Undoubted highlight of the first half of June, had to be FINALLY connecting with a Purple Heron in Northants! It was a species that had already eluded me on three previous occasions over the years and so the appearance of one on the scrape at Summer Leys, (the location of my previous PH dip no less) lured me over for an early morning visit on 11/06. To keep up with tradition, it was a complete no-show, naturally re-appearing for others later in the day. You had to laugh! A Hobby, Cuckoo and a family party of Redshank were my consolation prizes!
Still, I refused to give up and wanting to see my parents one evening the following week, I decided to combine with another go for the heron, as it obligingly continued to extend it's stay.
The evening of 13/06 was relatively still and sunny and in theory ideal conditions to find it. Having been reported not long before my arrival - I was quietly optimistic! Low and behold, it was on show and after a tricky period trying to locate it amongst the reeds, I finally clapped eyes on a Northants Purple Heron! It went on to show really well over the net 45 mins or so, allowing almost constant views before beginning to play a bit of hide and seek, which was my que to leave!
Patch birding had slowed down, to it's usual mid-summer lull. However, a flurry of late spring action elsewhere, gave me hope of one or two bonus birds. Sanderling and Black Tern were the main two things showing up elsewhere and while Black Tern eluded me, I did gladly connect with a smart Sanderling at Grimsbury Res, on a sunny 01/06 evening!
The first part of June signifies the emergence of my favourite butterfly, the Marbled White! Luckily for me they are abundant around here and it is not difficult to find them once out. This year I enjoyed my first ones along the track to the Ardley ERF lagoon. A lovely flower-rich verge home to plenty of inverts, as well as Pyramidal and Bee Orchids.
Marbled Whites dominated the scene locally through the month - they seem to have had a good year.
There were easily 200 in grassland around the south west side of Croughton Airbase. This was a new area for me to try this year, on my search for local Dark-Green Fritillaries. None so far, but some promising areas. Having encountered a handful of random sightings in recent years - I know they're there somewhere! While there were no DGFs, these areas were full of inverts and worth exploring!
Wood Whites were late emerging this year, however I did eventually get to enjoy approximately 75 in Bucknell Wood on 11/06 - a pretty decent count! The odd Broad-Leaved Helleborine were emerging again too.
A few others from the month:
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