Getting in on it

Locally it has been quite a productive week for birds - Beddington has had a Little Tern and Brent Goose; Holmethorpe a pair of Common Scoter and an Avocet; Canons Farm, not to be outdone, has played host to a male Pied Flycatcher. With a cool WSW wind, I ventured to the latter site this morning, but it was soon obvious that little was around. The Pied Flycatcher had moved on and with each scan of a hedgerow the use of the word 'migrant' became increasingly redundant. Then, at about 11.10, a familiar call came from up high, and there was a single silhoetted Whimbrel circling above me. This is a first for the farm. After a couple of minutes it drifted off north, but not before a couple of the local birders had also heard it.

With a spell of sunshine I went onto Fames Rough, known primarily as a site for rare flora. The sheltered slope had at least 5 Dingy Skippers (below) and a single Grizzled Skipper on the wing, with a lone Small Heath nearby.


When I returned in the late afternoon a viscious squall had gone through the area and all was dull, wet and chilled. The thought of watching butterflies was but a distant memory...

Comments

kirstallcreatures said…
Lovely pic of the Dingy Skipper, not one I've knowingly seen before, but its always good to learn from others posts of unfamiliar species. Linda
22 April 2012 at 22:15
Steve Gale said…
Thanks Linda. It is a rather small and drab species that doesn't immediately catch the eye. We are lucky in this part of Surrey that this butterfly isn't too hard to find along the North Downs.
23 April 2012 at 13:33
Andrew Cunningham said…
Just finished reading The Butterfly Isles so I have them on my mind and it is good to see a Dingy Skipper knowing it is not long until it all takes off big time.
26 April 2012 at 21:16
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