Padfield

[David M]

What gorgeous images of the Kingfisher, Guy. Takes something special to eclipse the moon!

[Padfield]

Thanks Buggy, Wurzel and David. I've been to the same spot twice more recently and seen king/queenfishers both times, so still hoping for that classic shot. It'll have to be photoshop, Wurzel, as there aren't any 'no fishing' signs on that stretch of the river ...

Peacocks were on the wing yesterday and the day before. I saw three individuals in total:


(my garden, on Thursday)


(local woods on Thursday)


(my garden, yesterday)

They'll have to batten down the hatches for a few days but things are looking up for Monday and Tuesday of next week so some profitable activity might be possible. Fresh nettles are coming up.

A few piccies from today:


(little egret)


(little egret)


(greenshank)


(kestrel)

And Greater Anglia's brilliant solution to the problem of train capacity: infinitely long trains ...



Guy

[Wurzel]

"It'll have to be photoshop, Wurzel," No worries your secret's safe with me
Great work with the Peacocks Guy - it was s till a little cool for them over here today - but things have started

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Padfield]

"It'll have to be photoshop, Wurzel," No worries your secret's safe with me

Let's just hope no one leaks our cunning plan on the internet ...

Very windy today and unsurprisingly, no butterflies. I did see a kingfisher on a different part of the Deben. Too many walkers disturbing me for good pictures, but I got some record shots:







She was perched high above the water:



Guy

[essexbuzzard]

Nice kingfisher, and nice to see the kestrel in your previous post. They are still common here in East Anglia, but I’m seeing fewer these days on my travels elsewhere in the country.

[trevor]

Absolutely superb images of that Little Egret, Guy.
As for the Kingfisher, I've only ever seen two in my entire life.

Apparently your new trains are known as ' Basil's ' by railway staff, as they are often faulty.

All the best,
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

More great Kingfsher shots Guy - especially like number two, the action shot

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

What a delight to see that blaze of colour in the shape of those 2020 Peacocks at the top of the page, Guy!

Even better are the kingfisher images though. I daren't imagine what you might have posted had it not been for all those walkers getting in the way.

[Padfield]

Thank you Buzzard, Trevor, Wurzel and David. I wasn't aware kestrels had declined outside Suffolk, Buzzard. It's one of those things you take for granted until one day you think, 'I haven't seen X for ages,' and realise they're in trouble. Like house sparrows, for example ...

As I posted on the February page, at least one of the white-letter hairstreak eggs in my local meadow has hatched. The elm flowers are out, so if the caterpillar made it to one of these it should be fine. I hope it is well ensconced, as the winds are going to blow again.

This was the egg on August 19th, when it was within easy reach (before the leaves fell and the branches sprang up a few metres!):



These photos were taken yesterday. I had to pull the branch down and hold it at a strong point with my left hand while I took the rather awful pictures with my right:





These are elm flowers elsewhere on the same tree ten days ago:



Guy

[Matsukaze]

Some of the elms are starting to come into flower here in Somerset too. They must be further forward still in the south-east.

[David M]

Good luck to that WLH larva in current conditions, Guy. Amazing that the elm flowers are unfurling in mid-February. Global warming is clearly not a myth.

[Padfield]

Thanks Matsukaze and David. The elm flowers certainly didn't come out this early on my local patch in CH, but that was wych elm, and at 1000m, so I can't make any comparison.

I saw a couple of cormorants on the far side of the Deben today that were clearly in breeding plumage, and one was particularly splendid:







Is this race sinensis (carrying Phalacrocovid-19 ... ) or is it not possible to tell?

Guy

[Wurzel]

They're great looking birds in breeding plummage Guy Distinguishing the two races/subspecies is really tricky - you need to look at the angle of the yellow banding at the face end of the bill (the gular patch angle) this link might help you make your mind up https://soundapproach.co.uk/paradise-re ... ...looking at the shots the gular angle looks quite square so I'd be tempted to make a tentative ID of Sinensis...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Padfield]

Thanks Wurzel. The link didn't work but I found the page you meant:

https://soundapproach.co.uk/species/great-cormorant/

I've moved the two birds on the far bank next to each other to compare two of the points mentioned on the page, the angle of the gular patch (B) and the narrowness of the white throat band (A). The whiter one does look good for sinensis by these criteria but I have to admit the pictures are too rubbish to tell, really. The birds were just too far away even for my super-zoom.



And again ...



Very useful website, that I wasn't aware of before. Thanks!

Guy

[Padfield]

Long time no post - so by way of catch-up, here are all the butterflies I've seen so far in 2020, plus a super caterpillar!


(Small tortoiseshell - noticeably scarce this spring)


(Peacock - noticeably abundant this spring)


(Red admiral - I found two in our porch in February and released them. Other than that I've seen just one, also in February)


(Comma - out in good numbers, in our garden and local woods)


(Brimstone - drifting daily through the garden, with females since the beginning of April)


(Holly blue - the same female seen twice, three days apart, but no others)


(Speckled wood - just the one male seen so far, on 31st March)


(Orange tip - every day since 4th April)


(Small white - every day since the end of March)

Today, 7th April, was a good day but a better night. The supermoon rose into a clear sky ...



... then beamed down from a cloudless night sky:



I took Minnie to the meadow, where I checked the newly unfurling elm leaves for white-letter hairstreak caterpillars by UV light (see April 2020 entry on this). Sure enough, I found one - a freshly moulted third instar. Very hard to photograph in the night, but I got these pictures with flash:





The moulted skin is at its tail.

I am utterly thrilled to have white-letter hairstreak cats so close at hand. Something to do during the lockdown ...

Guy

[Goldie M]

You've got some fantastic shots Guy, looking through them I love the King Fisher, it's a Bird I've only ever got a long shot of.Goldie

[David M]

Thanks for this year's 'who's who', Guy. Some lovely shots in there, although the super moon is in itself worthy of note - how I regret not having made myself aware of its impending presence.

[Wurzel]

That is a stunning Holly Blue Guy There has been a dearth of Red Admirals this spring - I've only seen one this year?

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Padfield]

Thanks Goldie, David and Wurzel. I'm acutely conscious how lucky we are at this time to have a garden. It must be hell being stuck in a city apartment block during this lockdown.

For my government-authorised exercise today I cycled Minnie to my most productive and local green hairstreak spot. I didn't expect to see any hairstreaks - and didn't - because they emerge rather late here. Last spring (my first in England for three decades ...) I didn't find any until mid-May. It may be that they coincide with the broom flowering. Today the gorse was in full, coconut-scented flower but the broom was still green. This is a corner of the site, broom on the left, gorse on the right:



Minnie helpfully checked there weren't any hiding in the grass:



I last visited last week, when this chiff-chaff was singing his heart out because of all the green hairstreaks he hoped soon to be filling his tummy with:



Today, peacocks and commas were common on the heathland, and in our garden there were also orange tips, small whites and brimstones. I still haven't confirmed a green-veined white. This orange tip is sitting on greater celandine. Even though it isn't in flower yet, he knows he likes crucifers! EDIT: Mmm... I looked at the pictures and thought - 'That looks more like a poppy' - and sure enough, greater celandine is poppy family. So he is not so picky after all!





Guy

[Wurzel]

Great shots Guy There have been some Greenstreaks already recorded in Wiltshire an Kent so your trip yesterday was always worth a punt

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel