22nd - 30th April - With Feathers All Stubby and Brown

The dry spell continued along with the cool temperatures.  If you managed to get out of the wind and found a spot in the sun it was quite warm though.  These spots were where the butterflies were.  A trip to the pond on the 23rd found this gorgeous male Orange-Tip nectaring on the cuckoo flower that was around the edge of the water.

Then left the Cuckoo Flower to take advantage of the flowering  periwinkle.

A pair of Chaffinch have been present for a while just by the parking area at the pond, they are probably nest building at the moment.

The sunshine has also moved the Bluebells on in Old Down Wood, although they are still a little way behind where they were this time last year, the cool conditions probably holding them back a little.  Never mind the display is building up quite nicely as you can see from these shots taken on the 23rd and 26th.

Signs keep cropping up around the fields, a new practice and probably a sign of the times, this one at the west end, nice to see a wildlife strip left though.

Despite the plentiful sunshine, butterflies have been hard to find in Old Down, the most numerous have been the Peacock, but they are now coming to the end of their first flying season.

A willow Warbler was singing from the top of the larches in Old Down Wood on the 30th, the first I have ever heard / seen in the wood, probably a migrant moving through.  The Chiffchaff though is present all over the wood, the monotonous song coming from almost every ten metres.  This individual showed really well for me on the 23rd.

The other numerous bird in the Wren, again their explosive song giving away their presence.  This individual, though appeared to be a little agitated and was making itself look big by spreading the wings and tail while calling in alarm.  

It was looking down into the bramble and dead bracken, I wondered if maybe there was an adder that was causing problems, unfortunately I will never know.

The larches in Old Down Wood look spectacular in the midday sunshine against the blue sky.

And the beauty of the pond.

The afternoon on the 23rd I walked down Brislands and then up GIlbert Street and back through Old Down.  Several Orange-Tip flew past us as we walked down Brislands, but at the bottom of the lane one finally stopped and showed well.

There had been several Holly Blue, with five counted, but none of them stopped until finally at the junction of Court Lane with Gilbert Street one did stop and provided me with some of the best Holly Blue photos I have taken.

You could hear the lambs before we could see them, but looking over the gate the field was full of them, some enjoying the sunshine.

While others were just up to no good!

The 26th saw a surprise at the pond, eight Mallard duckling with their mother feeding amongst the Iris bed.  Mallard have only recently become a fixture on the pond, and I have only ever confirmed breeding once before and unfortunately they were not very lucky.  What will happen to these eight ducklings remains to be seen.

The drake takes no part in raising the young ducklings and there were three drakes around the pond.  Disturbingly on drake decided to attack the mother duck, chasing her around the pond and even to the point where she flew off into the adjacent field.  The ducklings stayed in the iris bed and the mother returned only to be attacked again.  This ended though when I threw a stick at the drake!  I know I shouldn't get involved but I couldn't let it continue

On the 30th unfortunately eight had become four.

One piece of good news, the Long-tailed Tit nest that I thought had been attacked and abandoned is very much alive.  I could see movement in the nest and witnessed this adult bring in insects.

Back to the 30th and as well as the ducklings at the pond there was a Firecrest singing by the footpath.  This is the third one I have now found around the patch and of course it performed very well.  Another batch of photographs to the Four Marks Firecrest collection.

Seeing the Tawny Owl has been rather hit or miss lately so I decided on the 30th to check the tree once again.  As I walked up I could see the owl almost immediately, still behind some branches but more visible than usual.

It wasn't though until I got home I realised that there was in fact two Owls in the tree, the other hidden above the prominent one.

I wonder where the owlets are?  Maybe still in the nest hole at the moment but could be about soon.

That was April, a very dry, sunny and cold month, with a record number of frosty days.  May looks like starting with some indifferent weather.  May can also be indifferent with sightings around the patch, we will just have to hope for something special.