I enjoyed a very enjoyable walk around the cemetery, Woodland Burial Ground and Gooseman's Field (The Horsefield) today. It was pleasant at 20C but with a cool easterly breeze. I was pleased to see 23 bird species, the highlights being blackcap, linnet and whitethroat. It's always good when the linnets and skylarks return to Gooseman's in the spring, presumably having spent the winter on the coastal salt marsh and dunes. The sight and sound of whitethroats back from a winter in Africa is always a joy. The final bird highlight of the day was the sight of three swifts over Gooseman's Field from the garden.
It was good to find 6 butterfly species and reasonable numbers. The single small tortoiseshell was so worn as to be nearly transparent, obviously hanging on after a long winter and cool, wet start to spring. I was surprised to see a female broad bodied chaser dragonfly along the thick bramble hedge on Gooseman's. I see broad bodied chasers here most years but there are no ponds in the immediate locality so they are travelling a good distance from their breeding site.
When I got home, I finally managed to catch up with a holly blue on our miniature holly plant.
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