April 30th 2011

After brief early morning rain which did not do much for the garden it was a sunny day with a cool blustery north east wind. New moths for the year were Chocolate-tip, Epiblema foenella, Scalloped Hazell and Cinnabar
Out early with Dave and the pond produced a Sandwich Tern briefly, 6 Swift, Sedge Warbler, Wheatear and 3 Yellow Wagtail but little else though I got good views of the Hobby which flew across the A426 at Birdingbury Bridge on our way to the Diner. After breakfast we looked for butterflies around the more sheltered areas nearby adding 12 Dingy Skipper and 4 Green Hairstreak to the year list along with 5 Grizzled Skipper seen among the more commoner species. Bee Fly, Cinnabar, 2 Treble Bar, Raven and 3 Lesser Whitethroat noted.

Treble Bar

Dingy Skipper

Coffee at the Just So café gave us Hobby and Garden Warbler while probably the same Hobby performed at nearby Napton Reservoir catching insects above our heads. Large Red, Common and Blue-tailed Damselfly, Cetties Warbler heard above the din of “reed” warblers and Common Sandpiper present.
A search for Grizzled Skippers back at the pond in the afternoon produced 3 individuals plus Red Admiral and 2 Holly Blue while the biggest surprise was a Green Hairstreak. Over the reservoir were 2 Common Tern and 2 Black Tern but no sign of any Godwits present earlier though a very smart summer plumage Grey Plover in biggen bay more than made up for it.

Richard