Wonderful flower filled meadows at this site today, my first visit to the reserve. Weather was generally fine, sunny at first though gradually clouding over and threatening to rain.
Quite a few Wall were present, especially in the large meadow nearest the car park. Brimstone and Peacock were also easily found there, plus single Painted Lady and Small Tortoiseshell. The latter was my first for this species since the Spring.
Further on, in 'The Valley', there was an obliging female Silver-washed Fritillary, while other butterflies were Small Copper, Comma, Common Blue, Ringlet, several Brown Argus, and the ubiquitous Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown.
Ringlet seem generally thin on the ground this year, and the same applies to second generation Common Blue. Only singles of both these species were found today for example. Perhaps the paucity of Common Blue is due to the poor spring weather, hitting the first generation hard.
Other interesting insects included Dark Bush-cricket and Ruddy Darter.
Although birds were generally quiet there were two very vocal Buzzards, probably young birds.
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| Wall |
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| Brimstone (male) |
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| Painted Lady |
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| Silver-washed Fritillary |
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| Common Blue |
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| Comma |
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| Ringlet |
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| Brown Argus |
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| Small Copper |
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| Dark Bush-cricket (male) |
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| Dark Bush-cricket (female) |
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Ruddy Darter
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| Buzzard |
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