Christine's walking & birds blog

We had been eating lunch in the shelter of some bushes when I heard a roar from the south. "Crikey," I said, "that wind is getting ridiculous!" Then through the trees I glimpsed a formation of planes speeding low towards us. 

It was the Red Arrows, travelling in two groups. 

We looked at their website later; they must have just come from an airshow in Somerset and were on their way to a flyby in Norfolk and another airshow in Suffolk. Greger remarked that after all that lot they must be knackered.

In slightly brighter conditions, the corn bunting added a bit of noise of his own. 

We didn't hang around looking at the stone curlews as they seem to be aware of watchers even at that distance, but we saw one adult with two chicks.

Being grounded with a fractured wrist has meant a lot of virtual birding for me recently; and that's how I knew that a great bustard had been seen at a stone curlew site. From one of the photos on the web, I thought it might be this location.

So I clicked off a shot today, and it was a match. But after my bit of detective work, I see that the sighting (with general location) is on Birdguides anyway. 

The welcome sunshine this morning brought a new species to the garden in the form of a skipper butterfly. Research reveals that the hooked antennae point towards it being the Large Skipper rather than the Small Skipper (which is not necessarily smaller) or the Essex Skipper (not enough bling).

A tiny fluffy white fly was on the wing in the garden this afternoon; I put my hand out towards it and it landed on my finger. I thought at first it was infested with mites, but research on the web tells me that it was probably a Woolly Aphid. I s'pose gardeners will have heard of it.

Up on the windy downs on Saturday, the stone curlews had possibly two chicks; but they were distant, and I couldn't be sure. 

A bike event was following some of the tracks we were on. Here the participants were making their way uphill straight into the wind. 

I've decided not to drive until my wrist is better, so it was great that Greger fancied going to Swinley Forest today.

We walked down to Wishmoor and had a coffee sitting above the heath, where we heard and then saw a cuckoo. A male stonechat was singing fairly close by, and juvenile birds were also seen.

The dead tree by the stream again produced crossbills; a male, a female and several juveniles.

A roe doe crossed the track ahead closely followed by a roe buck.

Two cuckoos flew across the heath. A hobby cruised over and landed in the great grey shrike's tree. A reed bunting was seen carrying food.

Tidying up in the garden yesterday I encountered two new species. This hoverfly, Chrysotoxum festivum, doesn't seem to have a common name.

Two ladybird-sized beetles on the lavender were identified from various websites as Rosemary Leaf Beetles. Unfortunately, they are a pest; but I'll leave them alone and hope they'll go away. 

Close encounters of a non-avian kind

It's a thankless task, birding summer woods in poor visibility and drizzle; but someone's got to do it. Burnham Beeches was my destination yet again, and although I failed to relocate the spotted flycatcher and the pipit I was pleased to add house martins, kestrel and a singing willow warbler to the weekend's BB list. 

This insect zoomed past me and landed on the ground for a nanosecond; it's the predatory Green Tiger Beetle, quite common apparently but a new one for me.

Burnham Beeches was really busy and the boardwalk was hopeless; so when the sun struggled out I tried another spot for snakes.  This Adder was inches away from me, and it started to slither off along the log before I realised it was there.  It didn't go far; like me, it needed the sun. 

I drove to East Burnham Common and paid £2, feeling very noble. First time I've parked there since they started charging (you must pay at weekends and on bank holidays; other times it's voluntary donations, so the rather misleading notices need to be read carefully).  In summer this is the best part of the woods, with the western side losing its winter charms and Egypt Woods overrun with wood ants.

I couldn't relocate the spotted flycatcher but there were several swifts overhead, while two larger dark shapes scything over the treetops turned out to be hobbies.

A probable meadow pipit flew across a clearing and landed in a pine on the far side. I took a quick pic and tried to get closer but it flew off.  I've seen them on Abbey Park Farm's fields in winter but I didn't know they were around in summer.

Blackcaps (male and female), chiffchaffs and goldcrests were seen; and a male bullfinch seemed to be with a family party. There were loads of midge-type flies, but although the sun came out I could find no adders.

Having conveyed Greger safely to Heathrow I ventured a trip to Burnham Beeches. A male grey wagtail in the corner of Upper Pond was perhaps my first record for the site. I had just grabbed a record shot of him when a female appeared, and the pair flew off calling over the treetops. 

In early spring I had a glimpse of some Mandarins flying through the woods; but this was my first close view this year.

Last but not least I had a brief sighting of a spotted flycatcher, high in a distant oak tree.