Woodland Butterflies at Bricket Wood

With the weather been quite changeable recently last week spent at nice morning down at Bricket Wood Common. First walked around the common lots of butterflies out on the wing with a good selection of Marbled Whites, Skippers and Gatekeeper which has just started to appear but the hightlight was a single Painted Lady which was feeding on the common which despite seem quite a few on the coast is my first local one of the year.

Feeding Painted Lady

Then headed into the Wood where the Ringlets and Whites where everywhere with a good number of White Admirals and Silver-Washed Fritillaries mainly male down the ride but great to see them doing well again.

White Admiral

Hanging White Admiral

Feeding Silver-Washed Fritillaries

Ringlet

Green-veined White

Samll White

Summers day at Rainham marshes

With a nice summer day at the weekend decided to head down to Rainham Marshes but due to the reserve not opening till 9:30 which slipped my mind got there a bit early but as there a fair bit of rain the night before the local finches were coming down to a water puddle in the car park giving some nice views.

Female Linnet was the first to come down

Then a selection of Goldfinches came down

Then had a walk along the seawall pretty quiet but a Whitethroat was singing and a few Sedge and Reed Warblers in the reeds. Then got into the main reserve where first sight was a group of 7 Littles Egrets feeding with a lone Redshank a group of Black-tailed Godwits and a big Shelduck family with 9 fledging not bad for the edge of london.

Then walked around the trail with the warblers in full song and a few Little Grebes in the channel including a nice young one.

Young Little Grebe

Then walked around the Dragonfly pool where there were quite a few Bearded Tits around even with the wind blowing with at least 6 present with some birds still feeding young.

Bearded Tit

Then around the pool had a Emperor Dragonfly lying eggs and my first Ruddy Darter of the year.

Emperor Dragonfly egg lying

Ruddy Darter

Down on the south coast

Last weekend headed down the south coast to catch up on some long staying birds first stop was Titchfield Haven. Started well with the sound of a Cuckoo so headed to the main scrape where lots of Black-headed Gulls where nesting with quite a few youngs birds with a few Mediterranean Gulls and some nesting Common Terns. The hightlight here was the Avocets feeding with their young along with the Oystercatchers and the Black-tailed Godwits. Watching the colony had a Sandwich Tern fly through a few Little Egrest around and a brief view of a kingfisher fly past.

Adult Avocets

1st broods Avocets

and current brood feeding

Young black-head Gull

Mediterranean Gull in summer plumage

Hunting little egret

Then walked around the other side of the river where we came across a young Goldcrest feeding and Blackcap, Whitethroat and Chiff-Chaff still singing before watching Black-tailed Godwits and a lone Redshanks feeding across the river with a Common tern fishing along the river but no hoped for Greater Yellowlegs.

Young Goldcrest

Hunting Common Tern

Then headed to Pagham Harhour at first quiet on the wader front but a few Ringed Plovers and Dunlin were feeding and a few Curlew were seen with a few Common and Sandwich Tern overhead.

Then a few European Whimbrel were feeding after flying aroung for a bit and checking the features the Hudsonian Whimbrel flew in though distance feeding in the grass where it stayed for quite a while so we had a little walk along the beach with a few Terns feeding out a sea but too distance.

We then returned to the Whimbrels which by now had moved alot closer to the shore with the tide slowly coming in and often the birds were seen flying and feeding pretty near at time which was a good end to the day.

Hudsonian Whimbrel

Pair together showing the size difference

and in flight

Redstarts in the carpark

A family hoilday up in the north-west was a nice break and quite producive one of the hightlight widlife wise was finding a pair of Redstarts right next to the car park at Grizdale forest in the Lake District even though did't get much time to photography them the time I had give me my best Redstart Images with a possible nest in one of the carpark walls pictures taken before and after walk around the forest. Other birds of note around the forest were at least 3 singing Wood Warblers and a nice flock of Marsh Tits were seen.

Male Redstart bring food to the nest

Female Redstart helping out

Bonus plovers

Went out earlier in the week to a local lake in the evening quite a few waterfowl around with looking like a good number of Great Crested Grebes with fledglings. Walking around on the footpath had a nice view of a flyby Kingfisher but the highlight was a pair of Little Ringed Plovers feeding on the shore right on the side of a public footpath while a pair of Common Terns were hunting over the lake.

Little Ringed Plover

Walking back had quite a few gulls mainly Lesser-backed gulls and found a nice family of young Blue Tits been fed and ended the walk with a few Swallows feeding over the farmers fields in the fading light.

Lesser-backed Gull

Young Blue Tit

Swallow in the last of the light