I had a day off today so aimed to have a slow wander from Chambers Wall through to Shuart, via the embankment. It was mainly sunny with a breezy cool east north easterly wind. Skylark song filled the air as I walked up to the car park and a couple of faded Painted Lady butterflies were sunning themselves on the road. Overall it seemed very quiet bird wise apart from the usual suspects. A few Blue-tailed damselflies were here and there in the car park area and a young Dunnock disappeared into cover as I approached. From the bridge I got good views of a female Emperor Dragonfly ovipositing. There were also a couple of joined pairs of Red-eyed damselfly with the females doing the same.
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| female Emperor Dragonfly |
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| female Emperor Dragonfly |
It was a very quiet walk down to the embankment. I saw another couple of young Dunnock and a family of Blue Tits were busy feeding. Whitethroats were carrying food as were a couple of Reed Warblers. An Emperor Dragonfly was on the hunt just before the railway crossing. As I came up onto the embankment a Common Tern was flying down the river towards the coast and stopped to fish briefly at several points. A Dark Bush-cricket nymph was sunning itself on a leaf and there were good numbers of them throughout the visit in various instars. Apparently there are six instars in Dark Bush-cricket's until they become adults and they become adults from mid July. A Large and Small Skipper were also in the same area.
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| Dark Bush-cricket nymph |
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| Dark Bush-cricket nymph |
I could hear some Goldfinches calling and on peeping round a bush I could see one perched on the fence bordering the railway line. It appeared to have been busy in amongst seed heads as it had a fair bit of the white fluffy part stuck around its bill.
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| Goldfinch |
I had a little moth fly up from the grass and luckily it settled where I could see it. I think that it is another Pyrausta despicata despite being much brighter than the one I saw the other day. A Meadow Brown butterfly and a Silver -Y moth were in the same sheltered area. While looking at the Silver-Y moth I stepped forward and suddenly had a male Pheasant explode from cover at the side of the track and run away down the path in front of me at a rapid rate of knots before disappearing down the bank. I hadn't seen it at all until then. I am not sure who had the biggest surprise.
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| Pyrausta despicata |
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| Meadow Brown butterfly |
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| Silver-Y moth |
Apart from the odd Skipper and Holly Blue butterfly I did not see any small butterflies but I started to come across good numbers of some of the larger butterflies. I only saw a couple of Tortoiseshell and 1 Large White but Painted Lady and Red Admiral butterflies appeared numerous in the sheltered areas. Many of the Painted Ladies were very faded and quite a few were missing chunks from their wings. A Red Admiral was still managing to fly well despite missing large areas of its lower wings.
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| Painted Lady butterfly |
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| Red Admiral Butterfly |
I could see 9 Lapwing in one of the fields and a few Swallows were hawking for insects. A couple of Sand Martin flew over and a couple of Swift were high above me. I dropped down to the lower path briefly to see if I could see anything round one of the dyke gates area and came across a couple of Peacock butterfly caterpillars crossing the path. They are striking caterpillars.
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| Peacock butterfly caterpillars |
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| Peacock butterfly caterpillars |
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| Peacock butterfly caterpillars |
I was continuing to see good numbers of Painted Lady butterflies. At one point I saw 2 sitting close to each other on the path. One kept moving closer to the other until one of its antenna was touching the other butterflies wings and it appeared to then repeatedly stroke the wings with its antenna. After a little while they flew up together and remained close to each other at all points, presumably prior to mating.
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| Painted Lady butterflies |
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| Painted Lady butterflies |
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| Painted Lady butterflies |
I came across a small patch of Pyramidal Orchids. A Chiffchaff was calling away and 2 Lesser Whitethroat were singing. A Meadow Brown butterfly landed and after a short while opened its wings.
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| Pyramidal Orchids |
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| Pyramidal Orchid |
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| female Meadow Brown butterfly |
A little further on I came across a Meadow Brown butterfly that had two white pupils, one of which was smaller than the other, in its eye spots. On looking it up apparently the females sometimes can have a second subsidiary white pupil. A male Meadow Brown was also resting with his wings open and looking very handsome in the sunshine.
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| female Meadow Brown butterfly with 2 white pupils |
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| female Meadow Brown butterfly with 2 white pupils |
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| male Meadow Brown butterfly |
In the same area there was a small micro moth that I do not know what it is at the moment and I will update when I find out. A Large Skipper was tucked out of the wind in the sunshine. Over at the back I could see a female/immature Marsh Harrier hunting over the fields.
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| Large Skipper |
I crossed over the railway line and started to make my way up to Shuart. A male Reed Bunting was singing and another male popped up to have a look before chasing the singing bird. Some Herring and Black-headed Gulls were over the fields but otherwise it was very quiet.
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| Reed Bunting |
I caught sight of a dragonfly that promptly disappeared from view but appeared, from the brief view to be a Norfolk Hawker. I waited to see if it came back and after a while I was lucky enough for it to reappear and even luckier when it then settled on the vegetation a little way in front of me. It stayed soaking up the early evening sunshine and I was chuffed to be able to enjoy some very good views and to be able to get some photos. It made a lovely end to the visit and I left it enjoying the warmth from the sun as I continued down the track.
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| Norfolk Hawker |
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| Norfolk Hawker |
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| Norfolk Hawker |
A Song Thrush was singing away, as were a couple of Blackcap. Blackbird, Dunnock, Robin, Chaffinch and Wren were all in good voice as well. I came across a small moth that, at present, I do not know what it is but will update when I find out. A Tiger Cranefly
Nephrotoma flavescens was enjoying the last of the sunshine.
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| Tiger Cranefly Nephrotoma flavescens |
Red Admiral butterflies were sunning themselves at various points along the track as were a few Painted Ladies. I had certainly done well for both today having seen 21 Red Admiral and 58 Painted Ladies.
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| Red Admiral butterfly |
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| Painted Lady butterfly |
I finished the visit with a Common Buzzard flying over and both Sparrowhawk and Kestrel in the air. It may have been very quiet, on the whole, but it had been good to be out and an enjoyable visit.
Birds seen this visit include: 5 Reed Warblers, 9 Blackbird, Wood Pigeons, 11 Goldfinch, 12 Linnet, 1 Sedge Warbler, 18 Reed Bunting, 6 Chaffinch, 10 Dunnock, 20 Whitethroat, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Common Tern, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Herring Gulls, 3 and 2 young Mute Swan, 7 Magpie, 5 Wren, 2 Chiffchaff, Carrion Crows, 3 Pheasant, 9 Swallow, 2 Swift, 9 Lapwing, 2 Sand Martin, Cormorants, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Marsh Harrier, 2 Sparrowhawk, 1 Common Buzzard, 2 Robin, 2 Blackcap, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Kestrel
Butterflies seen this visit include: 58 Painted Lady, 21 Red Admiral, 2 Tortoiseshell, 4 Small Heath, 2 Holly Blue, 1 Large White, 10 Meadow Brown, 2 Large Skipper, 5 Silver-Y Moths, 1 Small Skipper
