Naturelog: Tuesday 1st April

A bright sunny afternoon so decided to spend some time by the Tarn looking for early butterflies.

There was much bird activity on the tarn, mostly due to a pair of Greylag geese which seemed to have decided that they wanted exclusive residence rights and were spending much energy and noise trying to drive off all other birds from the lake. There doesn’t seem to be much nest building activity yet and none of last years Coot nests show any evidence that they have been re-occupied for this year. We do seem to have our mixed Greylag / Canada pair back for the third year.

And what about those butterflies?
At the east end of the Tarn there was a distant sighting of a male Brimstone actively moving along the lake edge towards the golf course. When I had almost completed my circuit and reached the flower bed at the west end, I caught a brief glimpse of a butterfly flying away which I was sure was a Orange Tip, but not sure enough for record purposes. Thankfully a stop at the western flowerbed soon reveled a second male Orange Tip actively quartering the adjacent trees and bushes.

Orange Tip by Ouwesok (https://www.flickr.com/photos/95975006@N08/)

Things got even better later in the afternoon when a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly made a brief visit to the garden.

Spring is finally here!

Greylag Goose [sp] (Anser anser)
Canada Goose [sp] (Branta canadensis)
Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata)
Mallard [sp] (Anas platyrhynchos)
Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula)
Common Moorhen [sp] (Gallinula chloropus)
Eurasian Coot [sp] (Fulica atra)
Common Pigeon [sp] (Columba livia)
Common Wood Pigeon [sp] (Columba palumbus)
Rose-ringed Parakeet [sp] (Psittacula krameri)
Eurasian Magpie [sp] (Pica pica)
Carrion Crow [sp] (Corvus corone)
Great Tit [sp] (Parus major)
Eurasian Blue Tit [sp] (Cyanistes caeruleus)
Eurasian Wren [sp] (Troglodytes troglodytes)
Eurasian Nuthatch [sp] (Sitta europaea)
Common Blackbird [sp] (Turdus merula)
European Robin [sp] (Erithacus rubecula)

Orange Tip (Anthocharis cardamines)
Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni)
Small Tortoiseshell [sp] (Aglais urticae)