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Sightings

Butterflies Galore

Yesterday afternoon hundreds of Painted Lady butterflies were in the first field, feeding on Common Knapweed and on the marsh,Sea Lavender. There were also two different sizes, one was the same as the small Tortoiseshell and the other was about half the size again, is one an immigrant and the other a local ?? Other […]

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Sightings

Tuesday 16th July

All along the paths are sand piles mounted outside small holes and the other day we found a culprit, a Sand Wasp, see photo. These insects lay their eggs on dead prey, see the attached link, https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-11/uow-dwa110317.php Bartsia is now in flower and we are finding it growing outside the usual areas, a good area […]

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Sightings

Holly Blue and others

During the walk on the reserve, to and from the Natterjack ponds, lots of butterflies were disturbed but unfortunately they were nearly all Meadow Browns. In contrast, walking through a lane to the stable there was an excellent variety, including a Holly Blue ( also in the garden yesterday), along with Comma, Small Tortoiseshell, Gatekeeper, […]

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Sightings

Sunday 7th July

Spotted a Heron on the long pond this morning, normally this time of year they are more numerous and fighting for the best spots. We also spotted a couple of female Back-tailed Skimmers on the main path from gate 4, more detail on this photo than the last one. The last photo attached is of […]

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Sightings

One meal to big

Yesterday we came across a Herring gull lying down, in the field after the Chalets, as we approached it was clear to see the problem, a large piece of cloth was stuck in it’s beak. We tried to catch it but it still was well enough to fly, and ironically probably now die of starvation. […]