Sunday 26 April 2009

Busy weekend

Another great sunny weekend - here are the highlights: not many clouds, but those that appeared were attractive.
Breeding bird survey on the undercliff: 24 fulmar nest sites, a pair of rock pipits, two house martin nests and some jackdaws (one with a wonky foot).
Hoary stocks flowering on the cliffs.

A single early spider orchid, just like last year.

A single early purple orchid on Tolsford Hill.

Lady orchid becoming more feminine, on a return trip to Denge Woods.

One of a handful of Duke of Burgundy butterflies - tiny!

A trip on the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch railway to Dungeness,
where there were plenty of small coppers, but precious little else.

And finally, a short-eared owl at dusk.

4 comments:

Charlie P said...

Quite a day Steve, thanks for those pics!

Going to keep my eyes peeled for the earlier orchids, I don't think I've seen any of those - or a Duke of Burgundy. Lovely.

Greenie said...

Steve ,
You certainly got out and about this weekend . Never seen Hoary Stocks before .Great shot of the Duke . As usual , the sun brought the Ladies out .
Had to Google the word 'noseeums' that you used on a comment , as I thought you had been on the paint brush cleaner again . Never heard of that one before .

Mary said...

OK...this is an award winning post. I love that first shot of the windmill in the distance with the great sky, and the shot of the train coming towards us...wow! The two final shots are great! And of course the wonky footed bird and the flowers and butterfly are all wonderful, too. I'm not just trying to be nice...these are wonderful shots!

Kingsdowner said...

Charlie, I expect your downland should support them....I wish I was visiting your area to try for burnt tip orchids on Mount Caburn.

Greenie, they are the first hoary stocks I've noticed. The area is inaccessible at high tide. Paint-brush cleaner? - try essence de hoarystock.

Mary, aw shucks. Must be the lack of verbiage that you like!