The forecast this morning was good for my weekly UKBMS butterfly transect but the wind was a little chilly so not many butterflies were on the wing
During the 75 minute walk I counted only 12 butterflies of 5 species
Green-veined White x 1
Orange Tip x 1
Common Blue x 5 (first of the season)
Holly Blue x 1
Speckled Wood x 4
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| Common Blue - female |
The wildlife pond in front of the Information Centre has attracted three species of odonata
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| Large Red Damselfly |
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| Common Blue Damselfly |
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| Broad-bodied Chaser |
That's not bad for a wildlife pond that is now in its second year plus a recent survey showed there were Common Newts there too
Nearly every buttercup contained a male Thick-legged Flower Beetle - only the males have the wonderful thunder thighs
There are quite a few young fledglings in the park now - I saw young Robins - Blue Tits - Great Tits and this juvenile Goldfinch
But the high light of my visit was accidentally finding a Nuthatch nest
I was taking photos near one of the apple trees when an alarm call made me look up
Looking down at me was a Nuthatch - I don't often see these in the park so I took a couple of pics and felt quite chuffed
When the bird didn't move I realised it was me it was alarm calling at and after looking around carefully I found I was standing right next to the birds nest hole
There was a tiny nestling Nuthatch peering out at me
Moving well out of the way I then spent a fantastic hour watching the adults bringing food to the nest
This is the first time I have ever seen a Nuthatch feeding young so it really has made my day
It will be interesting to see how big they have got on my next visit
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