A freshening NW wind. Mainly sunny but still quite cool, it never reached 15°C.
Middleton Nature Reserve
Both myself (Malcolm) and Janet checked around lunchtime. There were only a few insects on the wing, and most of those were disturbed. Between us we managed.
Dragonflies:
Emperor 1
Broad-Bodied Chaser several
Four-Spotted chaser several
Black-Tailed Skimmer 3
Common Darter 1
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| Black-Tailed Skimmer |
Peacock 1
Speckled Wood 4
Orange Tip 1 female
Common Blue 1 female
Small Heath 1
Moths:
Silver Y several
Burnet Companion 3
Mute Swan female still sitting on nest, male seemingly becoming more detached
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| Shelduck on main pond |
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| Tufted Ducks on "no swimming" pond |
Mallard 13
Gadwall 1 male
Coot 4 plus 1 chick.
Little Grebe 1 plus 2 chicks. First it was feeding.
Whatever it caught, it must have been tiny as it wasn't visible in its bill as it dashed over to feed a chick. Or, perhaps it had just been feeding itself and was keen to get back to its chicks.Warblers, not many were singing, but eventually the following were heard.
Cetti's warbler, Reed warbler, Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler.
This Chiffchaff was singing both the regular notes plus a variation at a different pitch, sounding like an echo of itself. Its bill looks "pursed" when it was making the softer notes, a bit like a bad ventriloquist!
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| Young Blue Tit being fed Other youngsters seen today included Common Whitethroat and Bullfinch |
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| An unusually plump, likely pregnant, Grey Squirrel |
