Two hard days fencing up on the Greensand Ridge , produced another female Roe Deer , but this time running at full tilt down the field we were fencing , and no chance of a picture .
Today I decided to return to Ashdown Forest , for the birds and also hoping for Silver-studded Blues , which have started to emerge on other sites , but no sign at all in their usual site there . A strange day birdwise , with just 31 species recorded , and surprisingly , just one raptor all day , although I did find another Great Spotted Woodpecker nest with young being fed .
The highlights of the visit were ,
male and female Stonechat ,
Tree Pipit , singing his heart out ,
and still singing as he parachutes back down ,
a few Linnets were found , including this male ,
the only raptor found all day was this Kestrel , whilst hoping to find a Cuckoo on the wires ,
male and female Common Redstart ,
a juvenile Common Redstart , part of 3/4 family groups seen ,
male and female Stonechat ,Tree Pipit , singing his heart out ,and still singing as he parachutes back down ,a few Linnets were found , including this male ,the only raptor found all day was this Kestrel , whilst hoping to find a Cuckoo on the wires ,male and female Common Redstart ,a juvenile Common Redstart , part of 3/4 family groups seen ,two singing male Woodlarks heard outside the reserve , and a pair collecting food .
Disappointing numbers of Odonata ,
but several male Emperor Dragonflies recorded , and a female ovipositing , 
female Broad-bodied Chaser ovipositing , and just one Four Spotted Chaser recorded .
but several male Emperor Dragonflies recorded , and a female ovipositing , female Broad-bodied Chaser ovipositing , and just one Four Spotted Chaser recorded .A couple of moths for the man , the first might be a Wave of some sort , 
but I will be interested in the second , as I think I have found this species before , but never been 
able to identify it .
but I will be interested in the second , as I think I have found this species before , but never been able to identify it .
7 comments:
Redstarts, Tree Pipits, and Woodlarks, What a trio of special birds Greenie, good to see the Redstarts breeding well.
Great emperor photo :-)
As soon as I saw the header photo on my sidebar I thought, Greenie's been to Ashdown Forest.
Warren's right, that's a great trio. Nice shot of the Emperor, dragons seem to be in short supply like butterflies at the moment. Very few of either at Stodmarsh today.
That's as good a bunch of birds as you're going to get in the breeding season - I must get down to the forest soon.
It is indeed a strange season - early and profuse flowers have left a barren mostly colourless landscape, while butterflies and other insects have disappeared almost completely. I think we had May in April.
A great selection of photos there Greenie, as Warren said, some nice birds seen too. Looks like your trip was another success.
PS. If you check out my latest blog, could i have your opinion on the ID of a Butterfly please mate, cheers in advance.
Hi Greenie,
Seems like another place I need to go. If poss would you e mail me with where to park and where to walk etc. Would be grateful.
Greenie, i`m pretty sure that the first moth is a Grass Wave and the 2nd is defo a Clouded Buff.
What an excellent selection of birds you saw in just one visit Greenie! You are doing well for GSW nests too :)
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