A very interesting morning at Linford yesterday which produced 43 captures, of which 39 were new and included 19 species.
An abundance of juveniles boosted the number of new birds including wren, dunnock, chiffchaff, robin, blackcap, garden warbler, reed bunting, blackbird, goldcrest and song thrush.
Juveniles of scarcer species included willow warbler which was nice to see, the first kingfishers of the year (an adult and a juvenile), a gorgeously speckled green woodpecker, and another cettis warbler.
The biggest surprise of the morning came in the shape of a fully juvenile plumaged redstart which, coming hot on the heels of the 2nd year female from two weeks ago, suggest that these birds have bred locally.
Wren 8
Dunnock 2
Chiffchaff 5
Robin 1
Reed warbler 5
Blackcap 2
Cettis warbler 1 (2)
Garden warbler 3
Willow warbler 1
Reed bunting 1 (1)
Kingfisher 2
Redstart 1
Green woodpecker 1
Goldcrest 1
Whitethroat 1
Blue tit 2
Blackbird 1
Song thrush 1
Treecreeper 0 (1)
Summer Leys has been quiet on the bird front recently. A cuckoo was still present last week, as was a peregrine that whizzed through over the scrape, panicking all the birds in residence.
The 4 LRP chicks are flourishing and are almost as large as their parents now, as are the 5 egyptian goslings.
A new addition to the youngster count were at least 2 redshank chicks. The adults are always very secretive in their nesting activities, the only indication normally being the foraging of the youngsters amidst the prolific waterside vegetation and the constant contact cheeping of the parent birds.
Butterflies have been much in evidence over the last week or so, with large hatches of ringlet and meadow brown.
The colony of marbled white butterflies in the south east corner of Mary's Lake comprises at least 20 individuals.
Finally, the orchid season is drawing to a close with just a few southern marsh and bee orchids left. The common spotted and pyramidal orchids have mostly gone over now.
Regards,
Neil H.
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