What a glorious morning, a chill in the air and bright sunshine. Above me a bird of prey darted – Kestrel I thought immediately – then a second thought came – no it’s a Merlin. A much smaller bird, which then dashed at speed across the sky.
In the Elder and Blackthorn bushes, the constant movement of small birds captured my eyes. The small brownish Chiffchaffs, showing occasional glimpses of their dark legs and eye stripe, but rarely could I see the whole bird in one go.
The chattering song of a Great Tit came from the middle of the Hawthorn bush, where Blue Tits were also showing, both of these birds are so much easier to identify as they have very distinctive markings!
A small flock of Long-tailed Tits looped across in front of me, their long tails making them look unbalanced as they flew, the round bodies seeming to wobble!
A few butterflies still to the seen including the Meadow Brown (quite a few of these around the meadows), a Red Admiral was basking on the leaves of the Ivy, while the flutter of a bright golden butterfly was a Clouded Yellow. As it stopped and perched on purple Sea Aster it closed its wings up, only the underside then visible.
Winding its way along the branch of a Field Maple was the berry laden ropes of Black Bryony, making the Maple look as if it had bright red berries – which of course it doesn’t.
The Brambles are still covered in their blackberries, but some are now going over and on these a selection of insects were taking advantage. The iridescent green on the Greenbottle, its brown compound eyes most obvious. I was also able to admire the fat bodies of the Bluebottle and the stripes of Common Wasp.
A Spotted Flycatcher began to flit up the path ahead of me, the movement very characteristic, while above quite a few Swallows were zooming across the sky.