A few highlights from the weekly wander around Barlow Tip and Kenworthy Wood.
Plenty of Willow Warblers calling from around the former tip. Still proving elusive and difficult to photograph not helped this week by the unusual (for this April) phenomenon called cloud. In fact there was even a few spots of light drizzle.
A male Orange-Tip caught out by the change in the weather.
With a cool easterly breeze he was going nowhere. A couple of eggs can be seen towards the centre of the Lady’s Smock with a pale fresh egg and a lone orange egg slightly below.
Alder Leaf Beetles
Another insect that appears to have rapidly spread over the past few years. Incredible to see the speed they defoliate Alders. Fortunately the damage appears to be temporary with a second flush of leaves appearing in early summer.
Bluebells across the river in Kenworthy Wood.
Interesting to note these hybrids with the Spanish Bluebell share quite a few characteristics with the English Bluebell. Unfortunately with the hybrids being fertile as they continue to spread and hybridise with the English Bluebell our own native Bluebell is becoming increasingly rare.
A rather colourful form of our native Hawthorn on Barlow Tip
Several large webs of the Bird Cherry Ermine Moth beginning to appear at Kenworthy. In a few weeks time the small trees will literally disappear like something out of Shelob’s lair