July passed with an unusual sighting of a Siskin on the 19th. A Mediterranean Gull(93) went over on the 24th followed the next day by Sand Martin(94) when five were on the lake with 30 House Martins and ten Swallows.
On the 26th there were 80 Swallows and 2 more Sand Martins on the lake in dreary conditions and five more siskins were seen. At last the Great Crested Grebes have hatched 2 chicks.
August started with the first Sedge Warbler(95) of the year seen in the hedge by the pumping station.

                                            Sedge Warbler in the sunshine
It was an interesting morning with a flock of 8 Herons landing on the stock pond and 5 Cormorants over north. There were lots of warblers about with Whitethroat,Reed Warbler,Chiffchaff,Willow Warbler and Blackcap also seen.
The first Lesser Spotted Woodpecker for quite a while called from the wood at the southern end.
It was also good to see a Turtle Dove and a Spotted Flycatcher near the lake.
Today two more Siskins were seen but the undoubted highlite was seeing a large bird being mobbed by three Jackdaws which I initially thought was going to be a raptor but turned out to be a Raven(96).A rather bizarre but brilliant record!!!
On hte dragonfly front it was great to find not one but two Golden Ringed Dragonflies in the ditch opposite the pumping station.

Golden Ringed Dragonfly with wasp.

Not a lot has changed on the patch since my last post except for broods of plenty of species. It seems to have been a good time for the local breeders but the only new species added to the list since 13th May has been a Lapwing(92) which was seen on 17th.
Common Terns have put in an appearance on many occasions with a run of daily sightings from 25th - 29th May. On 28th May a Red Kite flew over the house(my fourth of the year and the second garden sighting).
The only other noteworthy species in May were a pair of Egyptian Geese and a few Hobby sightings.
The Nightingale was still singing down at Stonebridge on 5th June, so I presume it must have found a mate.
On the same evening it was great to see 35 Swifts over the house. House Martins still seem to be a very uncommon sighting worryingly.
The nest of Nuthatches that were in an oak on the dam end fledged on the first of June but I got a shot of an adult at the nest hole.

Nuthatch feeding young

A second brood of Grey Wagtails were seen on 13th June.

Young Grey Wagtail

Turtle Doves have also been hard to find but I was pleased to find two calling birds in Haymans Hill on the 20th.

The following day 2 Cuckoos were calling down by the lake.Could be last I hear this year!

I've added some insect photos which I have taken recently.

Broad Bodied Chaser

Beautiful Demoiselle

Large Red Damselfly with Alder Fly

This interesting micro moth (3mm) was on the lavender in the garden. Has anyone got any ideas what it is?

The first Spotted Flycatcher(89) arrived on 11th with two in the small wood on the dam end and later the same day the first Turtle Dove(90) was caught in flight and then purred from inside the tree it had landed in.
On the 13th I received news of two birds that had been seen in the garden of Hononton farmhouse. The first was a Black Redstart on the 21st March and the second a HOOPOE!! that was in the garden at 16.45pm on 29th April. To say I am gutted is an understatement.
I consoled myself with the sighting of a Whinchat(91) in Kirkins later that evening.

Distant shot of Whinchat

Interestingly this is only my second spring record.

Today I saw my first Painted Lady this spring.

I managed a shot of one of the three  Reed Warblers on the lake.

The two Lesser Whitethroats still seemed to holding territories and two fledgling Grey wagtails have put in an appearance on the stream.Two robin fledglings were also seen today and the brood of mallard ducklings still totals five.There was also another pair of Common Terns on the lake this afternoon.

The first Swift(86) of the year arrived on Sunday 3rd May over the house as we came back from shopping after which the next arrival was a Yellow Wagtail(87) that flew over Furnace pond at 6am on the 8th on a morning when the wind had died. On the afternoon of the same day two Common Terns(88) were on the lake and as I watched them two more drifted over south.
On Saturday 9th two Lesser Whitethroats were singing-one in Tucks orchard and one in Kirkins.
The Cuckoo continues to call down by the lake giving occasional distant views
Walking down Furnace Lane I stumbled across this Red legged Partridge- a really smart bird!

R-L Partridge

Three Mandarin drakes were on the lake' hopefully the ducks are sitting on eggs somewhere.Two Garden Warblers are still singing at the southern end but the Great crested grebes have lost their nest again.

Whilst talking to one of the anglers on the lake a Lesser Spotted woodpecker flew over us and down the lake.

Today has been an interesting one as a walk this morning didn't produce anything new but there was another pair of Common Terns on the lake and I witnessed the male catch a fish and feed the female.Unfortunately there are no island on the lake so they are not likely to ever stick around.

Female Common Tern at Furnace.

Working in the garden today we had some brilliant views of two Hobbys low over the house which were probably attracted by the hirundines that had gathered overhead. 

This afternoon we had a walk up to Haymans hill to a field that has had its apple trees removed.On entering it I noticed a bird sitting on the ground which when I put my Binos on turned out to be a Fieldfare.What a Fantastic bird for May!!!

Rather late Fieldfare-Not a brilliant shot but I didn't get too close as I didn't want to spook it.

On the walk back to the village a Red Kite went over us going S/E.

This afternoons Red Kite

All in all a very interesting day.

As April drew to a close four more species were added to the list with a fly over Tree Pipit(82) on the 26th which was an expected bonus on another dismal day.
On the 27th we went to Harry Potter world which gave me the chance of an early walk before we left.
On my walk I encountered 4 Garden Warblers in different parts of the patch as well as two Lesser Whitethroats and on the lake the first Reed Warbler(83) was singing from the south east corner. I popped in to the lake in the evening and found a pair of Tufted Ducks.

Later that evening I decided to have walk out just before dark and was delighted to find a Nightingale (84) singing from an area I found a couple last year.

A walk on  Wednesday evening produced the first Hobby(85) which made a few attempts at the Swallows on the lake before flying off towards Shirrenden wood.

This morning (2nd May) I went out with the hope of the first Swift of the year but sadly didn't encounter any.

All the usual suspects were seen and it was great to find eight fledgling Long Tailed Tits beside the lake.

Long tailed Tits

It was a bit dark under the trees and there were a lot of branches to contend with. 

Whilst I was trying to get some shots of the fledglings a Marsh Tit flitted through.

Saturday 25th April 2015

At last a few summer migrants have started to arrive on the patch.
Saturday 18th saw me starting my walk in the derelict orchard behind Tucks Cottages in the hope of finding a Willow Warbler in the place that they have nested in the last few years.Unfortunately none were found but a Cuckoo was calling as I entered and was answered by another towards the lake.
As I walked around the edge of the trees a bird flitted across and into the hedgerow. I soon caught up with it and was delighted to see it was a Redstart(77) , a brilliant start.
Walking down through Kirkins and a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker flew over me and into the wood at the end of the paddock.
I counted 5 Blackcaps and 8 Chiffchaffs on the walk around and finally found a Willow Warbler down at the southern end of the lake.
The lake held two Mandarin Drakes and a Coot and the Great Crested grebe was still sitting.
On the 20th I had a walk just before dark to try to find a Nightingale in the area that I found two last year but was unsuccessful. However I did find a Whitethroat (78) and even better,a Lesser Whitethroat (79) . This is a very early date for me as most have occurred in the first week of May.
21St April produced my first House Martin of the year (80) .
On my way to work on Friday 24th I popped into a very foggy lake and heard a Garden Warbler singing(81).
Today started in drizzle and although no new species were seen there was a great variety. Tucks held two Cuckoos both male and female and I could also hear two other birds calling form opposite directions.Amazing!! A willow Warbler was also there and I found another Lesser Whitethroat at the top of Kirkins. Which is grate news if it hangs around. Another Whitethroat was located by the Pumping station.
At the lake I managed to get some good views of the Garden Warbler where there were also 4 House Martins and a few Swallows.
In total 51 species were seen. A fantastic total in two and a half hours.

Grey Wagtail

Swallow from in the week

When I popped down to the lake this afternoon I found this Mallard with 12 ducklings.

MID APRIL UPDATE

After the first Swallow on the 3rd nothing happened in the way of summer migrants as the cold weather persisted.
Interestingly though,on the 5th of the month a pair of Lesser Redpolls were present with the male singing in its courtship flight.
On the morning of the 10th seven Redwings and thirty four fieldfares arrived in the orchard next to the lake.
In the evening of the same day a Wheatear(73) was in Kirkins field .

Cropped image of Wheatear.

The Wheatear was still present on Saturday 11th and as I walked down thrugh the field a pair of Egyptian Geese flew passed me and over the village.Blackcaps had increased to three and i also had a single Meadow Pipit.

The next day(12th) the first Willow Warbler(74) was in the paddock behind the pumping station and the first Cuckoo(75) was heard on the 13th.

Finally on the 14th I had my first Red Kite(76) of the year at 16.45pm,down at the lake and had the good fortune to see another at 17.45pm as I walked up Gibbet lane.Both birds heading WNW.

Red Kite over WNW.

On the butterfly front I had six species-Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Orange Tip, Brimstone and Speckled Wood.

Small Tortoiseshell.