Crossbill influx & late summer in the woods

This summer has seen a fairly significant influx of Crossbills, with flyover birds observed all over the place! I've been lucky enough too, with flyovers from the garden on three separate occasions. A welcome addition to the garden list!

I visited Bucknell Wood, near Silverstone quite a lot during June and July looking for butterflies. It is a site that I've seen Crossbill quite a few times over the last few years, however not for sometime. Frustratingly, throughout July, whenever anyone else visited, they saw Crossbills, however they somehow eluded me! 

Finally on Saturday the 18/07 I heard the distinctive cacophony of 'clip, clip, clips' coming from across the wood and on reaching the central track, I got decent, yet fairly brief view of 20 Crossbills up in the pines. Carrying on along the path, I paused and had a scan of the path ahead. Some c.100m away, a small lump on the path looked distinctly birdy, but too far away to make out what it was. I marched along the track a bit closer and it became apparent it was a Crossbill! I slowly but surely moved closer and closer and gained increasingly good views.

Still it just sat there, just looking around, to the point that I was just a few feet away! This was bonkers and I thought something had to be wrong with it - it just didn't seem right that you could a approach one this closely without it flushing!

Having got some point-blank views of the bird, I quite literally had to walk around it to go past! It was only at that point that the Crossbill flew up to nearby pines and disappeared. What a bizarre, yet brilliant encounter! Perhaps though, it was indeed not too well.

Both Bucknell & Whistley Woods appear to have again supported a decent number of Spotted Flycatchers this year, with regular views and calls from various places throughout both sites. This one was particularly showy, catching insects over my head in Bucknell Wood on 26/07.

As July drew to a close and August began, the butterfly peak in Bucknell and local woods had passed, however there was still plenty to see, with at least 20 species on the wing. I had really struggled to see my first Small Copper of the year however finally I came across my first of 2020 in Bucknell on 02/08.

Among other things, I had some very nice views of Purple Hairstreaks down from the treetops, in both Bucknell & Whistley. There was a decent showing of 2nd brood Wood Whites, with several on the wing and a particularly sizable hatch of Peacocks towards the end of July with them springing up from everywhere, particularly on 18/07 with 54 counted in Bucknell - mostly from along one track!

Garden Lepidoptera & a county mega!

It's been a very decent summer in the garden, for butterflies & moths. I'm gradually honing it into a real hive of activity for wildlife and it's cool to see the effort paying off.

I've done a fair bit of moth trapping where possible, attracting a steady flow of new species, however it was particularly cool to attract something a bit rarer on 01/08, with Northamptonshire's 3rd ever Gypsy Moth. However, I didn't realise the enormity of it, until a day or two later - well after I'd released it!

With the whole Covid malarkey, I've spent a lot more time working from home and as such, I've had my eyes on the garden far more. As a result, I've been chuffed to get THREE new butterfly garden ticks, taking the species total to an impressive 21 species! :

• A brief Small Skipper on 26/06
• Probably the most unusual of the three, a female Silver-Washed Fritillary which I spotted looking out the window, while brushing my teeth on the morning of the 17/07!
• An unexpected Small Copper that lingered on 11/08

As you can see, all were attracted by the decent-sized patch of Verbena we have, showing it is a garden 'must have' if you want to attract butterflies to your garden.

I've also enjoyed a nice range of the commoner species too...

A memorable encounter

Sunday 05/07 was a blustery old day, but as the sun was out, Em & I decided to take a late morning walk in Bucknell Wood.

I wasn't expecting to see a great deal, however it proved to be an inspired decision to go, as I was treated to amazing and very rare, close-up views (for Bucknell at least) of several immaculate, fresh White-Letter Hairstreaks down on creeping thistles. 

They are a tricky species to see in Bucknell as the fact is, there aren't a great deal of them in there! The classic views are either around the tree-tops or, when you are lucky enough to see one come down, it'll be right in the middle of a large bramble patch.

I felt sorry for Em and she was keen for a walk and there was me holding things up somewhat, snapping away with the camera! But it was a once in a blue moon encounter and one I just couldn't pass up, having hoped every summer to see them this well.

There were a minimum of 5 in total including an amazing FOUR on one plant briefly! I questioned in my mind why today were they showing so well, as it certainly wasn't the norm. I wondered whether the strong winds were a factor in drawing them down, avoiding being thrown about in the treetops?

They were also joined by a very fresh Purple Hairstreak too - another infrequent visit from the treetops...

Back into birding

Well I think it's fair to say I've fallen rather behind with the blog - woops! So this is me catching up with the last couple of months or so...

So although my interest in butterflies peaks during June & July, birds aren't out of the picture for long. July, for some bird species is the start of autumn as post-breeding movement begins.

During July I headed up to my frequent stomping ground of the Grimsbury Res patch several times to see what was going on.

I soon, rather surprisingly saw my first five Common Sands of the year on 01/07! With my spring birding movements heavily restricted during lockdown, I just never caught up with one before then!



There were also a good number of gulls gathering at Grimbo during the month - probably largely due to the ban on fishing on site, due to the presence of some kind of algae or fish disease. It was a welcome return to gulling and soon produced several Yellow-Legged Gulls, including a one-legged bird, plus a Polish-ringed adult Black-Headed Gull (T2YX), rung as a chick near Gdansk back in 2018.

There was also a bird on 04/07 which while had a slight Caspian-look to it, it just didn't sit right (bottom bird). Welcome feedback from Ian Lewington confirmed that it was likely from a mixed-species colony and was pretty much un-assignable!!

A few Little Ringed Plovers were generally knocking about, while it was really cool watching the progress of the Tufted Duck family, with x4 healthy chicks fledging. A great breeding record for the res, most likely a result of lockdown, with a lack of mowing around the edge and a reduction in disturbance. It just shows what happens, if you give nature a chance to thrive!

Finally, a memorable moment on the morning of 11/07 as an adult Hobby appeared out of nowhere at the north end of Grimbo, to take a House Martin and cruise right past me, catching me totally unawares - an amazing encounter!