Garden Warbler

The Garden Warbler.

A fairly dull looking brown bird and very difficult to tell from some of the other Warbler species. However, it does have a distinct and beautiful song. (Check it out on the RSPB Website)

This one would have recently flown all the way from Africa to be with us until about September, when it will make the return journey. Its main habitat is open woodland. You are unlikely to see it in a garden, so it doesn't live up to its name.

It produces one brood of 4/5 eggs and eats mostly insects.



I did photograph one last year at about the same time and in the same area. This one I observed today remained in the same general area throughout the morning. I am assuming that this is the same patch it returns to each year, something many species do.

More Spring Flora

There is so much flora to see now and I have posted here images of some I have seen in the last few days.

Wild Primroses found alongside a woodland track.


A patch of Bluebells at the edge of a Wood.


Cuckoo Flower - Lady's Smock.


Lesser Celandine.


More Wild Primroses.


Cuckoo Flower from a different angle.


Blossom?.


Marsh Marigold.


These Wild Primroses were found growing deep in woodland and I think the most natural place to see them.

Butterflies of the Week

I have posted below photographs of butterflies of note which I observed during the last week.

The Holly Blue (Celestrina argiolus)
I was very pleased to get a photograph of this species as I dind't find any at all last year. Species of small blue butterflies are not easy to identify without close examination.

The Holly Blue is the earliest of our Blues flying in late March or early April. Like all the other Blues it looks very similar if you look at the top of its wings. The difference with the Holly is the underwings, which are a plain pale blue with very small black spots. Unlike other Blues there are no orange markings underneath the wings.

This one is a male, the female has much broader black edging to the wings.




Green-veined White (Pieris napi)
I have already posted about a Green-veined White recently, but I liked the idea of the forget-me-nots that it choose to pitch on.



The Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
There are quite a few of these on the wing now.

In Pursuit of the Blackcap

About now you can hear the Blackcap's song easily as it sings away high in the branches of tall trees or in secluded lower trees or bushes. What isn't so easy is trying to photograph one. They tend to move about a lot, which is a bit of an understatement.

These images below where taken over two days during walks. Looking at the male it is obvious where the name was derived from. If you are not familiar with the Blackcap, you will note that there are some images of a bird with a brown cap and that is the female.

A Parkland Walk

Scenes and images taken around my recent parkland walk.



There are few Green-veined White butterflies on the wing now. I found this female alongside a river.





I watched these two Dunnocks for a while (Male and female I think) as they were chasing each other around the branches of a small bush. It was quite amusing to see them speedily hopping from one twig to the next and then occasionally stopping at either side of the main trunk and staring at each other.




A Grey Heron taking flight from the edge of a lake.




Chiffchaff
One can frequently hear Chiffchaffs in the area now and they have arrived in considerable numbers. I definitely heard this one, it was the only certain way of identifying it.

Spring Flora

Some of the Spring flora to be seen at the moment.

Wood Anemone (Anemone nemerosa)







Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non scripta)


Cuckoo Flower or Lady's Smock (Cardamine pratensis)


Cowslip (Primula veris)



Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)


Common Field Speedwell (Veronica persica)


Daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus)