I had a very productive count on my UKBMS butterfly transect today - a total of 234 butterflies of 15 species during a 90 minute route walk - full tally count below
Small Skipper x 6
Essex Skipper x 2
Large Skipper x 3
Large White x 61
Small White x 17
Small Copper x 10
Common Blue x 4
Brown Argus x 2
Holly Blue x 4
Red Admiral x 6
Comma x 2
Speckled Wood x 13
Gatekeeper x 70
Meadow Brown x 34
and my shock find of the day - Purple Hairstreak x 1
The Purple Hairstreak was totally unexpected and a first for me at Cranford CP - normally these unassuming small butterflies are found high up in oak trees but this one was in the grass by some buddleia and by the time I had registered what it was the little beauty had flown along with any photo opportunity I nearly had
For the last two years I've seen White-letter Hairstreaks but up until today I haven't seen any at Cranford Park this season
Stand by for an overload of butterfly photos
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| Large White |
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| Large White |
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| Large White |
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| Red Admiral |
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| Speckled Wood |
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| Speckled Wood |
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| Speckled Wood |
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| Comma |
 |
| Small Skipper |
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| Small Skipper |
 |
| Essex Skipper |
 |
| Essex Skipper |
 |
| Essex Skipper |
 |
| Small Copper |
 |
| Small Copper |
 |
| tatty Small Copper |
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| Small Coppers |
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| Small Coppers |
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| Small Coppers |
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| Holly Blue |
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| Holly Blue |
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| Common Blue - male |
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| Common Blue - male |
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| Brown Argus |
 |
| Common Blue |
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| Brown Argus - male |
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| Brown Argus - male |
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| Common Blue - male |
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| Common Blue - male |
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| Gatekeeper - female |
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| Gatekeeper |
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| Gatekeeper - male |
An added bonus was a solo sighting of a Six-spot Burnet
Before the heat got too much there was quite a bit of hover activity - my four below have had ids confirmed by Roger Morris and Graham Watkeys
These images just goes to show how varied the hoverfly species are
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| Volucella pellucens |
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| Myathropa florea |
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| Eristalis pertinax |
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| Sphaerophoria scripta |
Another added critter bonus was this beautiful female Flower Beetle
There's a new strip of meadow flowers just before the car park - now it is in full bloom it is attracting a wide variety of insects
I didn't expect to see much in the way of birds today - most will be going through their moult or busy bringing up second broods
I heard the Kingfisher by the river calling twice but didn't spot it
Despite loitering by the oaks for a while I neither heard nor saw any Little Owls
There are still at least one pair of Skylarks nesting by the cattle enclosure
But the biggest surprise for me is that there are no signs of any juvenile Kestrels yet - In 2016 and 2017 I saw juveniles in the second week of July but not this year - I did catch a brief glimpse of the adult male today but that was all - hopefully they are just a little late this year and I'll have another recee next week
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