Monday 2nd.August 2010

The Bird Survey at Down House , on the eve of the announcement as to whether the site will get World Heritage Site status , was probably the quietest one I have ever done , with just 44 birds recorded , that's birds not species . The species count was a measly 14 , with the best of a poor lot being Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker .

So it was as well that there were other things of interest on the way round . All three meadows have been cut , whilst the flowers were in full bloom , meaning that butterflies were in short supply too . Only one spot hadn't been cut and that was in the largest meadow . As I approached the area , a movement in the uncut grass revealed a male Roe Deer , and I didn't even have the camera out of the bag . I quickly got it out and put it on the tripod , to find the buck had hardly moved . I had expected him to be well gone , but he just slowly moved out of the long grass into the cut , turning occasionally and stamping his hoof . He moved off further , but then turned and came back to the long grass . By this time , I had got 25+ shots of him at close range . Then , I found out why he didn't run off , when his girlfriend stood up in the middle of the long grass . She wasn't as keen to be photographed , and almost immediately led the pair off at speed . They stood and looked back every now and then , before disappearing over a rise and out of sight ,by which time , my shot total had exceeded 55 . I noticed that whenever the pair did stop , the buck was very interested in the doe's rear end , and when I got home , I checked up and this is the time of the rut for this species of Deer , unlike September/October for the Fallow and Red . In the woodland , the Violet Helleborine , that I posted as a 10cm. plant on my last visit , is now 60-70cms. high , and the lower flowers are fully out . As I said , butterflies were few , but there was still a very fresh looking female Meadow Brown , nectaring on the Creeping Thistle . As other posts have pointed out , Autumn is approaching , and a couple of examples were , the seeds on the Hornbeam , unlike the mast on the Beech , and the acorns starting to form on the evergreen Holm Oak . A quick look in at High Elms on the way home , for once in some sunshine , found several species , including Red Admiral sharing the Buddleia flowers , just three White-letter Hairstreaks , but it was quite breezy on the Orchid Bank , and three female Silver Washed Fritillaries , this one missing half of it's hindwing , were busy egg laying on the Scots Pines .

And finally , whilst writing this , we had our regular visitor to the car port , a female Southern Hawker , escorted outside once she settled on the fish pond net .