Tuesday 26th.May 2009

Most of today was spent at a site near Gravesend , with the new warden , clearing rubbish , in readiness of it's opening . A grim enough job at the best of times , but in the heavy rain this morning , I could think of better places to be . Eventually , the rain did stop , and the sun appeared . As soon as it did so , the northward push of the Painted Ladies started again . My estimate of butterflies seen today is between 100 and 150 . We were working on a slope in the lea of the wind , when the sun came out , and the numbers that lifted out of the vegetation was incredible . A quick check on direction , and off they all went , relentlessly northward . Such a shame that it is all in vain .

The only other notable happening there , was when a very large Beech tree 'snapped out' when we were within 50 metres of it . The initial sound was like a machine gun , followed by a massive snap , followed by the sound of the limbs crashing through surrounding trees , and finishing with an almighty thump , as it hit the ground . The vibration of the last was incredible . I have been close by when large trees have been felled and hit the ground , but for it to happen without warning was something else . When we went over to have a look , the tree was completely hollow , and had snapped out at about 7/8 mtrs , leaving an enormous amount of firewood on the woodland floor .

We got back to our yard at a reasonable time , so I decided to turn a few tins on the Ridge on the way home . Grass Snake was the species of the day , with 10 being recorded on two sites .

One found , had opaque eyes , showing that it is coming up to 'slough' , shed it's skin .

They were all found under corrugated tin refugia , and 3 doubles and 1 treble were recorded .

Just 2 Slow Worms , a very low number , were recorded , and two Adders , one male under a tin and a female , laying in the open , enjoying the sunshine .

When I got home , we were having a cup of coffee in the sun lounge , when a juvenile Greenfinch came to feed at the birdtable . There was also a family of Blue Tits , but I didn't manage a shot of any of them .And talking juveniles , we had another visit from the juvenile Squirrel , on it's own this time .