A mixed bag at Cranford CP today

Before I begin my usual rambling, I have seen from my email notifications that I have had a few comments on my previous blog posts. Thank you to MaryAnne, Davo, Dave Simms and Conehead54. I'm not ignoring your comments, I just cannot publish them for some reason. And a direct message for Conehead54, can you contact me by email please re the odonata recording - my email addy is wendywinomarks@hotmail.co.uk

It was a very warm and humid visit to Cranford CP today, but I did manage to add a couple more species to the UKBMS butterfly transect. 

Todays results were ....

Common Blue x 3

Brown Argus x 1

Holly Blue x 1

Speckled Wood x 4

Meadow Brown x 3

Small Heath x 6

I always start the transect from the same bench, which is behind the woods by the M4, near to the Roseville underpass.  As I was filling in the necessary information on my recording sheet (temperature, wind direction etc) I saw a large dragonfly out of the corner of my eye and was very pleased to see it settle nearby. Carefully, and silently, I edged up to it and managed to grab one photo before it was off again.....but I'm pretty chuffed that this is a female Emperor, a species I have never recorded at Cranford Park before. 

Small Heath

tatty Brown Argus

Speckled Wood from a different angle

tatty female Common Blue

male Common Blue

Along the river path there were still some Banded Demoiselles, but not in the numbers that I saw last week....

 As always, I finished up at the wildlife pond in front of the Information Centre to total up the butterfly count, and after doing that I sat there for a while to see what was around. 

What I didnt expect to see, nor really wanted to see, was a goldfish .....

I didnt spot it last week, so it's been dumped there recently. I'm a little dismayed at this. The wildlife pond is meant for native wildlife, and introducing a non-native species to the mix could mean we lose some of the lovely critters I've recorded there. There was a Broad-bodied Chaser laying eggs at one end of the pond (no photos sadly) as well, and the Common and Azure damselflies have been egg laying too. We have got Common Newts in this pond, 

Please do not dump your unwanted goldfish in this pond, or any pond. 

The plants around the pond are a host to many critters, including these beetles, Rutpela maculata aka the Black and Yellow Longhorn....

and our resident Honeybees were again making great use of the sunken log for their daily drink ... 

After the transect was done, I went off to sit at one of the many benches dotted around the park. 

Like most regulars, I have my favourites and one of them is the river bench by the corner of the cattle paddock. I hadnt been there long before a juvenile Grey Wagtail flew down just behind the bench, and after a short while made it's way to the bank. Another juvenile soon joined it and both birds went off to the shingle islands to feed up ... 

I've known for years that they regularly breed along the River Crane, and it was lovely to see this years young on their journey into adulthood. 

Another nice surprise was having a Little Egret land so close to the bank. 

We have had Little Egrets at the park for nearly 10 years now, and I usually see them near the M4 viaduct or along Frogs Ditch, but I have never seen them at this spot before. 

I had to sit very still and make no noise whilst this bird got closer and closer, and I took loads of photos before the bird was spooked by a couple of dogs going into the river. Below are the best ....

Even though I saw it fishing a few times, it generally turned it's back before I could capture what it had caught, but I did manage this one photo below ..... 

and I was gutted when zooming in on the pic meant I still couldnt identify the prey .... 

Stickleback ? 

The grasses and wild flowers are growing well in the meadows and cattle paddock, and by the water trough there is lovely patch of true native species ..... 

At another of my favourite places to sit, there were a family of Blue Tits feeding in a nearby tree, and despite the heat and the sun glare, I managed a couple of photos of this youngster 

Last week I saw two singing Skylarks near the cattle paddock, and today I saw one fly low across the meadow with a beak full of food and drop into the long grasses, so they must have a nest with chicks there.

 Skylarks have declined dramatically at Cranford, as have the Meadow Pipits. So please stick to the mown grass paths and dont venture into the long unmown areas during breeding and nesting season. During 'Lockdown 2020' many of the unmown areas were flattened by visitors taking their daily exercise, and I witnessed several dog walkers throwing balls into the long grasses for their dogs to fetch. There are plenty of other areas at Cranford CP where dogs can run around and play, and it would be really nice to have Skylarks and Meadow Pipits at the park again, so a compromise seems to be a good option. Whilst in the meadows, stick to the paths. Simple. 

In all, another very satisfying visit to the park. It is still my 'happy place', and I hope it remains like that for many years to come.