Sunny Patch

A colourful sight.


The Red Admiral was too flighty to photograph!

Parent and youngster doing well, and the Amphibious Bistort beginning to flower.

31^st May. Conscious of having neglected the patch recently I took a walk down to the lake this afternoon. Despite the sun I saw no butterflies on the outward walk. I hadn’t checked on the Great Crested Grebes since having found one of the three youngsters lagging in size behind its siblings. I wasn’t surprised to find only two of the three young still surviving. One was resting with one of the adult birds in amongst the now flowering Amphibious Bistort which will soon be carpeting the smaller lake in red. The other youngster was constantly calling and being fed as it followed its parent around the lake. As I watched the grebes a Common Tern flew overhead and both Swallows and Swifts were in the air. Swifts still out numbering the few Swallows that are in the area. There were at least five Lesser Black Backed Gulls with Black Headed and Herring Gulls on the roof of the sports centre. Coots and Mallard were followed by young. The Mallard chicks appeared as if they were only a few days old.

I returned via the sports fields. Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler sang as I watched a male Common Whitethroat. It kept disappearing into what seemed the nesting area, but showed well each time it reappeared. Part of the horse field was taped off and a mass of colour from buttercups and red clover. I eventually found a butterfly. It was a Small White. Then as I walked through the trees the sun shone through the wings of a Red Admiral Butterfly which was found in typical habitat. It was impossible to catch an image, as it was so flighty. It quickly disappeared into partially sunlit area. I think I caught the calling of a Great Spotted Woodpecker as I walked home.

Two thirds of the way through my Poyser edition of The Dippers and expect to finish it this week. The Dipper is one of my favourite birds, but I’m not that impressed by the book. It seems to lack the depth of other Poyser books that I’ve read and I think in this case it is grossly over priced. Anyway I hope to be watching the real thing soon and hope that this time it will be without disturbance!