28th July..... Sand Martins.

Not much time to spare today, had a quick visit to Little Missenden where a Sand Martin joined a group of 10 House Martins hawking insects low over a crop field.

A little Grebe was nearby on the River Misbourne, where this Moorhen sat quietly on her nest.

Down at Shardeloes 2 juvenile Pied Wagtails were being fed by their parents on the cricket pitch,  4 more Sand Martins hawked insects over the lake. Apart from 3 Herons & an independent juvenile Great Crested Grebe, not much else about on a windy day.

A couple of young Magpies in Stewart's garden.
Don.












Images Copyright : Stewart Dennis.

22rd - 26th July..... Decorating, Butterflies & Heat.

Spent the first four days of the week decorating our front room. On the morning of 23rd, I kept a watchful eye on the butterfly activity in the front garden, noting 3 Gatekeeper, 2 Marbled White, 2 Peacock, 3 Skipper (assume Small), Ringlet, Small White & a Red Admiral. Been a good summer on the butterfly front, even better than last year, which was a top one.

The previous day as we enjoyed a mid morning cuppa, this Small Copper appeared on the back lawn feeding on White Clover, only the second record for the garden, (a lot of these things are down to luck, could easily have missed that).  As I grafted away with the paint brush, Stewart visited Pulpit Hill finding loads of Chalkhill Blues & a single Brown Argus, along with a newly fledged Common Whitethroat. Song Thrushes have a nest some where nearby, as I picked up a freshly discarded eggshell on the lawn, with the birds carrying beak fulls of food, like wise our resident Blackbirds doing the same. Our House Martins are also busy on the parenting front, with the first clutch hatching on 20th July (extremely late). 3 more pairs in residence, 3 vacant nests plus a pair on neighbouring house having already fledged their first brood.

An Emperor Dragon present in Stewart's garden on 24th.


















Juvenile Red Kite; will soon be master of the skies.

As the week progressed, so did the thermometer, peaking on 25th, did a little temperature check at 3-00pm, 41 degrees centigrade in the full sun & 32 degrees in the shade.
Goldfinches are starting to band together with a flock of 8 visiting the garden to feed on seed heads, (I think Hawk Bit).
On the evening of 26th c40 House Martins momentarily above the house as the residents were joined by what I take to be early migrants.
Don.

Images Copyright : Don Stone/Stewart Dennis.

21st July..... Bernwood Butterfly Bonanza.

Had thought about visiting Finemere Wood today to check out the butterflies, having read that those HS2 Types are active in the area, headed off to Bernwood Forest instead. Explored the two mile long Butterfly Trail which didn't disappoint, with hundreds of Butterflies on the wing.

Had only gone a few yards along the main track, & already notched up half a dozen Silver-washed Fritillaries, with lots more to follow, possibly getting on towards seventy.

These were out numbered by Gatekeepers.

Here they lived up to their name, as many could be found on the Brambles at this gate.

Where this one nectored with a Ringlet for company.

Didn't expect to come across Wood Ants here, found twenty two nests in one area.

Skippers were another species present in large numbers, both Large & Small.

Long horned Beetle.

Friendly Ruddy Darter.

Six Brimstones were confined to one track.

Only saw a couple of Comma.

Like wise Peacock.

Large White.

Small White.

Marbled White.

This is how the image was taken:

A slight deviation from the trail took us into the adjoining BBOWT reserve: Bernwood Meadows.

Bramble patches in the thick Blackthorn hedges played host to the tiny Purple Hairstreak, once we got our hand in we found fifteen in total.

Another friendly insect : Red-legged Shieldbug.

This Banded demoiselle round our visit off nicely, we may not have seen the Purple Emperors that we had expected to find, but the sheer numbers of Butterflies more tham made up for that.
Don.









Images Copyright : Don Stone/Stewart Dennis.

18th July..... Common Crane over Shardeloes.

This evening Stewart & Myself spent 40 minutes, scanning from the ridge over looking the upper Misbourne Valley at Wendover Dean as further down the valley..... 
I made what was meant to be a very quick visit to Shardeloes lake this evening to check for Spotted Flycatchers but it turned into a very exciting visit.
I bumped into Kevin up by the west end of the main lake who was also looking for the Spot Flys and we eventually got some calling birds and a brief view of a juvenile in the bushes but they were staying deep inside the bushes.
I carried on up to the marsh where a female Teal was on the edge of the large pool, along with 4 Mandarins and a couple of Gadwall.
I needed to get off so started heading back but stopped again to chat to Kevin who was hoping to get a better view of the Spot Flys.
We were just about to leave when I noticed a large bird flying in from the east as it disappeared behind one of the lakeside trees. I was hoping it was an Osprey but as it reappeared from behind the trees I couldn’t believe I was watching an adult Common Crane!!
It flew over the lake in front of us about double the tree height and just kept heading through west, following the river. As it drifted away it gently changed direction slightly to the north and south but remained on a westerly course following the Misbourne valley until we lost it behind trees over Little Missenden.
I quickly phoned and emailed the news out but nobody further up the valley could get onto it unfortunately. We couldn’t see any obvious rings on the legs but only had bins.

Hopefully it will reappear somewhere in the county.

Good birding
Rob

17th July..... Great White Egret still.

Returning home after our Welsh trip noticed a trail through the garden so I set up the trail cam. Found that a fox cub was making itself at home.

Also noticed how much the moorhen chicks had grown.

Garden robins are well into their moult.
A trip out to Wendover today, to see if the great white was still around.

First came across a holly blue butterfly on the towpath.

Soon after found the egret showing really well.

On to BBOWT College Lake noticed good numbers of gatekeeper butterflies.

Along with a few fast flying brown hawker dragonflies.

Back home noticed cinnabar caterpillars.

Hoverflies and other insects feeding on a few ragwort plants I let flower in the garden.
Stewart.














Images Copyright : Stewart Dennis.

The River Chess is in Crisis and Needs Your Help before the 22nd July

A long stretch of the Chess in Chesham has been dry for many months. This has been an increasingly common sight in recent years.

Nearly 60% of chalk stream habitat in the Chilterns AONB is now dry.

Charles Walker, MP for Broxbourne, has secured a debate in the House of Commons on Monday 22nd July on the issues facing our chalk streams and their need for greater protection.

Please contact your local MP to let them know you care about our chalk streams in advance of this debate.

The Chilterns Chalk Streams Project has put together a letter template, so that it's quick and easy for you to email your MP. Please visit their web site for more information and to view the template: https://www.chilternsaonb.org/news/356/19/Our-Chalk-streams-are-in-crisis.-They-need-your-help.html

16th July..... Great White Egret & House Martins.

The Great White Egret was showing exceptionally well at midday, with only the width of the towpath & the canal between us, feeding along the vegetation line, which meant there was always a stem or two preventing a clear view.

Back at home 16 House Martins were on the roof actively feeding on insects, with at least 7 juveniles amongst the, as we have only had one nest to fledge young yet, we clearly have a few interlopers.

Partial eclipse of the moon at 10-10pm.

Don.