June 2017 - part 1
1st June 2017 - (Thursday, Csütörtök)
A morning visit to deliver the third 100 litre load to RB1. There was some rain early morning, but it was only enough to water the plants (and my shoes!). We need another monsoon to keep The Bowl in action, and we hope this will happen soon, or much of the aquatic life will die. Today I saw a female Adonis Blue, and at least one male. Other species seen were: Glanville Fritillary, Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow, Silver-studded Blue, Reverdin's Blue, Small Heath, Chestnut Heath, Pearly Heath, Meadow Brown, Common Blue (male), Brown Argus, Wood White, Grizzled Skipper, Hungarian Skipper, and the first Essex Skipper of the year: 15 species. A Golden Oriole was heard nearby, and the Nightingale gave another concert.
6th June 2017 - (Tuesday, Kedd)
Neither Teréz nor myself had been available for 'SQ duties' during this long weekend, but I'd heard that Gyöngyös had received some heavy rain storms this morning. I'm always a little sceptical though, as rain at Gyöngyös doesn't mean rain on the hills above the Small Quarry, and unless heavy rain falls there, we don't get a working waterfall. As I suspected, no 'real' rain had entered the site. In fact, things were much worse than on my last visit. The Coffee Pool is probably cut off from the main Bowl area, meaning that the only area of deep water is through the reedbed. Rock Bath 1 only has some deep water in the part at the back, and I may have to start bringing more water to it, starting tomorrow. As for the wildlife, there were several species in evidence, including some first appearances for 2017: Green Underside Blue, Small Skipper, and Sloe Hairstreak. In addition, I also found: Queen of Spain Fritillary, Silver-studded Blue, Essex Skipper, Large Skipper, Small Heath, and Common Blue ... making it a total of: 9 species. There was also a new moth for the site, and two damselfly species: Azure and the Small (Scarce) Bluetail. A Green Woodpecker flew across the road as I arrived, a pair of White Wagtail were seen near the Coffee Pool, and a few Fire-bellied Toads gave half-hearted piping calls. An Edible Frog leapt into the Pool as I approached. Before I left the site, some rain mockingly fell on me, but did little good for the site.
7th June 2017 - (Wednesday, Szerda)
This afternoon I delivered 100 litres of water to Rock Bath 1, but as I'd been away for the long weekend, the water level had dropped considerably since last week. My water addition had no noticeable effect on the water level, but at least I tried. As for The Bowl, I believe that the Coffee Pool is now cut off from the water of the reedbed area. Unless we have a significant downpour in the next 5 days, I expect the CP to dry up completely. Rescuing tadpoles will be very difficult due to the mass of vegetation in that area. Hopefully, many more tadpoles will survive in the deeper water. Today's butterflies: Small Skipper, Essex Skipper, Small Heath, Chestnut Heath, Pearly Heath, Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow, Common Blue, Reverdin's Blue, Brown Argus, Sloe Hairstreak (several, including courting couples), and Small Copper .... 11 species. The Skippers seemed to be egg-laying on damp moss in RB1, and also on damp rocks on the 'shoreline' at Coffee Pool. Odonata: Broad-bodied Chaser (male), Azure Damselfly, Small Bluetail, and the Common Winter Damsel.
8th June 2017 - (Thursday, Csütörtök)
Today, I was on-site for almost 4.5 hours because I had 3 projects to attend to. The first was to deliver another batch of 100 litres of water to Rock Bath 1. The second was to catch as many tadpoles from the Coffee Pool as possible, and to transfer them to the deeper water of the reedbed area. The third part was to study and record as many species as possible. The first two tasks were not straightforward, as I had to keep stopping to photograph things! I transferred about 60 tadpoles from the shallow water of CP and then stopped as the work was very tiring. After exploring the site, I took a short walk outside the perimeter fence and had a close encounter with a Roe Deer. Butterflies seen: Chequered Blue (male and female), Common Blue (1 female, several males), Essex Skipper, Small Heath, Pearly Heath, Chestnut Heath, Reverdin's Blue (male), Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow, Meadow Brown, Sloe Hairstreak (several), Brown Argus, and Marbled White (a total of 12 species). A bright orange Fritillary was also seen, but it wouldn't stop. The pair of Mallard made a sudden fast flight over my head, their wings making an amazing 'whoosh' sound ... I thought a glider from the airfield was about to crash next to me!
9th June 2017 - (Friday, Péntek)
Today's visit was much like yesterday's: water delivery for RB1, and amphibian rescue from the Coffee Pool. Due to circumstances, the former was done during the morning, and the latter was carried out late afternoon. Aside from the conservation work, many insect species were seen, including a male Stag Beetle over-flying the site. Butterflies seen were: Large White, Marbled Fritillary, Pearly Heath, Common Blue, Sloe Hairstreak, Essex Skipper, Marbled Fritillary (the 1st in 2017), Reverdin's Blue, Twin-spot Fritillary (the 1st in 2017), and Silver-studded Blue (female) : 10 species. A quick visit inside the SQHQ revealed that the Barn Swallows had indeed nested in the small back room, although no sounds were heard from the mud cup nest. With recent bat droppings on the floor, it would seem that the HQ interior hosts quite an array of creatures.
10th June 2017 - (Saturday, Szombat)
This afternoon I was on-site for three hours, but not many species were photographed or recorded as my mission was primarily the saving of lives. The first 20 minutes was spent delivering another 100 litres of water to Rock Bath 1. Then I started my 2.5 hour 'fishing' session, trying to catch as many tadpoles as possible from the ever-shrinking Coffee Pool. Most of these were Common Spadefoot Toad tadpoles, but I eventually netted the first of two Great Crested Newt young, followed by about 18 young of the Smooth Newt. The newt young were transferred to the deep water area of RB1, while the mass of tapoles was deposited in the reedbed channel, as previously. Teréz paid an early morning visit to the site, before my 'shift', and also netted several tapoles. She also was able to photograph several other species.