Wednesday 8th. June 2011

I was working today up on the Greensand Ridge , so nothing to post from there , but am using this post to catch up on yesterday afternoon's visit to Spring Park Pond . I set off from home in sunshine , but , as I parked the car , the clouds rolled in . Leaving the pond till later , I went to check on the Peacock butterflies on the Nettles by the sheltered small meadow . Since my last visit , the Bracken had shot up , and it took quite some time to find them again . When I did , it was surprising how little they had grown , but the Bracken will definitely provide them shelter from predators . In the same area , I came across this female spider , I believe her to be Pisaura mirabilis , unfortunately no common name , carrying beneath her a very large egg sack . At the end of the small meadow is a horse paddock , and it would appear that Spring had sprung there as well . Walking back through the wood to the large meadow , the first flowers of another of my favourite plants , Enchanter's Nightshade/Circaea lutetiana , were just starting to open . As I got back to the meadow , a Short-tailed Vole ran across the path in front of me , and I just about got a sort of shot , before it disappeared into the long grass . At the pond , the odd pair of Smooth/Common Newts were still courting , with the male flashing his tail , and the female taking no notice at all . Just two Large Red Damselflies and a pair of Azure Damselflies , the female ovipositing while still in tandem with the male , were all that were recorded . That is if you don't count this male , bound up in spiders web , his flying days over . A walk around the meadow found a family of Blackcaps working their way along the woodland edge . I think there were 3 or 4 young with the two adults , but they were all very mobile , and not very helpful to be photographed .

And finally , a couple of moths found , that I'm going to have a stab at .I think this might be a worn Green Oak Tortrix moth ,

and hope that this might be a Rannock Looper , a moth that only used to breed in Scotland , but for some reason seem to be visiting the South East in good numbers at the moment . Alan / Sissinghurst Birds posted one last night , and I'm keeping my fingers crossed . But of course , I always stand to be corrected .