May 2019 - part 1
7th May 2019 - (Tuesday, Kedd )
A very grey day but I visited to check the water situation following the prolonged rain of the weekend. As can be seen from the photos, water covered about half of The Bowl, and an almost complete Coffee Pool was apparent. Rock Baths 1 and 2 also held quite a lot of water, and a solitary Fire-bellied Toad was calling from the reedbed area. No butterflies were seen, not even resting on grass. A few grass moths fluttered about, along with some Common Heath moths. Meadow Clary was in flower, and Purple Mullein, too, and I found a white/purple variant of this species on the top rim path, adjacent to the SQHQ.
8th May 2019 - (Wednesday, Szerda)
Today was better weather-wise, with a mixture of sunshine and cloud. The large 'lumps' of cloud meant that I sometimes had to wait for the sun to reappear so that I had enough light for photographs. I heard the first Golden Oriole of the year calling. Butterflies recorded: Brimstone (male), Grizzled Skipper (several), Small White, Dingy Skipper, Wall Brown, Silver-studded Blue (male), Chequered Blue, Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow, and Common Blue (male) = 9 species. 2 male Fire-bellied Toads were calling in the shallow open water of The Bowl, and a male Common Spadefoot Toad was also heard 'clucking' underwater. A male Smooth Newt was photographed in Rock Bath 1.
10th May 2019 - (Friday, Péntek)
Mostly sunny for our morning visit, although large 'lumps' of cloud reduced our photography light at regular intervals. Following yesterday's heavy rainfall the water had spread even further across the floor of The Bowl. This resulted in at least 6 calling Fire-bellied Toads, and more underwater clucking was heard from some Common Spadefoot Toads. Butterflies recorded were: Scarce Swallowtail, Dingy Skipper, Grizzled Skipper, Chequered Blue, Silver-studded Blue, Sooty Copper, Reverdin's Blue, and Small Heath = 8 species. Towards the end of the visit, we discovered a magnificent flower spike of the Lady Orchid, a new species for the site. After taking record shots we hid the plant from general view using cut Blackthorn brash. We were worried that someone might dig the plant up for their garden, which would be a 'death sentence' for it.