It's Midsummer.

Photo Diary 15th to 30th June 2011

Bird Seed crop - Phacelia, Oats and Sunflowers

15th June

Barn Owl busily hunting along saltmarsh.

This is the second Barn Owl of a pair who are hunting along the marsh each evening now.

Herons, possibly a family, scouring the shoreline for tasty morsels.

16th June

Rained earlier but turned out sunny and very warm by late morning. Azure and Large Red Damselflies could be seen on pondside vegetation near the hide. As it was Thursday, the workparty were out in force clearing thistles from the meadows before they seed.

Some of the Workparty thistle topping.

Male Green-veined White Butterfly along the Lonning.

19th July

Elderberry bush flowering in recently laid hedge. Cuttings from the original bush which was cut down when the hedge was laid a few years ago, were poked back into the ground and have taken root - producing this healthy looking bush.

20th July

This sunny warm day brought the Damselflies out. The Lonning was once again filled with bird song and the Natterjack pools on the Saltmarsh showed evidence of tadpoles swimming about.

Natterjack pools in sunshine

Natterjack Tadpole showing large bulbous head.

Margins of the oldest pools were quivering with their movement.

Somebody else was in close attendance, unfortunately

... and somebody else too!

Large Red Damselfly could be seen flitting around the reed in these still brackish pools.

Blue-tailed damselflies were frequenting these pools too, and landing on partly submerged algae.

Lonning

Song Thrush eggshell - hopefully the sign of a successful brood.

Continuous cheeping alerted us to this well camouflaged House Sparrow on the side of a barn at North Plain Farm.

21st July - the Summer Solstice

Dawned very wet and cloudy with no sunrise visible. Sedge and Willow Warblers could be heard singing but none were visible. A Buzzard was seen flying across both woods, from the hide. In the evening the Barn Owl was hunting regularly on the marsh front.

23rd July

Rained most of the day culminating in a dramatic thunderstorm at 5 pm. with pea-sized hailstones.

Drenched area and thunder clouds after the storm.

By evening the sun came out and these Grey Plover landed on a sandbank in front of Campfield Marsh, as the tide was making.

The Barn Owl also came out in the evening, after a day of rain, not having been able to hunt. Here seen hunting along the meadows.

These herb-rich meadows must be a good source of voles.

Owl was returning with a catch about every 7 to 8 minutes

24th July

Dawned bright and sunny but somewhat colder. Sunshine brought out a few Ringlets and Small Tortoiseshell Butterflies. Barn Owl seen hunting along the Saltmarsh in the evening.

25th July

First sighting of Juvenile Great-spotted Woodpecker

Seen later being fed by female.

26th July

Very warm when the sun came out late morning. Lots of activity on the Reserve. The shimmer of Dragonflies wings could be seen over the pool in front of the hide. Very small frogs were crossing the Lonning - one had to be careful not to tread on them. On the Estuary at midday, as the tide was receding, 31 shellduck flew in and landed on a sandbar in front of West Common. They were joined by a good number of Black-headed Gulls, 2 grey Plover, 2 Cormorants - not the mention the local Crow family.

A couple of heron flew into the wet meadow infront of the hide. They look to be too close to that Lapwing chick, though!

Adult Lapwing to the rescue..

This was a determined attack which continued for quite a while.

Ouch! That hurt!

They had had enough and flew off.

First young Sedge Warbler we've seen this season.

Willow Warbler came to have a look at us, as we walked up the Lonning.

27th July.

Sparrowhawk was hunting around North Plain Farm buildings, probably looking for young House Sparrows. Butterflies were flying on the Lonning : Ringlets, Large White and Red Admiral. Again there were young frogs on the track and two Sedge Warblers in different places along the hedgerow - one was catching insects. Shelducks were now putting in an appearance on the Mudflats.

28th July

Lonning - On yet another sunny day; Butterflies and Dragonflies were on the wing; a Moorhen with three young was enjoying the ambiance in the wet dyke opposite the farm pond and a new brood of Sedge Warblers were lazily basking in the sun in the hedge halfway along.