Neil Freeman

[Wurzel]

Good news about the Greenfinches Cracking shot of the Goldcrest, they are a right pain as they're so mobile and tiny - the crest really stands out on that one

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Your birds are lovely, Neil, but I sense you are eager to get cracking with butterflies now?

Me too. However, I see no respite from these storms in the next week or so, meaning that we may have to wait for March before we can indulge ourselves.

Coming to something when Blackcaps and Goldcrests are replacing Sparrows at the feeding table!!

[essexbuzzard]

Wow, a goldcrest on your fat feeder. That’s amazing!

[Neil Freeman]

Cheers Wurzel. Yes, the Goldcrests are the most difficult birds in my garden to get a decent shot of.

Thanks David. This winter seems to be dragging on forever, not helped by the way that autumn came early with similar wind and rain.

Hi Mark, I get the Goldcrests coming to the feeders most years but only ever to the fat blocks. As Wurzel says they are very quick and often in and out before I can grab the camera.


Another weekend and another load of wind and rain. It has not stopped raining here again all day (Friday 28th Feb.) and as I write this it is still ls lashing down.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Neil Freeman]

Great to see some butterflies being posted lately. Still nothing for me though but being stuck inside at work during the week obviously doesn't help.

Last Sunday afternoon (8th March)was sunny enough to tempt me to take a walk down the road to the patch of rough ground by my local park which often produces my first sightings but it was stubbornly cold and windy and with no butterflies seen.
Having said that my usual first sightings here often occur during the second half of March and it is looking likely that this year will be similar.

With no butterflies yet, here are a few garden birds from the past couple of weeks.

Bullfinch male - Coverdale 01.03.2020

Blackcap male - Coverdale 22.02.2020

Blackcap female - Coverdale 08.03.2020

Greenfinch male - Coverdale 07.03.2020

Greenfinch pair - Coverdale 08.03.2020

Over the past few days there has been a couple of cases of coronavirus in the company I work for, although none yet at the site I am based at. Restrictions on inter-site travel were introduced today and wherever possible we have to conduct meetings over microsoft 'teams'.

I reckon next week could be 'interesting' but at least if I have to self isolate at home I have plenty of reading material to occupy me.

My bookshelf.

Looks like the weather is going to settle down a bit next week too...at last.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

I feel the same way Neil - we're stuck in that annoying pattern of the best weather day being mid-week I'm hoping that a period of self isolation could be used to actually catch-up on my PD
Cracking set of images as per usual - a particularly find looking male Greenfinch

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Love the male bullfinch shot, Neil. Superb.

Your library looks much the same as mine. We may all have time to catch up on a bit of reading if all these Coronavirus rumours are true.

[trevor]

I agree, that male Bullfinch shot is beautiful, wonderful colours.
They are very rare visitors to my garden, but I did once see a pair
spend a considerable time giving my trees and shrubs the once over.

Hopefully some butterflies this week.

Keep well,
Trevor.

[Neil Freeman]

I feel the same way Neil - we're stuck in that annoying pattern of the best weather day being mid-week I'm hoping that a period of self isolation could be used to actually catch-up on my PD
Cracking set of images as per usual - a particularly find looking male Greenfinch

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks Wurzel. Yes, a cracking bit of sun again yesterday (Monday) when I was back in work. Fingers crossed for next weekend.

Love the male bullfinch shot, Neil. Superb.

Your library looks much the same as mine. We may all have time to catch up on a bit of reading if all these Coronavirus rumours are true.

Thanks David. I reckon most of us on here must have a similar selection of books.

I agree, that male Bullfinch shot is beautiful, wonderful colours.
They are very rare visitors to my garden, but I did once see a pair
spend a considerable time giving my trees and shrubs the once over.

Hopefully some butterflies this week.

Keep well,
Trevor.

Thanks Trevor. it seems weird to me that these days Bullfinches are one of my more regular visitors to the garden.

Saturday 14th March.

I wasn't going to post any more photos of birds, hoping instead that my next photos would be of my first butterfly(s) but unfortunately Saturday was dull and cloudy around here.
I did however get a visit to the garden from a small group of three Redwings which lifted my spirits a bit, these being very irregular visitors to the garden and I am lucky if I see one or two each year. These stayed down the far end of the garden so the shots below are heavily cropped as well as being taken through the back room window.

Redwing - Coverdale 14.03.2020

Redwings - Coverdale 14.03.2020

Redwing - Coverdale 14.03.2020

On Sunday we had a drive down to Bristol to visit our youngest son Danny and his girlfriend and drove through some horrendously heavy rain on the way down the M5 in the morning and again on the way back later in the afternoon.

Garden Moths

So far in March, the mostly windy nights have meant that I have only had the moth trap out a couple of times, on the night of Sunday 10th and again on Saturday (14th), both of which resulted in 5 moths.
Monday 10th produced 2 Hebrew Characters, 2 Common Quaker and 1 Twin-spotted Quaker.
Saturday 14th produced 2 Hebrew Characters, 2 Twin-spotted Quakers and 1 Common Quaker. By comparing markings, all of these were different individuals to those from the 10th.

Twin-spotted Quaker - Coverdale 14.03.2020

Common Quaker - Coverdale 14.03.2020

Hebrew Character - Coverdale 14.03.2020

With current events now escalating quickly, I have been informed that I will be working from home after tomorrow. Not sure what that is going to entail though as there is not much that I can actually do from home with my job. Still, I am going in tomorrow to find out as apparently they have a 'plan'.
Depending how long this all goes on for, I am hoping that I might be able to take advantage of some better weather.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

That first Redwing is really well marked Neil - I haven't seen one with as much red as that for a while now
Good luck with the working from home - hopefully we'll get some good weather and you can nip out somewhere during your lunch break or work in the garden camera at the ready

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

You never know, Neil - working from home may allow you to clock a nice new early Speckled Wood at the moment it appears in the garden.
Interesting - I always asscociate redwings with evil winter weather. Let's hope they dont know something we don't!

Cheers,

Dave

[trevor]

Working from home sounds good, Neil.
One eye on the computer, the other on the garden, camera at the ready!.

Trevor.

[essexbuzzard]

Your redwings are probably on migration, Neil, as they are currently leaving our shores in numbers. They have had an easy winter this year, but are still a good garden visitor.

[David M]

...Depending how long this all goes on for, I am hoping that I might be able to take advantage of some better weather.

I think it will go on for several weeks, Neil. My company serves the Department for Transport and we worked from home yesterday to test how robust the 'remote' operation was. I reckon it could be a directive from next week. We'll see.

If it helps you take time out to boost your morale by seeing a few butterflies then some good will come from it.

Lovely Redwings by the way. Never had the pleasure of seeing one myself.

[Andrew555]

Great bird shots Neil, love the female Blackcap.

[Neil Freeman]

...Good luck with the working from home - hopefully we'll get some good weather and you can nip out somewhere during your lunch break or work in the garden camera at the ready

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel, things are looking up next week so fingers crossed .

You never know, Neil - working from home may allow you to clock a nice new early Speckled Wood at the moment it appears in the garden.

Cheers,

Dave

Indeed Dave. I have set up on the table in the back room with a good view, maybe next week with a bit of luck .

Working from home sounds good, Neil.
One eye on the computer, the other on the garden, camera at the ready!.

Trevor.

That's the plan Trevor

Your redwings are probably on migration, Neil, as they are currently leaving our shores in numbers. They have had an easy winter this year, but are still a good garden visitor.

Thanks Mark. If I see them in the garden it is usually earlier in the year so your comment about them being on migration makes sense.

...Depending how long this all goes on for, I am hoping that I might be able to take advantage of some better weather.

I think it will go on for several weeks, Neil. My company serves the Department for Transport and we worked from home yesterday to test how robust the 'remote' operation was. I reckon it could be a directive from next week. We'll see.

If it helps you take time out to boost your morale by seeing a few butterflies then some good will come from it.

Lovely Redwings by the way. Never had the pleasure of seeing one myself.

Thanks David. Officially working from home as of Wednesday, just in time for the rest of this week to be cloudy and damp. things are looking up for next week though

Great bird shots Neil, love the female Blackcap.

Thanks Andrew. I get at least one pair hanging around the garden every winter for the past few years now

Friday 20th March.

Well, I went in to work on Tuesday during which our team was given a plan for working at home and as of Wednesday I am officially working from home until further notice. I had already missed the best day of weather on Monday and since then it has been dull and cloudy here with spells of rain and drizzle.

Tuesday night (17th March) was quite blustery but heavy cloud kept the overnight temperatures just into double figures so I put the moth trap out and was rewarded with my first tally this year into double figures, albeit just 2 species. A total of 15 moths consisted of 12 Common Quakers and 3 Hebrew Characters.

I put the trap out again last night (Thursday 19th) but temperatures down to about 4 degrees resulted in a reduction in numbers to 5 moths, again Common Quakers (3) and Hebrew Characters (2).

The weekend is looking to be dry and bright albeit a bit on the cold side but I reckon it will still be worth checking out some sheltered local spots. Next week is looking like spring will finally be arriving around here so I reckon a lunchtime walk or two will be in order.

Bye for now.

Neil.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Neil, I've not had much luck here either, although we've had the Sun nothing in my Garden has yet.

I've been told to stay put as well but if it gets milder I'm venturing out, I think If I steer clear of too many people that should be okay, love the bird shots Neil I actually saw a Male Bull Finch in my Garden last Monday, that's the first I've ever seen in the garden
unfortunately it didn't stay too long so I didn't get a shot Goldie

[Neil Freeman]

Hi! Neil, I've not had much luck here either, although we've had the Sun nothing in my Garden has yet.

I've been told to stay put as well but if it gets milder I'm venturing out, I think If I steer clear of too many people that should be okay, love the bird shots Neil I actually saw a Male Bull Finch in my Garden last Monday, that's the first I've ever seen in the garden
unfortunately it didn't stay too long so I didn't get a shot Goldie

Nothing in my garden yet either Goldie but I did venture out locally this afternoon and struck lucky...details below.

Saturday 21st March – Off the Mark

Most years, apart from 2019 with it's unseasonably warm spell in late February, my first butterfly sightings occur sometime from the third week of March. Looking at the forecast for next week I was feeling pretty confident that I would see something soon, I wasn't too sure about this weekend though, as although plenty of sun was forecast, there was still going to be a cold wind keeping the temperature down.
Nevertheless, I felt that it would be worth a walk down to the patch of rough ground alongside my local park this afternoon (Saturday) to check out some of the sheltered spots that often produce my first sightings around here.
Out of the wind it felt almost warm but as soon as you moved into a more exposed spot the effect of the cold wind made it feel quite nippy. I noticed that some of the blackthorn was in full flower and scrutinised it for butterflies but without spotting any.

Blackthorn blossom - Wagon Lane 21.03.2020

I then carried on along a more sheltered part of the path and was pleased when I spotted the bright colours of a Small Tortoiseshell basking on the ground, my first butterfly of 2020.

Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 21.03.2020

A little further along I spotted a second one and shortly after another, then another. During the hour or so I spent here I saw at least eight different individuals spread out along the sheltered side of the hedge line. Most of these were staying low down out of the wind and basking which made them fairly easy to spot with their bright colours standing out against the vegetation.

Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 21.03.2020

Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 21.03.2020

Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 21.03.2020

At one point I saw a male chasing after a female in attempted courtship and managed to get a couple of shots before they took off over a large patch of brambles.

Small Tortoiseshell pair - Wagon Lane 21.03.2020

I also saw at least four and possibly five Commas which would often engage with each other and the Small Tortoiseshells in spiralling around up into the air before splitting off and returning to their favoured basking position. I did notice that these 'dogfights' didn't go as high as usual and they tended to separate as soon as they came out of the shelter of the hedge.

Comma - Wagon Lane 21.03.2020

Comma - Wagon Lane 21.03.2020

Comma - Wagon Lane 21.03.2020

A single faded Peacock was also seen in this area.

Comma - Wagon Lane 21.03.2020

I walked the length of the hedge line and then retraced my steps, seeing the same butterflies on my return leg.

Sheltered side of the hedge.

After all the doom and gloom of this past week, it was great just to get out for a bit and seeing my first butterflies of the season really lifted my spirits.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[trevor]

What a fabulous haul for first sightings. Those Small Tortoiseshells look so fresh and vibrant.
With luck, once they have warmed up and nectared, they will go on to provide the next generation.

I hope to find some Small Torts in West Sussex tomorrow.

Good luck for the new season,
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Brilliant stuff Neil - what a way to get off the mark Those Small Torts look to be in mint condish most of em They certainly were a sight for sore eyes - long may they continue. Stay safe.

Have a goodun

Wurzel