I squeezed a quick hours walk around the patch before work this morning, just up to the turning circle and south as far as the Budge screen but compared to recent mornings it was like someone had turned the volume down.
There were still a few warblers singing - willow, chiffy and sedge, the odd wren and meadow pipits and reed bunting in the dunes but otherwise birds have fallen silent. A
song thrush (a scarce breeder at Druridge) hadn't got the memo and belted out his repetitive song the whole time I was there.
Even at 8am there were plenty of butterflies on the wing - large skippers, ringlets, speckled woods and red admirals as well as lots of blue-tailed damselflies.
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| large skipper |
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| Speckled wood - looking a bit worn now |
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| Ringlet |
There were a few of these latticed heath moths basking in the sunshine too.
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| latticed heath |
Other than the aforementioned warblers and stuff, a family party of magpies were making a row up by the turning circle and 40-50 swifts fed low, just over the bushes. As I headed south a
little egret flew over and from the Budge screen there were two
spoonbills, fast asleep as usual. There were also at least 20
black-tailed godwits, most of which were the
islandica subspecies. A couple of
ringed plover fed on the mud.
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| Little egret headed north overhead |
As I headed for home a
grasshopper warbler piped-up from the dunes and started to reel. It's not quite autumn yet.
eBird list here
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| Great tit youth |
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