CES ringing day

We have had mixed weather this weekend at Foxglove. Yesterday it was glorious and the bird ringers were here doing a CES ringing day. Over 20 different species were caught but in the baking weather there was less activity than usual with numbers roughly two thirds of last weekend.

Also a large branch had come down from a mature ash tree on the woodland walk. The branches needed to be chainsawed up and moved from the path. Elizabeth helped clear up the mess.

The sunshine meant that the whole reserve was covered in butterflies and moths. Common Blue, Large and Small Skipper, Painted Lady, Ringlet, Small Heath, Meadow Brown and Speckled Wood were all on the wing enthralling our visitors. It was the largest number of butterflies seen on the reserve for some time.

Today it has been overcast with a couple of showers. This didn't stop everyone enjoying our pond-dipping session this afternoon. It was lovely to see adults turning up and as you can see they really got stuck in and we had the best pond-dipping catch for a while.

Amongst the creatures we identified were tadpoles, Diving Beetle larvae, bi-valve molluscs, Backswimmers, Water Boatmen, Pond Skaters, pond snails, Caddis Fly and Damselfly larvae.

Hemp Agrimony is now in flower throughout the scrapes and is a magnet for the butterflies.