The bounty of brambles

In sunny intervals this morning, riverside brambles were instantly full of life, with numerous bees, flies and butterflies. These insects included a dangerous-looking Giant Wood Wasp (uraceras gigas) -  really quite harmless -  Speckled Wood, Skippers, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Large and Small White butterflies.

LARGE SKIPPER (male) butterfly on bramble flower today

Flowering and fruiting riverside BRAMBLE

Birds seen this morning: singing wrens, singing blackbirds, singing songthrush, with BRAMBLES full of silent blackcaps, more than I've every seen before, juveniles, adult males and females, all busy feeding on insects and trying out the ripening fruits which are early this year. Other silent warblers were also attracted to the brambles and insects in the willows and thickets - a great view of two garden warblers foraging, juvenile chiffchaffs and juvenile willow warblers. Only two whitethroats today, silent. Even the young house sparrows, fifteen or more, were almost silent as were blue tits, great tits and three juvenile robins feeding on the damp riverbank. Two goldcrests were busy in a conifer and five goldfinches were seen flying into a poplar. Skylarks could be heard singing strongly as usual whilst swifts fed on the wing and a slow, low-flying grey heron was seen several times close-up following the river downstream.