Wizard - Lizard !

Gillian and Mike Taylor led a ramble over the down land known as Hackpen Hill an area with interesting chalk land butterflies and moths. Some dozen of us met up at 11.00 am and had a most interesting couple of hours spotting among other things Large Skipper, Dingy Skipper, Forest Moth, Green Hair streak, Wood Tiger, Common Blue and Small Heath. A Stoat hunted the Rabbit burrows but the highlight for me was the Common Lizard that Mike Taylor found, a somewhat unexpected delight that thrilled others including the very knowledgeable Jim Asher who saw a Red Admiral lay an egg on the underside of a nettle and was able to point the tiny egg out to the rest of us. On the way back I noticed a Short-Tailed Vole diving into cover and this finished off a most pleasant time in good company, my thanks go to Gillian and Mike for their time and extensive knowledge given so ably.
The Oxon Feather.

A Pleasure To Meet You, Your Grace!

Had a really good afternoon clocking a Butterfly I have long wanted to see and today was the day I saw that rare and gorgeous little beauty The Duke Of Burgundy in Oxfordshire (sorry undisclosed site).
Noted a few moths as well but I have not identified them as yet, because i'm still bathing in the glory of finally finding the Duke.
The Oxon Feather.

                                          His Grace - actually this is probably a female

                                             Below a Whitethroat

Small B-Big Beautiful.

The chance of a couple of hours on the chalky downs, resulted in a few Butterflies and Moths, of particular interest to me was a Small Blue a rather scarce and declining species that in common with all the blues is beautiful.
The Oxon Feather.

                                          Small Blue

                                          Burnet Companion

                                            Common Heath

                                            Dingy Skipper and below Common Carpet

Grey Days.

At this time of year unless you seek birds at the waters edge it can be difficult to connect with them, but at least one can find plenty of interest in the other creatures that surround us, in particular the Butterflies, Moths and Dragonflies or at least in a normal year, but this Spring is proving to be awful, with low temperatures and grey windy days and the temperatures dictating that very few insects are on the wing.
Having said that I am posting a few photos of "stuff" I have noted over recent dull days. Thankfully Mr. Weatherman is predicting a sunny upturn in the near future - I surely hope he's right.
The Oxon Feather.

                                                  Kestrel

                                           Corn Bunting.

                                   Sorry about this one some idiot was playing with my camera in the car.

It's That Time of Year.

Parked up in Kingston Lisle and walked the footpath to Westcot it's only a mile or so each way but the good sized hedges and assorted trees make it good birding habitat. My quest was to find the Spotted Flycatchers that use this area annually to nest in. The Spots. have been reported but I failed to find them and apart from a most handsome Bullfinch and all the common species including singing Blackcap and Whitethroat I found little of interest. Of course apart from our gardens where birds accompanied by their offspring come to feed, the great outdoors at this time of year is not the easiest time to see birds, with this in mind I motored on to Seven Barrows with a hope that perhaps a few butterflies might be on the wing even though it was overcast and a fairly strong wind was blowing - ever the optimist me. In fact against all the odds I found Common Blue and Small Heath on the wing and also a Silver-Ground Carpet Moth.
The Oxon Feather.

                                             Silver-Ground Carpet

                                          Common Blue

                                          Speckled Wood

                                          Green-Veined White

Small Heath

Whitethroat but mostly Buts and Moths.

With really gorgeous if somewhat belated spring weather a jaunt across the downs seemed a good idea on Friday following a fleeting visit on Thursday to Hardwick, walking alongside the Windrush was pretty good but clinging on to some of the steep rises of the downs was exhilarating especially when taking into account some super butterflies like Green Hairstreak, Dingy Skipper and the micro moth Pyrausta Purpuralis,  Wood Tiger capped by a Whitethroat that actually sat and posed. Gosh! When the sun is shining at this time of year, before the heat gets a bit too much, and new life is emerging it really is rather special.
The Oxon Feather.

                                            Whitethroat

                                           Wood Tiger

                                           Dingy Skipper

                                             Banded Demoiselle

                                                   Not sure about this one

                                          Crane-Fly possibly Tipula Oleracea

                                              Green Hairstreak

                                            Wood Tiger

                                          The beautiful Micro Pyrausta Purpuralis

                                           Stock Dove in the garden

A Bad Hair Day.

Managed a quick visit to pit 60 Wednesday and noted 3 Little Egret, 3 Oyster Catchers and the Kestrel sat on top of the Kestrel Box.
The Oxon feather.

 All photographs taken at extreme range.