Friday 6 April 2018

Norton Green and my first Butterflies

I had a bit of time, so paid a very quick visit to Norton Green before work this morning, spending around twenty minutes or so in the southern section. The main purpose was to try and find a Wheatear, or perhaps a Ring Ousel, but I failed.
The weather wasn't exactly in my favour, with a cold southerly wind and a lot of the birds were sticking close to cover. Large areas of he old landfill site were a bit damp as well with large shallow pools particularly on the eastern side. I didn't really enjoy the visit and was glad to get back to the car.
I was lucky to see two Redpolls fly over-there has been a decent sized flock here this winter, and wasn't sure if any remained. Two Grey Partridges were the first this year. Three Mallards were a bit unusual, no doubt attracted by the standing water, but more expected were the two pairs of Yellowhammers, and several singing Skylarks.

Working in the garden in the rather nice warm sunshine yesterday afternoon, I had my first butterfly of the year with a Small Tortoiseshell. It or another appears this afternoon and I also had my first Bee-flies in the garden today as well. Seven Spot Ladybirds were also out in force, so its finally starting to feel a bit like spring now.

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