Monday 23rd. June 2014

A picture catch up on the last few days .

This Wood Mouse ballooned as it gorged on the sunflower seeds in the back garden .

This Song Thrush was going mad in a neighbour's garden when we returned from shopping .

Unfortunately , a pair of Magpies were searching for it's nest and found it , removing all four chicks .

A visit to Hutchinsons Bank found this female Humming-bird Hawk Moth , busily egg laying on Hedge Bedstraw / Galium mollugo .

A look at the batch of Peacock eggs as I was leaving , found many already hatched .
After a sweaty few days for Keith , on Saturday morning , a visit to Ashdown Forest found 'Short-toed Eddie' still in residence , albeit at distance , across the valley from Gills Lap car park .

The local Magpies tried to move him on .

In his own time , he lifted off majestically ,

And was soon in 'hunting mode' . Keith and others actually watched it land and take a probable Adder , before taking off again and swallowing it in flight , like slurping down spaghetti .

Even one of the local Ravens looked diminutive against 'Eddie' and didn't worry him .
Having had our fill , we headed for Old Lodge Reserve to search for Odonata . On our way along the

top track it was good to see good numbers of Common Redstart with young , although the adults

were never far away , keeping a watchful eye . Woodlark and Tree Pipit were also seen , but not the

hoped for Spotted Flycatcher . Juvenile Stonechats were also seen , waiting to be fed .

The ponds on the way down to the stream in the valley produced male Keeled Skimmer ,

Four-spotted Chaser , pictured , Azure , Common and Large Red Damselflies , along with Broad-bodied Chaser and Emperor Dragonfly , including an egg laying female , but not the hoped for Small Red Damselfly . The stream proved to be the best area as a Brilliant Emerald was holding the attention of photographers gathered , as it charged up and down , being attacked by the other species .

It returned a couple of times to a Heather perch on the bank I was on , and without falling in , managed to get a couple of shots . A Golden-ringed Dragonfly also appeared at intervals , but wasn't prepared to be photographed , disappearing almost as quickly as arriving . A male Beautiful

Demoiselle did everything possible to encourage a female to mate , but all she wanted to do was to sit in the sunshine .

Common Darters were found , freshly emerged on the way back up the slope , but not the  hoped for Black Darter . Our final stop of the visit was over the other side of the Forest to look for Silver-studded Blue , which we failed to find .

But we were treated to a Grass Snake swimming across one of the ponds ,

Several more Emperor Dragonfly , finally getting a male in flight in the viewfinder ,

and a Golden-ringed Dragonfly that we watched hunting around a Gorse patch , finally catching what looked like a bee , and settling to eat it's meal . Our final treat was a pair of Turtle Dove that Keith located calling , deep in Willow ,  giving a brief glimpse before flying off .
This morning , in a short sunny spell before lunch , and on the strength of a call from the other Keith last evening , I spent an hour in the area between Burnt Gorse and the Orchid Bank looking for the Silver-washed Fritillary that he has seen yesterday . I ended up with 3 sightings , with two males together in the same glade that he had seen one in . A bonus was another first for the year , a White Admiral , nectaring on Bramble , just as the clouds rolled in , and the WA headed for the trees beyond .