A slightly strange early morning with the sun breaking through the fog in patches producing shafts of light within the grey dampness.
The sound of a Green Woodpecker near the walling centre, drew my attention to this fantastic bird which having looped across the sky landed on the trunk of one of the large Holm Oaks for me to get a good look at.
With the air so full of water, one of the most noticeable things about today was the number of Spider webs that are strewn across the Nature Reserve – it seems as though the spiders are especially busy in the fog but I suspect that they are there all the time and you just rarely see them!
Along the hedges the Hedge Brown, which is also known as the Gatekeeper, is living up to its name, along one stretch 14 were counted before I was distracted by a Red Admiral basking on the bright green leaves of a Black Bryony. Through the meadows the black and white flitting of the Marbled White catches the eye continually while the buzzing of the Six-Spot Burnet Moth adds a splash of red to the scene.
The sound of Grasshoppers beginning, with Meadow Grasshopper and Field Grasshopper both identified, and both Speckled and Dark Bush-crickets seen on the field edge.
The array of flowers noted while looking for the insects included Red Clover, Red Bartsia, Agrimony, Yellow Rattle, Ox-Eye Daisy, Rough Hawkbit, Selfheal, Tufted Vetch, Grass Vetchling, Meadow Vetchling, Corky-fruited Water Dropwort, Wild Carrot, Eyebright, Hedge Bedstraw and Ladies Bedstraw plus Greater Knapweed, Field Scabious and Hop Trefoil.
Last night’s Glow-worm survey went well with 20 seen. While the Moth Trap produced over 40 species including Silver Y, Flame, Reddish Light Arches, lots of Common Footman, Dunbar, Spectacles, Large Elephant Hawk-moth, Scarlet Tiger Moth, Rosy Footman and one of my favourites the Peach Blossom.