As I am off for 10 days in Northumbria on Saturday I have been trying to get round my survey sites before I go. This afternoon I did the weeks butterfly and dragonfly walk on my patch. It started well with a female Brimstone in the garden as I was leaving the house. Another couple of males were present by the Tarn together with Orange Tip; Holly Blue and the years first speckled Wood.
Searching along the edges of the Tarn i came across another creature watching the Tarn. In this case i would imagine looking for something to stray too close. He or she sat there for quite sometime hardly moving at all and was still there when I moved on from that section.
The first water-bird young have arrived. Eleven young Greylag geese accompanied by 4 adults so I presume this is two broods. At least one other is still on a nest on the islands.
Also the first Mallard chicks
I couldn’t find any Canada Geese nests but these may be hidden on the islands. But the coots still seem to be building nests.
The Egyptian Geese which arrived a couple of weeks ago are still present.
Disappointing is that the damselfly pool looks in very poor condition. There is almost no live vegetation and I am worried that there is nothing left alive in it. It is connected to the main lake by a pipe so it is likely affected by the woes that have troubled the main lake and it may be they have hit hardest here, because of the lack of drainage and water movement. This will be a major loss as 4 out of the 10 dragonfly species found in the area are located solely on this pond.
Greylag Goose [sp] (Anser anser)
Canada Goose [sp] (Branta canadensis)
Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca)
Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata)
Mallard [sp] (Anas platyrhynchos)
Grey Heron [sp] (Ardea cinerea)
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)
Common Blackbird [sp] (Turdus merula)
European Robin [sp] (Erithacus rubecula)
Dunnock [sp] (Prunella modularis)
Orange Tip (Anthocharis cardamines)
Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni)
Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus)
Speckled Wood [sp] (Pararge aegeria)
Pete's Favourite Things 