The First Week in August and the heat is on!

The fine dry weather was excellent for butterflies. August 2nd 2015 was definitely 

'The Day of the Peacocks'

with good numbers suddenly appearing in the wild field amongst the fine thistles, Fleabane and a good variety of grasses. These butterflies may well have been seen before, in caterpillar form, feeding on the riverbank nettles a few weeks ago.

A Peacock amongst the small thistle flowers, balancing to nectar - note the tongue.

The bright colours and undamaged wings indicate that this one is freshly emerged.

Fleabane has done well on the wild field as well and the flowers are very attractive to butterflies,

Peacocks were not the only butterflies out on the field:

Here a Small Skipper butterfly nectars on a fleabane flower.

The Blue butterflies were also abundant, with Holly Blues and Common Blues seen.

Here is a rather unusual form of the Common Blue butterfly with largely blue inner wings,

marked with orange spotted borders. This is a female, which normally have brown inner wings.

A vivid blue, with orange and black markings and white outer borders - this unusual colouring may depend on ecological conditions. 

Sunday 2nd August was sunny, with high thin cloud after a cool night  and a light breeze.

The river was running quite low and clear. The day quickly warmed up in the sun.

With a good variety of wild flowers on the river banks, verges and in the wild field, butterflies were the highlight of todays wildlife record - with many species of bird not showing themselves whilst moulting and others were still rearing young.

Blue tits (31)  and great tits (10) were for once outnumbered by butterflies - Gatekeepers - and only 7 wrens were seen, mostly located by short snatches of song or alarm calls low down on the river banks and brambles. Robins were also not showing themselves, only 3 were seen, with two singing.

Chiffchaffs (6) were calling and moving restlessly amongst the Willows and a good view of one in the Blackthorn - and one willow warbler, also calling. Just one blackcap was singing on a willow branch over the river and a single treecreeper's high call was heard. A bullfinch was heard calling from the dense blackthorn and a small bird seen flying across was a silent goldcrest seeking the shade of a dark conifer. Just two blackbirds were seen along the whole stretch of the river -  song thrushes remained hidden and silent in the shade. Higher in the trees and in the air, 33 woodpigeons were seen, some obviously nesting, carrying nesting material into trees. 24 Herring gulls were gliding over but no raptors were seen today. A single magpie and five noisy carrion crows were calling from oak trees and the house sparrows (30) were happily bickering and calling in the sunny aspects of hedgerows. Only two starlings were seen flying across, most were silent and gathered in their day-roost trees. A great spotted woodpecker called form an old oak over the river and three nuthatches were in different areas, calling from the old trees, oak ash and maple. On the grass below, a green woodpecker jaffled and further along a second green woodpecker jaffled from a tree.

Like the house sparrows, goldfinches, more than 25 seen today, are doing well - this time of the year, if hot and sunny, they find plenty of plants going to seed. They especially like Dock seed and colonies of goldfinches, juveniles and adults, gather in the old oaks overlooking clumps of the plants, singing. Down on the river a grey wagtail flew low under the bridge and up into the shady vegetation on the bank.

BUTTERFLIES

Butterflies seen were Gatekeepers in large numbers along the banks amongst nettles and on the wild field,  3 Brimstones over grasses on the field, 4 Green-veined Whites amongst the nettles and grasses, Large and Small White butterflies in most places, Speckled Woods flying up from the river, pairs chasing, several Small Skippers and 3 Large Skippers around the Fleabane and thistles, 7 Meadow Browns, 7 Common Blue butterflies, (see photo above) more than 5 Holly Blues up and down amongst the hedgerows, Comma butterflies in ones and twos down close to the river and gliding along the banks.

The stars of the day however were the Peacock butterflies, more that I have ever seen before - on the wild field and the river bank (see photo above). Finally, two Purple Hairstreak butterflies were seen flying high up in the old oaks but too distant for photos.

Ladybirds and Bumblebees were numerous on the flowering thistles, with more bees on the Musk Mallow flowers and remaining bramble flowers.

DRAGONFLIES

An Emerald Damselfly was seen over the river near the bridge and two Southern Hawkers and one Brown Hawker were seen patrolling along the river bank vegetation.