karen's country calendar

With a hot day forecast I thought it would be a good idea to go out early butterfly watching so I parked up at Monks Wood just after 9am. I knew that silver washed fritillaries were now flying and had read reports of plenty of these and white admirals having been seen there. It wasnt long before I saw the first white admiral and then noticed a gentleman with camera and tripod standing staring at a particular patch of bramble further up the ride.   I soon saw that there were a number of white admirals and silver washed fritillaries flying about and a few of them landed which enabled a few photographs. There were also  large skippers,  numerous meadow browns and my first ringlet sighting of the year together with one red admiral. Surprisingly I didnt see any speckled wood which in fact I have not seen much of at all this year so far. With Woodwalton Marsh being just a mile further on I drove on to see if I could achieve some photos of the marbled whites which had...

Another warm sunny day so I decided to see what was about on Therfield Heath as it was the beginning of Marbled whites and Dark Green Fritillary emergence. Sure enough, walking up the chalky hill, it wasnt very long before I saw a few marbled whites fluttering above the grasses, however they refused to settle and I was unable to get a photograph this time.   I walked right to to the top of the hill where there were good views and was rewarded by the sight of a dark green fritillary but again it was too busy to settle.  I was resigned to just seeing not phootgraphing today. There were skylarks singing away up high and also some flying purposefully over the grassland presumably to well hidden nests. Walking back to the car park I decided to try the path going out from the other end and it was along there that I saw several more dark green fritillaries and one or two actually settled so I did manage a couple of photos. I also saw a family of immature pied wagtails runnin...

Today was my first visit to Brampton Wood this year.  The wood has been closed all winter due to muddy footpaths, it then remained closed at the start of lockdown before opening just the wood not the carpark.  Of course that meant that only the locals (though wood is about 2 miles from nearest house) could visit but it was soon found that people were merely parking all down the grass verges so the car park was then opened to the public a couple of weeks ago. On arrival I found that there were already half a dozen cars in the car park  I had heard of one sighting of a White Admiral so was hoping maybe I would see it though not to optimistic.   There were not as many butterflies flying as I expected despite the warm sunshine,  a couple of speckled wood, small whites, large skippers, a small tortoiseshell and several meadow browns.   I went to the site where black hairstreaks are normally seen but could not find any but asking a couple who were als...

Following a tip off I made my way to Fen Drayton lakes this morning at 830 in the hope of seeing a red footed falcon that had been seen there for the past few days.  I parked up and walked along beside the guided busway to where it had been seen perching on the different posts around a field of sheep.  I was soon joined by other birders with the same mission and we stood in small groups scanning the field with binoculars,  nothing!!   After about 30 mins I wondered whether to make my way back but thought I had better just enquire of the other birders whether they had found it -- yes they had and pointed it out in the distance perching on on of the fence posts- I had been scanning the skies to see if it flew down but I think it must have been on the ground and flown up! I was pleased my outing hadnt been in vain and managed to take a very zoomed in photo but enough to show it was the right bird. Walking back to the car I heard purring of a turtle dove and stare...

I heard that sometimes its better to visit a reserve earlier in the morning before its too hot so decided to try Woodwalton Marsh again in the hope of finding some green hairstreaks.   There actually was less butterflies flying than before, with just one common blue, small heath, brimstone and atortoiseshell.   I noticed a couple of people who had entered the reserve after me staring at one particular spot so made my way over to them see what they had found - it turned out to be a grizzled skipper which I hadnt seen before.  Unfortunately it had partly closed its wings but I could see enough detail to identify it. I then made my way over to Monks Wood with the idea of a longer visit than last time and hoping to see some black hairstreaks.  It was a good sign to see a few cars already parked so I walked up the main ride to where a few people had gathered.  It turned out they were also on the look out for black hairstreaks and someone had already seen...

One advantage of lockdown is that I currently have no afternoon or evening commitments so my field trips are not restricted to the morning or a time to be home in the afternoon. Another warm sunny day tempted me to look for some more meadow butterflies and I had read that there was a small reserve at Woodwalton just north of Huntingdon.  I parked in a layby opposite the reserve which merely comprises a 2 acre strip of grassland sandwiched between a road and a railway line. On entering I saw that the reserve was a mass of wildflowers with a few narrow paths that had been made amongst the grasses. I wasnt long before I saw a common blue and small heath and then I noticed a pair of Brimstone flying very close to each other before settling a number of times providing  an ideal photoshoot which is not always easy with Brimstones.  I also saw a tiny brown butterfly which when it landed,  I could identify as a Brown Argus.  I had heard there were skippers here but ...

Today I visited a part of Therfield Heath I hadnt been to before on the hunt for Adonis blue butterflies which I had read were found there.  I parked on the roadside just further up from my normal carpark and walked 10 mins through a woodland before it opened up at the top of Church Hill.  There were quite a few people enjoying the weather and speaking to a couple of people with tell tale cameras round their necks I soon found what I was looking for.    It was hot and sunny so not great for photographs as they didnt land much but there were both Adonis and Common blues present, the Adonis very obvious by the brighter colour.  I managed a couple of shots with wings closed. I read that they are around till July with another brood in August so may have another look when I hope to visit the area looking for marbled whites or chalk hill blues. This area is known for its abundance of Pasque flowers around Easter and  the seed heads were still clearly vi...