Friday 11th. April 2014

A catch up on the week starts with the first full butterfly transect at High Elms LNR . Being elevated and cooler than the surrounding area , always a slow starter , but I was pleased to record 2 Small Tortoiseshell , 9 Brimstone ( all males ) , 11 Peacock  , 1 Orange Tip ( female ) and one Comma . The

main butterfly areas were very quiet and most were found in warmer , small glades containing

flowering Bluebells . As I walked the butterfly-less  Conservation Field , 4 Common Buzzard were

calling and interacting overhead and alongside the golf course , a very confiding Chiffchaff allowed a

few shots , not like the male Blackcap in the same tree . Back home in the garden , Brimstone ,

Speckled Wood and both male and female Orange Tip were recorded .
An afternoon look up on the Common found several Cowslips / Primula veris on the open glades , no

doubt the seeds brought in on the grass cutters which mowed them at the end of last year . Lots of Brimstone were seen , including at least 4 egg laying females . I spent quite some time chasing them

around , and was rewarded with a shot of one of them actually laying one of her eggs . If you look closely , the egg is just emerging from her abdomen and about to be stuck to the Buckthorn plant .

And here's what it's all about , the lozenge shaped egg that will continue the species . Also found ,

another Green Tiger Beetle / Cicindela campestris , a more colourful specimen this time .
This morning I had a run down to Old Lodge Reserve on Ashdown Forest . A chilly start with a keen breeze , opened into blue skies before closing back up again . Lots of Chaffinches as usual and good numbers of Willow Warblers singing as I walked the top path . At least 3 pairs of Stonechat were

 

on the way around , along with a Green Woodpecker that flew up from the ground , and for once ,

didn't hop around the far side of the trunk . Sight and sound of the visit was on the high ground bordering the MoD land , where up to 6 Woodlark were singing / displaying , and every now and

again , acting like Black Grouse on a lek  , but still carried on singing . After a scrap , they would

carry on feeding and singing till the next one . At one point , three took to the air together and with a

couple more singing on the ground , made for a few minutes that I won't forget for a long time . I heard the 'cronk' of a Raven a couple of times but never saw it , then on a third occasion , I followed it with the camera as it flew behind trees and as it passed a small gap I managed just three shots , the

first was out of focus , the second reasonable and the third it had gone behind trees again . I had three glimpses of Common Redstarts , all in the valley of the little stream , but never managed a shot . By the time I got back to the top path , that blue sky was gone , but another distant 'cronk' alerted me to

another Raven who was sorting out what looked like a Common Buzzard , but it was too far off to be certain .
On my way home , I stopped off to see if the Early Purple Orchids were out on a verge . I could only

























two plants on the verge , but there were more in the small woodland behind .