April 2019 - part 2
16th April 2019 - (Tuesday, Kedd )
The weather is still a strange mixture: warm sunshine with quite cold winds. Recent rain had topped-up the reedbed area and also Rock Bath 1. As I approached the latter, a fairly small Grass Snake swam into cover with sinuous movements. As I waited, my first Fire-bellied Toad appeared on the surface, and later examination of the photos showed that a few Agile Frog tadpoles are now free-swimming. As yet, no Newts have been observed. I soon found my second Grass Snake, but this one had been torn apart by something (Jay, Fox ??), with the sections left on the path. Butterflies seen were: Swallowtail, Scarce Swallowtail (including a mating pair), Grizzled Skipper (several), Dingy Skipper, Wood White (several), Green-veined White, and Short-tailed Blue = 7 species. One Green Lizard adult was seen, plus 4 juveniles. Birds recorded were Black Redstart, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, and Great Tit.
20th April 2019 - (Saturday, Szombat)
An afternoon visit on a sunny Saturday provided me with some nice surprises .... and some not-so-nice surprises. The 'not-so-nice' were the four strawberry trays and 30 plastic strawberry punnets that had been thrown into the bushes, just over the road from the SQ. As I was walking the back track, I heard a car pull off into the rought track opposite, but decided not to investigate as it was probably just a dog walker, or similar. But the few imperfect strawberries I found were fresh, so I think the the car I heard contained the culprit. Why drive all this way to dump such things? Maybe the car came from the nearby houses, or the airfield itself? Anyway, one good thing from all this: I found a Bush-cricket nymph resting on one of the trays .. a male of one of the Isophya species. Other surprises today were the female Sooty Copper (with blue-green sheen), the Southern Festoon, and a Mother Shipton moth. Other butterflies recorded were: Wood White (several), Dingy Skipper (several), Grizzled Skipper (many, including a courting pair), Orange Tip (male), and one or two small, orange Fritillary, which MAY have been Weaver's.
24th April 2019 - (Wednesday, Szerda)
Sunny but windy for my afternoon visit. As I drove up the hill to the site I believe I heard a Nightingale singing. Other birds noted were: Chiffchaff, Blackbird, Great Tit, and a Warbler singing from near the SQHQ, but not when I tried to record its call ! Butterflies recorded were: Small Copper, Sooty Copper, Dingy Skipper, Grizzled Skipper, Wood White, a female Short-tailed Blue, an over-wintered Large Tortoiseshell, Scarce Swallowtail, and two difficult-to-photograph species .... Southern Festoon, and, what I believe is a Glanville Fritillary = 10 species. The first Green-winged Orchid has appeared in its usual place, near to the houses. The single Fire-bellied Toad was again in RB1. A juvenile Green Lizard was basking among the debris of the steps brick wall, and a super adult male was photographed near the end of my visit.
30th April 2019 - (Tuesday, Kedd)
As I entered the little 'alleyway' that leads to The Bowl I heard some unusual bird calls. One bird was on the left side of the alleyway, and another was answering from the right side. I carefully made my way to the corner and saw a smallish brown bird in the largest False Acacia tree. I was able to photograph it before it flew off, and it was lucky that I did because it was a new species for the SQ: a Wryneck ! Butterflies were few, but I recorded: Sooty Copper, Small Heath, Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow, Orange Tip (male), Small Copper, and Grizzled Skipper = 6 species. Not too bad for such a dull day.