WALKS, HIKES, MEETINGS AND GREETINGS
Well what a hot month that was! It remined of 1975 and even the first moths of the COVID lock down in 2020. Lovely clear skies, little cloud and very warm temperatures.
Not much bird watching was done throughout the month but I went on plenty of walks and some butterflies outings with the ex-birding Guru and the 'now' Butterfly whisperer. I guess, just like me, you have had an extraordinary number of butterflies in your garden inclusing some very rarely seen species. I have had fifteen species in our tiny garden, but remember a meadow backs onto to our garden and a lot of unintentional set-aside surrounds the crop of barley.
June 28th 2026
Dawn and I, and the Guru Guy, met up with our good friends Paul and Claire who had driven from Chepstow, South Wales, to meet us and walk the trails at Ham Wall on the Somerset levels. To tell you the truth, not a lot of birding went on, we saw a few butterflies and plenty of Dragonflies but very few birds.
Left to right - Guy, Claire, Paul, me and Dawn
I guess a male Marsh Harrier was the highlight and the Commoa Butterfly was the highlight of the butterflies. We spent a lot of time talking and having lunch at the Avalon Centre.
Goldfinch at Ham Wall
a Comma, you can see the white mark on the underwing from where this beauty gets its name.
Garden Butterflies
Green-veined White - 2nd July
On the 5th July I went across to Sutton Bingham to look for the WHITE-TAILED EAGLE (released on the Isles-of-Wight 3 years ago) the bird sat obligingly in the open but a little distant. I never saw it fly.
Whiote-tailed Eagle at Sutton Bingham 5th July 2026 - very distant with heat haze.
the flower meadows at Sutton Bingham have been excellent this year. An amazing total of 110 Clouded Yellow Butterflies were seen recently. Pictured is the beautiful Marbled White.
I saw this Clouded Yellow in my local fields
9th of July 2026
Alners Gorse Butterfly Reserve
This lovely reserve is haven for wildlife, especially for butterflies, it is the go-to place for hairstreaks where Purple, White-lettered and Brown hairstreaks can be seen at the appropriate times of the year. I took Guy there early on the 9th July. We hoped to to see at least two hairstreaks, but as you know, butterflies this year have emerged much earlier that usual and some have them have 'gone-over' well before their time. this was the case with the White-lettered hairstreak, very few were still flying on the 9th July. We saw plenty of Purple hairstreaks but there wasn't sniff of Brown or White-lettered.
what a great season the Gatekeeper is having - hundreds were on the wing in early July.
10th July 2026
A Red Kite and Buzzard circled over my garden whilst I was watching several butterflies.
Red Kite over my garden
Large Skipper
Small Tortoiseshell - last year they were in very short supply, it's noy much better thsi year either!
we have several Ragwort plants and. as usual, they are covered in Cinnabar Moth caterpillars.
July 14th 'Bastille Day' a mega in my garden!!
At 8:30am I was in the garden and spotted a butterfly on the lawn, it flew around for awhile and I knew it was a hairstreak. It landed and opened its wings - blinking hell - it was a Brown Hairstreak!! The nearest know colony of this species is Alners Gorse some 12 miles away.
Brown hairstreak on my lawn, well its a bed of Daisies really!!
my first mega butterfly in my garden!! A male Brown hairstreak - I seacrhed local habitats for this species but failed to find any
Lyme Regis 18th July 2026
Several walks with Dawn at the coast at Lyme Regis and West Bay (Bridport) produced many species of butterfly too! We also found this Goldenring Dragonfly at Lyme Regis.
Goldenring Dragonfly seen at Lyme Regis
The 'Cob' at Lyme Regis - can you spot a Turnstone here?