30 Days Wild – Day 1

Farmland survey plot

We’re off, 30 Days Wild 2020 is here! I started with an early morning bird survey of a farmland site on the chalk and what a way to start the 30 Days. Lots of yellowhammer, a few corn bunting and then a barn owl hunting for at least 15 minutes over the fields, a glorious morning. Just when I though tit could get no better a stone curlew flew over the ridge and passed me then alongside the owl, magical.

At Blashford it was hot and sunny, with lots of dragonflies, but still very few butterflies, although a very fresh dark green fritillary was a rare sight for the reserve. It was nectaring on Salvias in the raised beds by the Centre alongside lots of the wonderful little green-eyed flower bee.

I finished my day with a short walk out on the heath, with a distant calling curlew, nightjars aplenty and three species of bat, serotine, common pipistrelle and soprano pipistrelle.

Let’s see what Day 2 brings, it will be hard to live up to Day 1, I have to hope things have not peaked too soon.

 

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High Plain Drifting

We had a team away day today and what a day to be away! the hottest day of the year and we were out on Salisbury Plain looking at a really big block of habitat, something like 40,000 hectares! We first visited the great bustard project and saw seven of the released birds from the hide along with a pair of stone curlew. There was an accompaniment of singing corn bunting and yellowhammer, once common birds I very rarely see or hear these days, we also saw a single yellow wagtail on our way to the site.

We also looked at large areas of downland flora with dark green fritillaries  flying over and lots of flowers.

There would have been pictures of some of it but the website  does not seem to be allowing pictures to be added to the blog tonight.