, GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER and PIED WAGTAIL.

Also at this time of year my attentions turn to the Odonata and Butterflies that can be found here - if the weather is right! Today it was right, with little wind, some warm sun, and more importantly a bit of humidity. I spent 90 minutes in the scrubby Woods and along the edge of the Wet Woods and found my first Beautiful Demoiselles of the year in both habitats, while the latter habitat had my first Four Spotted Chaser of the year, plus a few Azure and White-legged Damselflies. Butterflies were relatively few, but both Large and Small white were seen as well as Holly Blue, Speckled Wood, Orange Tip, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock, still no Comma for the month though.

Here's a few images from my visit today..................

Female Orange Tip Butterfly

Speckled Wood Butterfly

Immature male, White-legged Damselfly