During this morning’s butterfly walk 170 Gatekeepers were seen, 23 Red Admirals, 9 Essex Skippers as well as good counts of several other species. The female Pintail was still on the Slurry Lagoon. PS.
All posts by Pete Smith
Redshank – 11th July
This morning a passage Redshank was on one of the islands in the Slurry Lagoon. Worryingly there was no sign of the Common Tern chicks, which were all too young to fledge. Possibly a visit from a predator occurred during the night. An adult flew in with a fish and didn’t seem to know what to do with it. PS.
Bittern – 3rd July
This morning there was a Bittern flying between the reed beds on the Slurry Lagoon. There were several Gatekeepers flying and the nettles by the Boundary Hedge had good numbers of Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars. PS.
Curlew – 29th June
This morning about sixty Swifts were feeding over one corner of the Slurry Lagoon and three Curlews flew over to the north, calling. The female Pintail was still present on the Slurry Lagoon. PS.
Pintail – 27th June
This morning the female Pintail was still on the Slurry Lagoon as were the Shoveler pair and a Little Egret. There were also broods of Mallard and Gadwall. The first fledged Black-headed Gulls had also flown across from the Deep Pit. PS.
Raven – 25th June
This morning, during the Wildlife Walk, three Ravens flew over the Slurry Lagoon, towards Burton Joyce. One was an adult with heavily moulted wings and the other two were juveniles, with perfect wings and slightly shorter tails. PS.
Pyramidal Orchid – 23rd June
During the Wildlife Walk today, around thirty Pyramidal Orchids were found on the Deep pit bank. Also seen were several species of butterfly including Large and Essex Skippers, and a Hobby. PS.
Shoveler – 22nd June
Today the first Shoveler, a male and a female, arrived back on the Slurry Lagoon. There were also five Little Grebes and four Oystercatchers flew over. SC.
Pintail – 18th June
This morning a female Pintail was on the Slurry Lagoon. The Slurry Lagoon also had Emperor, Black-tailed Skimmer and Four-spotted Chasers very active in front of the Causeway bench. PS.
Hobby – 11th June
This morning, during the Bird Count, a Cuckoo was calling for at least an hour. By the railway bridge a Hobby was seen trying very hard to flush out a Swallow over about ten minutes. A Painted Lady and a Ringlet were seen amongst other butterflies. PS.