14th June

It was down to the insects to provide the best sightings again this week. On the railway yesterday a tiny butterfly proved to be a, rather nibbled, Brown Argus. This was the second new butterfly species for the parish in a week.

They are very similar to the female Common Blue although you can just make out the two dark spots on the upperwing which help to distinguish them. The more reliable distinction is in the under wing pattern of spots…  

I also saw a Cinnabar moth here yesterday, only the second I have seen in the village (although this probably reflects the lack of habitat rather than its rarity).

Today in the same area I had my first Common Blue of the year, a distinctly battered individual but still nice to see.

And there was also a significant arrival of Silver Y moths.

These are regular immigrants to Britain but occur in much higher numbers on a cyclical basis. When I was at university good Silver Y years meant a trip to the local moors as there was then a good chance of seeing Hobby hunting these moths.

Other butterflies here included my first Meadow Browns of the year, three Large Skippers, a couple of Red  Admirals and around a dozen Small Tortoiseshell. The latter in absolutely pristine condition…

Bird highlight this week was a marked arrival of Reed Warblers into the Magic Garden. I have never had more than the odd single bird in the village before but yesterday evening there were at least three singing birds and four or five more birds flying around the small reed bed here.

The only other sightings of note were a Barn Owl hunting yesterday in the bright noon sunshine by Morton Bridge and a Red Kite that Chris saw heading over Thrintoft towards Ainderby.

I will also mention one handsome flower found on the railway yesterday, Goats-beard…

This flower is also known as Jack-Go-to-Bed-at-Noon as its flowers are only open in the morning sun.