A dry day with occasional sunshine. A fresh SW wind.
Middleton Nature Reserve (Janet)
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| The Mute Swan family still complete with eight cygnets |
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| A nearby crow wasn't tolerated |
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| Just two Mallard chicks remain, but now should be large enough to survive. |
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| Swift |
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| House Martin |
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| A nice stand of Purple Iris |
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| Both the above are Marsh Orchids, the upper probably a Common and this one possibly an Early. But there are likely many hybrids to confuse matters. |
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| The only butterfly on the wing were Small Heath |
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| Oak Eggar caterpillar |
They can move quite quickly.
South shore (Malcolm)
Just a walk along the sea wall towards high water. Plenty of gulls on the outfalls, but just Herring, Lesser Black-Backed, Common and Black-Headed. |
| Lesser Black-Backed, Common and Black-Headed gulls. |
Curlew 1 on Red Nab
Little Egret 1 on Red Nab
Six-Spot Burnet several around the scrub and sea wall near the lighthouse.
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| Six-Spot Burnet......thinking about making more spots |
Imperial Rd (Malcolm)
Just a passing check on my way home.
Buzzard 1 hunting
The Stonechat nest is definitely in or close to the bush shown on yesterday's post. The male was seen taking food to it twice in less than five minutes. These shots are taken from the road about 10m in front of the white lorry (I know technically it is a tractor unit).
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| Quite large portions now |
Also
Cetti's warbler, Sedge warbler and Chiffchaff singing. Common Whitethroat seen, including three together.
