So far the best thing about lockdown week eleven has been the break in the weather to more typical UK summer conditions with yesterday's light but continuous rain welcomed by all the parched gardens and green spaces.
Much more bearable overnight temperatures for sleeping. And it looks as if the next ten days at least are set for mild, variable and sub 20 degree days.
Nice to catch up with an old friend yesterday and chat about local raptor news, probably the first conversation I've had with ANY birder since March!
Yesterday also saw the completion of the jigsaw above, certainly the toughest so far - so off to Amazon or somesuch in the days ahead for the next one!
Tuesday started with a quick visit to QECP where the carpark was open but quiet and the centre/cafe still shut. Singing Goldcrest and Firecrest were audible from the car but the usual lower path and butterfly slope were devoid of life with just a few tiny Common Spotted Orchids by the roadside. Off to Petersfield where it was surprising to see how much work has been achieved since last visit as part of the long awaited improvements. The new boardwalk is much more user friendly and fit-for-purpose although presumably will remain taped off even when finished as social distancing will be impossible. Promise of reed planting should encourage a couple more pairs of Reed Warblers and help with water quality. Two new islands, currently just raised and banked flattened earth piles, should look better once vegetation takes hold. Coal Tit, Green Woodpecker and Nuthatch, all heard-only, were the first since lockdown, a handful of Swifts were drinking on the wing accompanied by a similar number of House Martins, two kites went east and north respectively and, finally, five Tufted Ducks were the only 'quality' wildfowl.
Curiously, insects were relatively few and far between with only two butterflies, one each of Red Admiral and Meadow Brown. Some sandy areas had plenty of digger wasps but my arthritis prevented me from getting down to their level for a close look - really must invest in a net!! Hoverfly Chrysotoxum bicinctum is always nice to see but today's individual was off in a flash as were the few Azure Damselflies so no photos. Thereafter, plenty of noisy, hyperactive Little Flower Bees, a few of the 'snipe fly' Chrysopilus cristatus, a Straw Dot moth and the sawfly Selandria serva, all pictured above.
This rather leggy Common Spotted Orchid was in its usual spot stifled by rank grasses.
Back home for coffee where one Peregrine was high to the west and a male Emperor Dragonfly zipped across the garden.
