Back To The Woods

With the weather clearing up this afternoon, it seemed a shame not to spend an hour or so walking around Stanton Park, especially with the sun out. from the car park it was straight up the main track to see how the Hornet nest was doing. Though not as many Hornets around the entrance it was quite obvious that construction work was still ongoing with another cell added to the base of the nest box and the sides of the main nest almost smooth in shape.

17th September and a lot of active Hornets

A week later and another cell attached to the nest box with fewer Hornets around

From the Hornet nest I carried on around the track and at the cross-roads carried straight over following the tree line down to the bee hives. A Chiffchaff was heard calling down hear and as I passed the apiary a small party of tits and crests passed by.

At the end of this track I turned left and headed towards the meadow, which was full of Craneflies and a few Meadow Grasshoppers. As I've done before I went through the gate and turned right, following the fence line. This is a great area for Common Darter, that like to rest up on the posts of the fence. 

A female Common Darter

And a male. Distinguishable from a Ruddy Darter by a yellow stripe on the legs, whereas the legs of a Ruddy Darter are all black.

Also seen in the meadow were Meadow Grasshoppers, a Comma butterfly feeding on the Blackberries, a 7-spot Ladybird gorging itself on an aphid and a Flesh Fly.

A 7-spot Ladybird feeding on an aphid

A Flesh Fly. This is an interesting fly in that instead of laying eggs it gives birth to live maggots which are either deposited or dropped mid-air.

A Comma feasts on a Blackberry

I had no idea how long the legs could be on a "Daddy-long-legs", these are huge. This species of crane fly is 1 of 300 species found in Britain according to the RSPB, yet the Wildlife Trust say there are only 94 species, so I'm not that sure how many there are in Britain. What I do know is, this has been an amazing year for them. I don't think there have been many homes that haven't seen one this Autumn. They are everywhere!

Also seen in the pools along the main track were a few juvenile Moorhen. I'm just hoping this one remembers to uncross his legs before stepping off!

This has also been a very fruitful year for a lot plants and the Beech has done very well with lots of Beech Mast.

Here are some overhanging the meadow.

One of many Drone Flies seen on the brambles, but what I wasn't expecting was this ......................

As this one took off (top left) I somehow managed to capture its shadow on the bramble leaf. What are the chances of that!

Birds recorded: Mute Swan, Mallard, Buzzard, Moorhen, Black-headed Gull, Wood Pigeon, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 10 House Martin, 4 Swallow, Grey Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 1 Song Thrush, 2 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Marsh Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Wren, 1 Jay, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Chaffinch, 2 Linnet and Goldfinch.

Butterflies seen: Green-veined White and a Comma.

Dragonflies: 5 Common Darters and a Southern Hawker.

Other insects: Hornets, Drone Flies, Wasps, Crane Flies, 7-spot Ladybird and a Meadow Grasshopper