May 18th 2010

Excellent day weather wise with a chilly start from a clear night brightening up to a sunny day with a light north easterly becoming more southerly as the day progressed though the temperatures did not reach the 20c forecasted due to a lot more cloud than predicted.
Started the day listening to the dawn chorus at Bunkers Hill Wood where I also managed Barn, Tawny and Little Owl before nipping home for breakfast. Once done I was down the pond for a meeting with Phil and Mike as they have agreed to show me how to monitor and record the butterfly population and managed a family party of Great-spotted Woodpeckers on Dunchurch Cricket Club Ground and a Hobby over The Post Office, Dunchurch.
On arrival the pond was pretty quiet on the migration front with a Ringed Plover calling as it went over unseen but as I was also doing a butterfly count I managed good numbers of warbler territories with 12 Whitethroat, 8 Garden Warbler, 15 Blackcap, 4 Chiffchaff, 5 Willow Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, and Sedge Warbler seen or heard. The Garganey was still present but elusive, 7 Gadwall including a male paired with a female Mallard doing its parental guardian bit with 4 recently fledged young (not sure if they are hybrids), 2 female Grey Wagtail, 2 active broods of Long-tailed Tits, female Wheatear, 4 Yellow Wagtail, 8 Buzzard and Lesser black-backed Gull. Strangest record was that of a pair of House sparrows on farborough spit.
On the butterfly front my meeting went well and I learnt more in an hour with those two guys than I have in years. On site today were 5 Orange-tip, 14 Large White, Small White, 4 Grizzled Skipper, 8 Speckled Wood, 4 Brimstone, Common Blue, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell while the extensive searching meant I also found a few moths including Common White Wave, 5 Ancylis badiana, Flame Carpet and 2 Silver-ground Carpet. On the dragonfly front the only one found was my first for the year female Broad-bodied Chaser. The five Wood Mice finished off the visit nicely.

Meanwhile I have received this

Dear Stakeholder,

Ref: Draycote Water infrastructure redevelopment

On Wednesday 26th May, Severn Trent Water will be holding an open day at Draycote Water. The purpose of this event is to allow the various stakeholders opportunity to view the plans associated with the forthcoming infrastructure redevelopment project, speak to the architects and designers responsible and discuss any concerns with Severn Trent Water staff who will be on hand to answer questions.

The event will take place between 10 am and 2pm in the Visitor Centre and will be on an informal ‘drop in’ basis.

We hope you will take this opportunity to come along and see the scope of the improvements that we are planning to undertake on site and look forward to seeing you there.

Should you have any queries in the meantime then please contact me directly on the number above.

Yours faithfully,

Richard Spence
Public Access Sites Coordinator & Draycote Water Site Manager


Now I haven't had a decent stake since the Spanish Inquisition so it will be interesting to see what they have planned or more importantly when.

Richard