14th - 18th July.

Tuesday 14th, a morning's  walk to Shardeloes along the Misbourne, not a lot seen but did pass a group of starlings busy feeding in a grass field and also adult swallows were busy fly catching and flying into the trees above us to feed their noisy young . On our way back to the car this song thrush came close eating presumably the inside of a snail.

 

In the afternoon from home passed chiffchaffs busy feeding in amongst the leaves on the trees above me. Weather had turned chilly and cloudy, a few butterflies were seen including a small skipper, and others feeding on ragwort.

 A few 2nd generation common blues seen.

16th and a good start to the day, two more southern hawkers emerged from the pond. One had already flown leaving behind its now empty larval case. The second dragonfly we watched for 2 hours as it dried its wings and flew.

17th and after lunch a migrant hawker, an immature male, came into the garden, settled and sunned itself on a nettled-leafed campanula.

Later a paired pair of green-veined whites were seen fluttering about in the garden.

The following morning the female green woodpecker flew in briefly.

An afternoon walk from home, more butterflies seen including more 2nd generation common blues and small coppers. Watched  large hay-making machinery at work. Frist a smaller tractor was spreading the hay to get as much dried in the sun as possible and later a larger machine rowed up ready for the baler to bale its large bales of hay.

 

Stewart.
Images Copyright : Stewart Dennis.