1st - 15th June - We Can't Escape The Truth And The Fact Is

I know I have said this many times but summer around Four Marks can be a desert for significant wildlife sighting.  This coupled with a change in the almost Mediterranean weather to the June Monsoon conditions we seem to get here in the United Kingdom these days, there have been sparse pickings.  Lets focus on the butterflies to start though, the first Meadow Brown of the year was seen om the 1st June in the unusual place of the road from Kitwood leading down to the scholl, there were in fact 3 flitting along in the early evening sunshine.

Large Skippers have been present around the bramble bushes.  The male Large Skippers can be often found perched in a prominent, sunny position, usually on a large leaf at a boundary between taller and shorter vegetation, awaiting passing females. 

Later in the month the numbers of Meadow Browns had increased and plenty could be seen in the open rides throughout Old Down Wood.  The Meadow Brown is the most abundant butterfly species in many habitats. Hundreds may be seen together at some sites, flying low over the vegetation. Adults fly even in dull weather when most other butterflies are inactive.

They also show colourful differences between the male and female, the females showing more orange in the upper wing as can be seen here.

Att the end of the period in one hay meadow I was able to see from a distance several Marbled Whites and two Small Skippers.  Unfortunately like a lot of the area now the land owner had made it quite clear they didn't want anyone enjoying the meadow.

Many of the meadows that we had back at the start of this blog have now disappeared, either built on, mowed or just restricted access, the wildlife strips that the farmers would leave have now been completely removed leaving very few habitats on the patch for the summer butterflies.

At Swelling Hill Pond the a couple of Emperor Dragonflies were present.  The male can be seen flying back and forth over the lily pads, occasionally darting off to chase a damselfly or other insect.

I was lucky to catch it closer as it flew past.

The female was a little easier to photograph as she oviposited her eggs into the pond weed at the surface of the water.

Here photobombed by an Azure Damselfly.

As well as the Emperors there was also the male Broad-bodied Chaser, here resting on an Iris leaf.

On the Bramble just along the road from the pond I found a Banded Demoiselle.  This is not the best photograph so you will have to trust me it was a Banded.  Not sure if this came from the pond or a garden pond from one of the large gardens close by.

Around the pond the Yellow Iris have now gone over leaving patches of lush green leaves.

Old Down Wood is now quiet and in many places very dark.  The best place to find wildlife is on the open rides and around the Bramble bushes.  As mentioned the Meadow Browns can now be seen in both sunny and cloudy conditions.  Another Broad-bodied Chaser was present around the Old Down Cottage entrance so could have been the male form the pond.

On either side of the rides Thistles, Bracken and Cow Parsley grows well above my height.

In the sunny glades Foxgloves stand out. 

Their purple bells are almost iridescent in the sunshine.

The birds are very quiet, busy searching for food to feed hungry mouths.  In places the begging calls of both Blue and Great Tit could be heard, while overhead the resident pair of Ravens could be heard calling to each other with their familiar "gronks".  Birds of prey are busy, Buzzard and Red Kites scouring the fields and even the gardens for any opportunity to claim a meal.  

Sometimes at this time of year it pays to stand still and wait and look to see if anything comes to you.  This was certainly the case with this Marsh Tit that appeared close to me foraging around the bramble leaves for caterpillars, almost oblivious of my presence.

Back in the garden I was rewarded with a garden tick on the 14th, when I heard and eventually saw a flock of ten Crossbills fly over from the north heading in the direction of Old Down Wood.  That takes my garden list up to 62.

The activity in the garden from the Robins is now starting to ease, at one point it was frantic, with three pairs of Robins and the Blackbird pair coming for food to feed their young.  This has meant that at least two of the Robins have been coming to take mealworms from the hand.  I get an amazing amount of pleasure from having this interaction with these delightful birds.  Here are some pictures caught as they fly in.  

What is amazing is the power the wings deliver in moving the air, they are also quite adept at hovering if necessary

There have also been young Robins, at one stage three were present which reduced to one tame bird that would also take the worms from the hand.  However the adult birds didn't take to lightly to them moving in and would attack them.  I like to think this pushed the two youngsters away to find their own area.  However the one bird does still remain but keeps itself hidden away in the hedge, appearances like this are rare and I usually have to throw worms under the hedge.

These young birds were the offspring of "Donald" who will still come to be fed, but will not take from the hand, maybe his experience when he got caught in the house and I had to catch hime has held that back.

The Blackbirds successfully fledged two birds and the male was constantly chased around the garden as they called and begged to be fed. He has continued to do this while the female sat on another brood.  He is now feeding the young in the nest and being chased around the garden by the older young birds.  The result of all this is that i=his plumage has taken and incredible battering.

 

He isn't a young bird and you have to admire his loyalty to ensuring his genes pass on!

It would be nice to be able to get some photos of the local butterflies as we move to the end of June, I will have to see if I can find some meadows that allow me to get close.