Duck End Nature Reserve

A late lunch was spent in a slow wander around the reserve.

Can you spot the Bank Voles? You should be able to find 3 (you might need to click on the photo for a closer view!). They were alongside a nest under a corrugated tin refuge. I have a real fondness for Bank Voles - they're so confiding!

The Yellow-legged Centurion (Sargus flavipes)is a species of Soldierfly, so-called because of the gaudy colours which resemble military parade uniforms. This is my 9th Soldierfly species for this reserve.

Other wildlife included a Kingfisher (heard but not seen), Migrant Hawker and Common Darter dragonflies, and several Hoverfly species: Platycheirus scutatus (male & female); Eristalis pertinax; Neoascia podagrica and Myathropa florea.

Rookery Pit

Rookery Pit is just a few miles up the road from where I live, and it's a wonderful site for wildlife. At the moment there is a battle going on with various groups trying to build either a 200,000 tonne rubbish burner, or a 600,000 tonne incinerator there. I wish I had a few £million to buy the pit and secure it for its wildlife. Late this afternoon I watched a Marsh Harrier, 2 Hobbys, 2 Buzzards and at least 4 Kestrels flying around. Rabbits were abundant, and a Chinese Water Deer walked across the bottom of the pit before clambering up the slope and into the fields beyond. On the way back to the car I disturbed a Snipe from the field manure heap - it launched itself into space with its characteristic scaap call, said to resemble tearing cloth.

Only two Hoverfly species spotted this afternoon: Eristalis pertinax, and this Sphaerophoria scripta. This is a male, and the fact that the wings are shorter than the abdomen is a giveaway.

There were still good numbers of Common Darters around. The photo's a bit out of focus, but I've put it in because I confess that I've never noticed the little golden ring on the top-centre of the thorax before!

Ampthill Park

This morning I spent a couple of hours with the Greensand Volunteers who were working on the main Flushes at Ampthill Park. Apart from the obligatory tea-breaks, I stopped a few times: once to watch a Hobby flying gracefully over the top of The Darkenings, and then to watch 3 Buzzards - 2 adults and a juvenile - enjoying themselves in the breeze alongside the private woodland where they nested this year. At one point I watched one of them sweep by a tree and grasp something with outstretched talons. It swept into the air before dropping it....an acorn! I've never seen this behaviour before. Another one came past with a large stick dangling from its talons. As I watched the Buzzards I noticed a number of Swallows heading in a southerly direction. Birdguides earlier reported 21,000 Swallows south past Spurn Head (plus 6,500 House Martins & 800 Sand Martins), so there's obviously some serious migration going on today!

This is Bob walking away from the mower, not towards it. He's just ran over a Wasp's nest. You can't see the occupants but, believe me, they're there! Mowing and cutting back this Flush over the past year or two has resulted in a real flush of plants and invertebrates in the spring and early summer.

And here's one of last year's Wasps' nests that Frances found while she was strimming. Good job this one was empty!

Here's Frances trying to get Colin's attention to tell him it's time for tea! Notice the bench and Silver Birch scrub in the background...

....we cut back some of the scrub here to open up the view from the bench. If you sit there now you can see right across the southern end of the Flush, the woodland edge, and parts of the field to the north. I'll be there at dawn and/or dusk as soon as I can to see what turns up!

Chandos Road, Ampthill.

I woke up (late!) to 2 new moths in the trap this morning: Svensson's Copper Underwing & Lesser Yellow Underwing. That brings the confirmed annual total for this little paved plot with borders to 173 species...incredible!

I'm glad that I got out last night, because I haven't had chance to get out this morning in the midst of a flurry of preparations for Carole's parents' Golden Wedding Anniversary family celebration here next week, and sorting John out before we take him down to Southampton for a gig in the next half-an-hour or so. But Vicky, our postlady, has just delivered the British Mammals CD that I ordered earlier in the week. I'm looking forward to listening to the angry squeaks of Edible Dormice, the plop of Water Voles, the snuffling of Hedgehogs, the screams of Foxes, the whickering of Badger cubs, the whistles of Otters, the trilling of Stoats, the flipper slaps of Common Seals, the grunting of Wild Boar, the belching of Fallow Deer and the barks of Roe Deer....amongst others!! Of course, I'll have to make sure I'm on my own when I put the CD on the system!! :-)

Maulden Wood

It's just gone midnight and I've arrived home after a few hours in Maulden Wood with several members of the Beds Bat Group. Bob Cornes, our Bat Recorder, rang earlier and asked if I'd like to come....well, that was a no brainer!! 3 mist nets were set up along a couple of rides in the midst of the wood and, from 8pm until soon after 11pm, we sat and waited, chatted and checked the nets from time to time, and kept our eyes open and ears peeled for the sound of bats close by on the detectors. The moon was full & bright, so much so that there was no need for the head torches where the rides were more open. Maybe that's one of the reasons why we didn't catch anything this evening, or maybe the breeze didn't help. But we did pick up 5 species on the detectors: the 'slapping' Common (45Kz) & Soprano (55Kz) Pipistrelles (including several social calls), Brown Long-eared, a Myotis species (probably Natterer's) and, most exciting of all for me, a Barbastelle which buzzed as it presumably leap-frogged over the top of the net right in front of where we were seated! I ended up with Bat Detector's Bicep...my arm aching as a result of holding the bat detector rigidly for such a long time! As we made our way back to the cars, with a group of Tawny Owls calling close by, and a Muntjac Deer barking in the distance, I decided that I just can't wait to do this again!

Stewartby Lake

I spent a few hours walking, reading & reflecting at Stewartby Lake this morning. 2 Kingfishers, clothed in pastel red & electric blue, fished along the shore. A creaking overhead announced the impressive arrival of some 50 or so Common Terns. Large numbers of Sand Martins were skimming just above the water's surface hunting for flies. Further inland, these two characters were also hunting very effectively for various invertebrates on the wing:

A male Southern Hawker. This species is always really inquisitive. A few days ago I had one hovering face-on just inches in front of me as I sat at the side of a woodland pond. No wonder they are regularly caught by cats!

And a male Migrant Hawker.

I love watching these Hawker Dragonflies as they patrol their patch with amazing manoeuvrability. Early this afternoon I also caught up with a large Brown Hawker over the reeds by the River Ouse at Priory Country Park...though a magnificent Hobby riding the wind overhead gave the greatest thrill!

Maulden Heath

Not a brilliant photo, but this was a new Hoverfly for me today: Ferdinandea Cuprea. These woodland Hoverflies are noted for their habit of resting in dappled sunshine, just like this one!

I spent some time reading at the southern end of the Heath. I took the Buttolo decoy with me and, pausing now and again from my book, I would give it a squeeze. After 10 minutes or so I looked up from the page to find a female Muntjac staring at me from about 25m away before eventually continuing on her way. No more than 5 minutes later I looked up to see a buck staring at me from just about the same place. He too seemed fairly unconcerned at my presence and spent some time wandering through an adjacent copse, browsing and regarding me inquisitively from time to time. Wonderful!