This week there has been a surge in the number of butterflies in the garden.
Particularly welcome among the Painted Ladies, Red Admirals and Whites are a few Small
Tortoiseshell's.
After a series of bad years it would be good if they made a comeback this year. This was a very fresh and bright individual. One kept landing on the hedge and sunning itself.
I took a look at the
Restharrow Scrape this afternoon. There were at least four Little Ringed Plovers around and two or three of these were juveniles.
The yellow eye ring on adult at the front is showing well in the sunshine. The other bird is a lot duller and I think it is a juvenile.
There were several Yellow Wagtails around and their calls could be heard most of the time I was in the hide.
At this time of year, with the water level dropping there are a lot of insects around the edges of the islands and the wagtails are in almost perpetual motion chasing flies and other bite sized snacks.
As well as the resident Herring Gulls quite a few Black-headed Gulls were in for a wash and brush up, but unlike many areas there were no Mediterranean Gulls with them.
On the way back to the car there were several young Swallows waiting around to be fed by their parents.
They allowed reasonably close approach, but the adults were reluctant to come in while I was this close, so I backed off fairly quickly.
This week there has been a surge in the number of butterflies in the garden. Particularly welcome among the Painted Ladies, Red Admirals and Whites are a few Small Tortoiseshell's.
After a series of bad years it would be good if they made a comeback this year. This was a very fresh and bright individual. One kept landing on the hedge and sunning itself.
I took a look at the Restharrow Scrape this afternoon. There were at least four Little Ringed Plovers around and two or three of these were juveniles.
The yellow eye ring on adult at the front is showing well in the sunshine. The other bird is a lot duller and I think it is a juvenile.
There were several Yellow Wagtails around and their calls could be heard most of the time I was in the hide.
At this time of year, with the water level dropping there are a lot of insects around the edges of the islands and the wagtails are in almost perpetual motion chasing flies and other bite sized snacks.
As well as the resident Herring Gulls quite a few Black-headed Gulls were in for a wash and brush up, but unlike many areas there were no Mediterranean Gulls with them.
On the way back to the car there were several young Swallows waiting around to be fed by their parents.
They allowed reasonably close approach, but the adults were reluctant to come in while I was this close, so I backed off fairly quickly.
1 comment:
Certainly is a good Butterfly year Tony. Best ever on my patch!
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