Overdue visit to Cranford CP

With various things going on in my life over the last few months today was my first proper visit to Cranford Park this year

 

The sun was out - the sky was blue - and the birds were singing

A perfect early Spring day

 

I saw four species of butterfly today but only managed to photograph two

 

Brimstone (male)

Comma

 On my UKBMS butterfly walk I had a total of eight male Brimstones and three female Brimstones

And a nice fat count of ten Commas

There was also one Peacock and two male Orange-tip

 

The majority of the Commas were very fresh and new but there were a couple of scruffy ones like the one below

 

 

And this one posed with wings closed showing exactly why they are called Comma - note the white 'comma' mark on the lower wing

 

The Brimstone is one of the earliest butterflies to be seen in Spring

Males are bright yellow (almost sulphur) and females are much paler

Their foodplant is Buckthorn and Alder Buckthorn

Brimstones are long living butterflies that spend the winter months in hibernation

 

The Comma is also one of the first butterflies on the wing in Spring

Just like the Brimstone they can also hibernate though the winter months

 

Up by the Headland area of the park there were a pair of Common Buzzards soaring the thermals but I could only get one of them in the camera frame

 

 

In the Memorial Garden there was a Green Woodpecker looking for ants - not very good photos as it was a little far away

 

 

I had my first true hovefly sighting today (I've seen a few in the last couple of weeks but none have settled for id purposes)

 

Eristalis pertinax

 I was also pleasantly surprised to see my first Green Shield Bug of the year today - I dont normally see these until late April

 

I was at the park briefly on Friday too but without my camera - I saw one of he Kingfishers go under the M4 viaduct and a Little Egret was feeding up by the black iron bridge - there was also one of the Little Owls calling from the oaks but I couldnt see it