A dry, sunny day to break the recent spell of poor weather.
Beginning the walk on SB the Bee Orchids were still in flower, though now well past their best. Fragrant and Pyramidal Orchids were the dominant species, especially on the far side of the site where the grass is thinner.
Butterflies were very active in PV, with a number of fresh Red Admirals and several Small Tortoiseshell. One-two dark Green Fritillary were feeding on thistle flowers, though were constantly on the move. Surprisingly there was no obvious sign of Marbled White here or DV.
Other insects of interest were a couple of hornet hoverfly (Volucella zonaria) also present on the thistles, two horseflies on the metal gate, plus a damselfly though to be an immature male Common Blue.
Reptile interest was provided by a fine female Slow-worm in PV, and two Adders in TF, one a juvenile the other a male, possibly both seen before.
Whilst in TF I heard what I thought was a Quail in the field above. Investigating further it proved to be very vocal, probably recently arrived. I only had a macro lens on the camera but rattled off a few shots in any case when the bird seemed fairly close. To my surprise I could see the bird on some of the images, poking its head above the grass.
 |
| Fragrant Orchid |
 |
| Pyramidal Orchid |
 |
| Red Admiral |
 |
| Dark Green Fritillary |
 |
| Dark Green Fritillary |
 |
| Small Tortoiseshell |
 |
| Meadow Brown |
 |
| Small Heath |
 |
| Horsefly |
 |
| Hornet Hoverfly |
 |
| Immature male Common Blue Damselfly? |
 |
| Slow-worm |
 |
| Juvenile Adder |
 |
| Male Adder |
 |
| Quail |
Comments
Post a Comment