This post is another all-over-the-shop cornucopia of wildlife sightings locally.
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| Lesser Redpolls. |
In April I like to keep an even closer eye on my bird feeders than usual because there is always the chance of a Brambling or Mealy Redpoll on its return migration. Who knows, even a Hawfinch is a possibility.
To keep up the Mealy hopes I make sure the niger is filled each morning. This has attracted up to 20 Goldfinches at a time and a couple of Siskins on some days. The other day two Redpolls appeared, both Lessers and one was injured with a broken leg. That didn't seem to hamper it as it fed well for a couple of days before departure.
While it was sunny in the garden on Saturday a Holly Blue kept me company. A second was along the road by the Village Hall. The slow moth trapping continues with a nice Chamomile Shark being the highlight. This is only my 3rd here in 15 yrs.
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| Chamomile Shark |
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| The ever present ( in spring anyway) Hairy Footed Flower Bee males. |
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| Above - Holly Blue butterfly. Still earlier that usual... |
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| This Pale Mottled Willow is the county earliest by 3 weeks. Maybe a migrant? |
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| Industrial Oystercatchers. |
On Sunday we visited a new spot, a little bit further than usual but not much. You might have seen me mention our severe lack of decent woodland up here, well this spot had a quite a large area and some of it quite mature too. Mature enough to hold a single singing male Redstart that was typically camera shy as they often are.. The whole area looks good for plants and insects too when the weather warms up a bit.
Today we found a couple of pairs of Marsh Tit, including one at a nest site. This is the best year I've had for these for a decade. Long may it be so.
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| Marsh Tits prospecting a likely nest site. |
Also around the area were good numbers of Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers with 3 Buzzards, Brambling heard and Siskins singing. A carpet of Bluebells were on the cusp of opening.
It just shows, no matter how long you live in a place, there are always discoveries to be made if you only look...
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