I headed straight for the hedges this morning, they were quite busy, young REED BUNTINGS were mixed in with the HOUSE SPARROWS and CHAFFINCHES. SKYLARKS numbered at least a dozen and a few LINNETS flew across the fields. On the warbler front, WHITETHROATS won, in terms of numbers, closely followed by CHIFFCHAFF but probably the best one was WILLOW WARBLER, a wonderfully bright individual, as they are at this time of year and the first one since April.
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| Great Tit |
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| These are in the main garden, I just liked their shapes |
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| Another unknown but very smart |
The list of birds in the last couple of days has struggled to reach 30 species, although visits haven't been for much more than an hour, hopefully I'll get out at the weekend for a bit longer. The best bird today was undoubtedly a LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER Stephen found down by the stream. Time restrictions meant I couldn't look for it but it's great to know they're still around.
I had a meeting today that finished around lunchtime, this gave me a chance to checkout a site just outside Tonbridge for a few Butterflies, the weather wasn't really conducive to butterfly watching, as it was a bit breezy and I got caught in a couple of showers but the first bit of movement that caught my eye was a nice White Admiral. A couple of Meadow Browns followed plus a Large White. I was surprised to find any butterflies really so it was even better when I found my second ever Purple Hairstreak. The only other species seen was a Speckled Wood, although a Beautiful Demoiselle also posed briefly. Unfortunately my timing wasn't great so missed out on Purple Emperors but I'll look forward to going again soon.
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| A slightly tatty Speckled Wood |
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| Beautiful Demoiselle |
4 comments:
Hoping for a Willow Warbler to pass through here soon Alan, most envious of your hedgerows mostly though!!
Hi Alan, sorry not to have been able to keep up with you the last few days.
I thought your recent photos of the Spotted Flycatchers were really lovely! I also really enjoyed seeing the very striking Garden Tiger Moth, what a beauty it is.
You are doing well with Purple Hairstreaks!
Alan ,
Somehow missed this post .
Yes , your spider is a Crab Spider , same species as mine , Misumena vatia .
They can be yellow , white like yours or green , and can change their colour to suit the flower that they are hiding on , but it takes a couple of days to change .
I think mine was just colour-blind .
Hi Warren, It's nice that I've had a couple early movers, so to speak, not long now and the migrants will be flooding through!! ;-)
Hi ShySongbird, Thank you, you haven't missed much :-) The Garden Tiger is a stunner and stood from the rest of the records that morning.
The Hairstreaks are a real treat, especially having never seen them before this year.
Hi Greenie, I really struggle to keep up with everyones blogs!!but enjoy it when I do.
Thank you for the ID, I thought it looked similar to the one on your post
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