July 20th 2008

Dave picked me up at 6:30 and we spent 45 minutes in the valley getting a family party of Whitethroats, Stock Dove 20+, Buzzard 2 and a few Yellowhammers. Surprisingly we were the first to arrive at Draycote Water to very blustery conditions which meant we were lucky enough to have a Sanderling resting on farborough bank and a our first Little Stint of the year in toft bay before the walkers arrived and disturbed everything (water level still high). The walk also produced Common Tern 3, Raven, Buzzard, Common Sandpiper and a family party of Treecreepers in toft shallows. Breakfast in Long Itchington joined by Steve Valentine who had just completed his bird survey at Illmington then it was off to Brandon Marsh but the three of us saw very little apart from a Teal, Green Sandpiper, Buzzard 3 and Whitethroat.
After coffee the we took the gamble to look for butterfly's in Wappenbury Wood and when ever the sun came out they became very active and we managed Purple Emperor 2, White Admiral, Purple Hairstreak 2, Comma 3, Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Large White and Small Skipper which was an excellent return considering the wind never let up. We also managed three moths in the form of Blackneck, Yellow Tail and Common White Wave but the most interesting observation was an Emperor Dragonfly catching a Broad-bodied Chaser and landing in front of us to enjoy its meal.

Remains of Broad-bodied Chaser after being killed and eaten by a Emperor Dragonfly

Comma
News from the patch today included a Lesser-spotted Woodpecker at an undisclosed location and David hunt and his dad managed Turtle Dove and Spotted Flycatcher in the valley.

Richard