Wednesday, August 05, 2020

Lockdown Diary: Saturday 1.8.20

I had a bit of a late start this morning, and once more went to check on the Crossbills at Southey Wood. After a bit of work, I encountered about 10 of them (I only saw adult females clearly), though they are being a bit elusive and quiet; even more so than before… Nearby, a small flock of Siskins is building. At least one of the males was in full song, including the wheezy, extended note which sounds a bit like a motor drive on an ‘old skool’ SLR camera…

The finches noisily disappeared when a Buzzard came flying low over the tree-tops. I also recorded about 10 species of butterfly in the woods, there, including Silver-washed Fritillaries now looking a bit past their prime , and a nice Common Blue (also a tad worn, though).

Female Silver-washed Fritillary, Southey Wood, Cambs, 1.8.20


Common Blue butterfly, Southey Wood, Cambs, 1.8.20

At the Baston and Langtoft pit complex there were five Green Sandpipers on the New South Pit (NSP) and a Greenshank on the ‘wader pit’. Also there was a ‘leucistic’ Lapwing, where the upperparts were buffy brown (almost the colour of the nearby Greylag Geese), which is always unusual.

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