An Excellent Day on Gooseman's Field.

 Rain overnight but a very pleasant day with sunny intervals, 23C. I went for a walk around the woodland burial ground and Gooseman's field looking for butterflies. An excellent session with 78 individuals from 11 species. The highlights were small heath, common blue, brown agus, painted lady and small/Essex skipper.

Brown Argus

Brown Argus

Cinnabar Moth Caterpiller

Common Blue

Common Blue

Green-veined White

Large White

Large White

Large White

Meadow Brown

Muntjac Deer

Painted Lady

Painted Lady

Scarce Silver Lines Moth

Shaded Broad Bar Moth

Small Heath

Small/Essex Skipper

Small/Essex Skipper

Small/Essex Skipper

Small/Essex Skipper

Speckled Wood

Purple Hairstreaks in the Woodland Burial Ground.

 Church cleaning, Heather, and picking up Mia. I stopped off to pick Heather up on the way home but not before she had a soaking from a sudden torrential downpour.

The rain soon cleared and I went round to the Woodland Burial Ground to look for the purple hairstreaks that a friend had given me a tip off for. I found 2: 1 very worn female and 1 high up and tucked behind a leaf making it very difficult to photograph but a success nonetheless. I managed a big butterfly count at the same time.

Worn purple hairstreak

Hiding purple hairstreak

Purple hairstreak - Chambers Farm Wood 2020.

Gatekeeper

Large white

Meadow brown

Speckled Wood

Cemetery Flora

 A sunny day without builders today (our house is currently clad in scaffolding as we are having building work done - loads of dust and dirt 😟.) LeavingHeather to some clearing up, I walked round for the papers and then we both walked to the cemetery to look for the white helleborines. They were in the usual place and I counted around 20 flower spikes so they continue to hang on. We also found some rosy garlic covering one grave. Presumably it had been planted. Good to see nonetheless.

Rosy garlic

White helleborine

Getting Back to the Horsefield.

 The day again dawned overcast and dull. This, and the fact that I thought that it had moved on, deterred me from going to Winter's to see the buff-breasted sandpiper. Annoyingly, I discovered later that it would have still been there. Still, as the clouds cleared, I opted for the cemetery and Horsefield.

The blackthorn has gone now and the May blossonm is beginning to fade but cow parsley is coming to its peak, continuing the froth of white in the hedgerows. The horsefield is looking superb and there are loads of birds. It was good to get common and lesser whitethroat, blackcap and garden warbler.

House sparrow

Linnet

Linnet

Fledgling robin

Speckled Wood

Another Day on the Horsefield.

 The last day of the good weather today, I think. In fact it clouded over in the afternoon and rained overnight. Although sunny and warm in the morning, there was a brisk and chill wind. I was on the Horsefield again in the hope of seeing/hearing a grasshopper warbler that had been seen by a birding friend on Saturday. To no avail, however, sadly. I also dipped out on the whitethroat. I did run into some running friends, however, and they had seen what sounded like a male blackcap but I couldn't catch up with it.

It was a beautiful walk on the Horsefield, though, and as each day goes by now it looks more spring-like. I noticed red campion in flower as well as Jack-by-the-hedge (hedge garlic) and shepherds purse. Hawthorn is well in leaf and the flowers are just beginning to emerge; we shall soon move from the frothy hedgerows of blackthorn and exchange them for hawthorn before cow parsly and hogweed take their turn. One enjoyable part of walking the same 'local patch' regularly (every day during Covid Lockdown) is that you get to see in detail the changing seasons and even micro-seasons and really get to know the patch in depth.

Again there were quite a few butterflies out: my first holly blues and green-veined whites of the year as well as speckled wood, peacock, comma and small white. On the way back through the woodland burial ground I came across three roe deer.

Chaffinch

Chaffinch

Cherry

Chiffchaff

Comma

Green-veined white

Green-veined white

Comma

Roe Deer

Speckled Wood

Butterflies on the Horsefield At Last

 The warmest day of the year so far at 23.5C. It was cloudless all day, a T-shirt and shorts day. We were up early to clean the church and then home for soup making - leek and potato - ready for Brian and Heather coming for lunch. Hunger satisfied, we set out for a walk around the 'Local Patch' birding and looking for butterflies. The ladies made it a short walk but I took Brian around the woodland burial ground  and then through the fence and over Gooseman's Drain for a lap of the Horsefield. "I hadn't expected an expedition!", quoth The Historian. It was a beautiful day with just a gentle breeze. Finally some butterflies were out and about: small white, speckled wood, peacock, orange tip and comma. The primroses are looking magnificent, it seems to be a wonderful year for them. The first bluebells are also just appearing. An excellent walk.

Comma

                                                                              Peacock

White snakeshead fritillary

Speckled Wood

Speckled Wood

Speckled Wood

Speckled Wood

Speckled Wood