Thursday 29th. May 2014

Even though it was overcast and the odd spit of rain this morning , it was good to be out again .

I started off at Bough Beech Reservoir , where at least two pairs of Swallows have returned and started refurbishing their nests , high in the roof of the open barn . Whilst watching them zip in an

out , one dropped to the floor , not 5 metres away from me , looking for insects . The scrape held nothing out of the ordinary , and with so much water in the main reservoir and the North Lake , no mud to attract any passing migrants . A few juvenile Pied Wagtails searched the tide line and the odd

Common Tern fished the North Lake , taking it's catch back to the rafts on the main reservoir , where

I counted 15+ , but too far off to be sure of nests or eggs . On the way to the River Eden near Chiddingstone , a farm track I passed had become the building supplies yard for the local House

Martins , as up to 15/20 at a time , arrived to get the repair materials for their nests . Down at the river , with a calling Cuckoo in the background , Azure , Common Blue and the odd Red-eyed

Damselflies along with immature male and female White-legged Damselfies were seen .

Male and female Banded Demoiselles were around too , but the brightness didn't last long and the wind got even stronger . Turning my attention to the vegetation along the bank , and only just making

it in the month , a Mayfly / Ephemera danica , the only one I saw was sheltering in the grass .

A mating pair of Green-legged Sawfly / Tenthredo mesomelas , the female on the right , much large than the male , as many females are in the insect world .

A first for me , Woundwort Shiedlbug / Eysarcopis venustissimus , on it's namesake plant ,

which is just coming into flower , Hedge Woundwort / Stachys sylvatica , a member of the Labiate family .
My last stop was at the reserve with the feeders in the woods , which was very quiet . One Grass Snake and a few Slow Worms along with another Glow Worm larvae , and a Tree Bumblebee /

Bombus hypnorum . One of the few butterflies seen today was a Peacock , looking not too bad

considering that it could be 10 or 11 months old now .