July 2020

We had a mixed flock of Tits passing through our garden in the morning. An Adult Long-tailed Tit was seen with a Juvenile. Also a Juvenile Great Tit and Blue Tit. Even a Juvenile Coal Tit paid a visit to our garden, which is a bird we don’t see very often since we got rid of the conifers.

Long-tailed Tit [Juvenile]

Coal Tit [Juvenile]

Wapley Bushes NNR & Yate 6th July 2020

Me & Dad popped back to Wapley Bushes NNR near Yate for another look. We saw Large Skipper, Marbled Whites, Comma, Gatekeeper, House Sparrow, Meadow Grasshopper, Common Field Grasshopper & Ringlets. While I was photographing a Small Tortoiseshell, Dad spotted a White-letter Hairstreak & called me over to have a look. This individual, compared to the one at Aust the previous month was a bit worn, but lovely to see though. We had a couple of sightings during the day of a Hedgehog which was presumably a Female. It was seen feeding at the top of our garden, before heading back into it's box.

Small Skipper [Male]

Marbled White

Comma

Meadow Grasshopper

Hedgehog [Juvenile]

White-letter Hairstreak

Yate 7th July 2020

I did some more garden Wildlife photography today. House Sparrows, Common Starlings & Common Swifts. The Swifts seemed to be very few & far between in our area. Also some Barn Swallows and House Martins.

House Sparrow [Male]

House Sparrow [Juvenile]

Common Swift

Patchway & Wapley Bushes NNR 10th July 2020

We saw a Holly Blue feeding on Brambles near Patchway in the morning. Me & Dad went back to Wapley Bushes NNR for a third look for Butterflies. The Marbled Whites were still on the wing, but looking a bit worn & tatty. Common Field Grasshoppers were in the long grass & were easily flushed with Meadow Grasshoppers. Also seen were Small Skippers, Cuckoo Bumblebee, Ringlets, Common Wasp, Commas, Wasp Mimic Hoverfly, Speckled Wood, Great Pied Hoverfly, 7 Spot Ladybird, Gatekeeper, Large White, Small White & Common Swift.

Comma [Pair]

Marbled White

Cuckoo Bumblebee

Ringlet

Wasp Mimic Hoverfly

Comma

Speckled Wood

Great Pied Hoverfly

Gatekeeper [Male]

Large White [Male]

Small White [Female]

Holly Blue

Yate & Marshfield 12th July 2020

In the morning, we saw a Small Tortoiseshell feeding on Buddleia in our garden during the morning. In the evening, we popped to Marshfield to listen for Quail. We saw & heard plenty of Corn Buntings around the area. One Corn Bunting showed very well off in Rushmead Lane. Also Yellowhammer was heard singing & one showed very distantly. A flock of Linnets flew around the fields & a Greenfinch was seen as well. A Juvenile Little Owl showed well basking in the evening sunlight. After listening around the fields near Down Road & Shirehill Lane, no Quail were heard calling so we went back home.

Small Tortoiseshell

Corn Bunting

Linnet [Female]

Little Owl [Juvenile]

Somerset Levels 21st July 2020

We headed to the Somerset Levels to look for Bitterns & Bearded Tits. We started at Ham Wall RSPB. We saw Red Soldier Beetles, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Speckled Wood, Common Field Grasshopper & Common Blue Butterfly. We didn't see many bird during our visit, except for a Great White Egret which Mum saw flying over. A Bittern was seen briefly in flight, but I didn't see it. Sadly due to the Covid-19 Pandemic the hides at both Shapwick Heath NNR & Ham Wall RSPB are closed until further notice, the same also applied to Greylake RSPB. We had a brief visit to Catcott Lows NNR. No Cattle Egrets this time, but a Male Common Darter showed well perched on a reed. A Common Wasp was perched on the fence and chomping bits of wood to make paper for it's nest. We arrived at Greylake RSPB & we were greeted by a Juvenile Great Tit, Juvenile Robins, House Sparrows and Chaffinches. Mum put some food out for them & stayed to watch them while Me & Dad walked around the reserve. On leaving the car park, I spotted a Cuckoo Pint Plant also known as the Arum Lily, which had just gone over. Both Female Common Darter & Male Ruddy Darter were perched on the reed, but sadly the Female Common Darter didn't hang around. The Reed Warblers were feeding their recently fledged Juveniles & constantly calling. The Mute Swans and Moorhens also had young to care for. An Adult Reed Warbler perched briefly in the reeds before dropping down. On the main track back to the car park, I spotted what I originally thought to be a Click Beetle. I looked it up when I got back home & managed to identify it as a Carrion Beetle [Thanatophilus rugosus]. It was feeding on a carcass of a dead Pygmy Shrew. While were around the reserve, Mum saw a Blackcap briefly. In our garden during the evening, we had a couple of Peacock Butterflies & a Meadow Brown.

Speckled Wood

Common Field Grasshopper

Common Blue [Male]

Common Darter [Male]

Blue Tit [Juvenile]

Ruddy Darter [Male]

Reed Warbler [Adult]

Robin [Juvenile]

Meadow Brown [Female]

Carrion Beetle [Thanatophilus rugosus]

Peacock

Yate 22nd July 2020

We saw one of this year's Hoglets in our garden during the early evening that had got separated from it's Mum. We put it back in the tunnel where it's mum was so hopefully it's going to be fine.
(We saw Mum and all three Hoglets later that night on the trailcam).

Yate 24th July 2020

A few Butterflies in our garden included Peacock Butterflies, Female Brimstone on buddleia, Speckled Wood & Red Admiral. A Green Shield Bug landed on the roof above the porch. A Juvenile Wood Pigeon showed well in our garden mid afternoon.

Peacock

Brimstone [Female]

Red Admiral

Speckled Wood

Wood Pigeon [Juvenile]

Yate 26th July 2020

A Female Gatekeeper was present in our garden during the morning. We heard the birds screeching and saw a Female Sparrowhawk had made a surprise visit in the afternoon. After it was gone, the Common Starlings came back up & perched on the hedge. A couple of Large Whites were also of note.

Sparrowhawk [Female]

Large White

Gatekeeper [Female]

Lizard Orchid 10th July 2020

We popped out to see this Lizard Orchid, which was in full flower by the main road near Yate. It was good to still that it is still holding on at this site, although we didn’t see as many as we have in other years.

July 2020

Summer Moths Part II in Yate 18th July 2020

We put the Moth trap out last night as it was over a month since we last had it out. This morning I was interested to see what was going to be inside on this occasion. The species included Vine's Rustic, Common Rustic, Scalloped Oak, Dark Arches & Shuttle-shaped Dart. There was a Buff-tip on the garden path and a Garden Tiger Moth on the gravel by the pond. The Highlights were Buff-tip & Garden Tiger as they are both rare visitors to our garden. We managed to put both Moths into the Moth trap ready for release in the evening.

Vine’s Rustic

Scalloped Oak

Dark Arches

Common Rustic agg.

Shuttle-shaped Dart

Garden Tiger

Buff-tip

Stone & Yate 19th July 2020

After not going to Portland to see the Rose-coloured Starlings that were present, we decided to see one at Stone near Berkeley. This Adult Male was found the previous evening by Paul Taylor. It was fairly elusive & often disappeared for long periods. However it showed reasonably well during our visit. It remained in the area until early evening, when it headed to roost in the nearby trees & despite a thorough search by a couple of other birders, there was no sign of it the following day. Other Birds seen in the area were House Martins, Common Swifts & a Common Buzzard. A Goldenrod Crab Spider was seen on one of the flowers in our garden along with a Small White Butterfly.

Rose-coloured Starling [Male Summer]

Rose-coloured Starling [Male Summer]

House Martin [Adult]

Common Buzzard [Adult]

Small White [Pair]