Lee Hurrell

[Lee Hurrell]

Thanks for your comments Vince and Susie.

I'm glad people are enjoying my ramblings. This is the first time I've done anything like this and I'm enjoying it! I already keep a written nature diary which is more location, date and sightings only without the added human element I suppose so it's nice to add a bit of flavour to my observations.

Things will quieten down a bit now I'm back at work but will endeavour to update as much as I can.

Thanks also for the shrub ID. I have some other shots of the Comma which should show the foliage a bit more and will post later. Can't say I've ever smelt the leaves so will try that later....and if it smells like cat pee thanks in advance

Sad about the Greenfinches, I used to love seeing them in the garden.

[Lee Hurrell]

Returning to work yesterday I was office bound all day but today I was out on visits.

Lovely sunny morning after the frost wore off and it went like this:

Hounslow TW3, 9am - sunny, fairly warm
Earls Court SW5, 11am - clouding over, breeze getting up
Bow E3, 2pm, - drizzly and quite chilly

However! There are noticably many more shoots and buds coming out, the trees seem to be waking up and I have even seen some blossom (pink and white, so cherry and apple maybe) and more new spring growth on the ground.

I didn't get the job in Cambridge, but on the plus side I don't have to commute to Cambridge and I still have a job...

I did the scratch and sniff test on the Choisya ternata sundance kid bush as I got home and while it may have a very faint smell of cat pee it smelt more like Basil to me!

Here's another shot of Sunday's Comma showing a little more of the foliage:

[Lee Hurrell]

We are off to visit some of my girlfriends relatives in Yorkshire tomorrow for the weekend and while I'm always excited to explore new areas the weather looks like it will be a washout

Shame, but I'm sure I'll get out somewhere over the weekend. I had a look on the sites pages on UKB and (for later in the year) they are not too far from a Large Heath site so if we go back later in the year that would be good!

Been a bit of a damp squib this week, hope it gets better! Our lodger reckons we are in for a scorcher this August breaking the temperature record from a few years ago. I asked where she got this information and she read it in The Sun so I wouldn't hold your breath

[Lee Hurrell]

The Goldcrest was back this morning, that twice I've seen one in the garden this week. It's strange I only ever see them early in the morning - I wonder if they have routines like we do, visiting various places as they do their rounds and my garden is near the top of the list. It was picking bits from the leylandii trees today.

[Lee Hurrell]

Saturday 27th March 2010

We were staying in Middlestown, near Wakefield and didn’t get the deluge that was forecasted. The weather was intermittent sun and cloud for both Saturday and Sunday but quite windy. It was noticeably a few degrees cooler than Middlesex though.

A good walk around Stony Cliffe Wood and Perkin Wood on Saturday was lovely. The woods were what I would call damp woodland, full of birch with a stream meandering through them. There lots of boggy patches and water running off the hills. The ground was pretty open with plenty of greenery just starting to come through. Saw some frogspawn in a large boggy puddle which was apparently a mass of spawning amphibians last week. A few flowers were out but not much in the way of wildlife. Some Mallard and Canada Geese on a small lake and one each Blue Tit and Great Tit but that was about it. I bet it would be lovely a bit later in the season though.

Didn’t see a lot of wildlife at all really but we did go and see a South African Elvis impersonator on Saturday night who was hilarious….

Elvis.jpg (24.79 KiB) Viewed 2179 times

Sunday 28th March 2010

My girlfriend’s cousin we were staying with is a veterinary nurse and was nursing 3 orphaned baby rabbits that sadly won’t be able to return to the wild. They were too cute and would sit in the palm of your hand. Here they are:

After a hearty Sunday roast we set off south and stopped off at my sister’s in Leicester and saw Henry again.

Saw 2 Grey Herons, 2 Buzzards, 1 Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk from the motorway.

Our lodger reported a Comma from our garden today too.

[Lee Hurrell]

We're at my Mum's in Somerset for the weekend. It was a hideous drive down (5 hours) with plenty of rain. There was a lovely spell of sunshine once in the county and since we arrived it has been sunshine and showers. Sunday and Monday look promising at this stage.

Quite unlike me I fell asleep on the sofa for an hour this afternoon so I didn't go for a walk today. I will do tomorrow though.

My mum has a great bird station in the garden and living sort of in the middle nowhere the birds down here are something else, well compared to Greenford anyway. Within 2 hours of arriving, had seen the following:

Blue Tit (lots)
Great Tit (lots)
Coal Tit x 1
Long Tailed Tit x 2
Chaffinch x 2
Goldfinch x 1
Greenfinch x 1
House Sparrow (lots)
Dunnock x 1
Robin x 2
Blackbird x 1

These were all in the garden. Seen nearby:

Buzzard
Crows
Magpies

Also saw a Grey Heron on the way down.

[Lee Hurrell]

It was raining this morning so we went to the garden centre for this years potatoes, onion sets and others seeds. My girlfriend has the allotment, I'm normally too busy out butterflying!

I was a little surprised to see my first 2 House Martins of the year. Only surprised a little as I normally see Swallows first and they were quite early. After checking dates from previous years they aren't that early and I expect where they've travelled from wasn't as cold as we've been this winter. I normally see Swallows over Easter in Somerset so maybe I will over the weekend.

Garden birds today were much the same as yesterday minus the Goldfinch but with the addition of:

Greater Spotted Woodpecker
Nuthatch
Marsh Tit

Here's a House Sparrow from today:

My girlfriend has a thing for lambs and there are always loads when we come down over Easter:

I went for a walk this afternoon but only a little sunshine was on offer. Loads of primroses and celandines are out and a few snowdrops still hanging on.

There is a lovely damp field nearby that I discovered late last year with a stream running through it and bordered by mixed deciduous/coniferous woodland on one side and deciduous on the other. I have a feeling that Silver Washed Fritillaries are in the woods as my first ever sighting of one was on buddleia outside my mum's back door a few years ago. I'm looking forward to exploring the area and the rest of the woods later in the year. There are disused quarries in there too.

Hope the sun comes out tomorrow!

[Lee Hurrell]

Glorious. The sun arrived in Somerset today at last

Went for a long walk today in the woods and lanes around the village. No butterflies (and no swallows either) but there was some lovely sunny views.

Forgot to mention yesterday about 6 buzzards circling above a field next to the house and a pair of (I think) Chiff Chaffs just down the lane. I went by the song at first, which is literally is just 'chiff chaff'. I've seen them down here before and they look like a Garden Warbler. Since that first time I realised recently that I've mis-identified Great Tits by song as Chiff Chaffs. Great Tits seem to have a large variety of song but can also do a 'chiff chaff'. The Chiff Chaff is not quite as loud though and more melodic.

So no butterflies today despite the warm sunshine but I did see:
Tree Creeper
Buzzards
Long Tailed Tits
Crows
Rooks
Magpies
Wood Pigeons

Garden Birds all present and correct as yesterday minus the Nuthatch.

[Lee Hurrell]

Back from Somerset in not bad time considering the end of the bank holiday. We usually steel ourselves for a 5 hour marathon but was nearer 4 today.

It was cloudy this morning but we seemed to catch up with the sunshine along the M4, a really nice evening.

Saw 8 buzzards on the way, a single, 2 pairs and a group of 3. Considering they must have large breeding areas I wonder why you see so many together sometimes. I saw 6 together over the weekend. Maybe there are some of last year's youngsters still with their parents.

Somerset seemed a bit behind Middlesex in spring growth and temperatures and this is the first Easter in 5 years I have not seen either my first Swallows or any butterflies at all.

[Susie]

I've been wondering about buzzards too lately as I saw a group of five or six over my garden last week. A pair is a common sight but this was quite unusual as they circled on the thermals.

[Gruditch]

Hi Lee, The buzzards coming together is a social thing, I've seen up to 21 together over my own village. Watch when they disperse, they just fold back their wings and effortlessly gild off in their separate directions.

Sorry to butt in, Regards Gruditch

[Lee Hurrell]

That's fine Gary, feel free! Always good to know.

Thanks (and to Susie too).

Cheers

Lee

[Lee Hurrell]

What a glorious day and I'm stuck in the office. I was in central London this morning but too early and it was a bit cold.

I had to go to the shops at lunch time and saw an unidentified Nymphalid in Acton High Street, London, W3 but I was looking up at it with the sun coming down and I just didn't get a good enough look at it before it scooted over a roof. It looked most like a Small Tortoiseshell.......but in Acton? I ask you... So anyway I can't record it or report it. And it's STILL only my 5th butterfly of the year!

Talking of Small Torts, I hadn't seen any for a long long time until the year before last and after their drastic decline (they seemed so much more common when I was a lad) to me they seem to be picking up a bit with the all the sightings listed on UKB and my sightings from last year. I saw many more in the South West than the South East though. Let's see what this year brings.

The missus is busy all day on Saturday and the weather is looking good so I'm planning a field trip....watch this space.

[Lee Hurrell]

I was in Fulham this morning in lovely warm sunshine but didn't see any urban Leps. I had to walk past Stamford Bridge so maybe the Blues were away (sorry).

Anyway, a friend I used to work with (she did not survive the redundancy cull) and who I must have bored silly with butterflies last year rang me to report sightings in Hanwell, West London W7 yesterday of a white (so could be a female Brimstone but probably not as I tend to see them associated with woodland where I am, not really in urban areas), something dark (more than likely a Peacock) and then today a small blue butterfly on a holly bush - so safe to assume a Holly Blue!

[Lee Hurrell]

It's funny what a new day brings - I've just watched a Small Tortoiseshell bed down for the night. In Greenford! More of that in a bit.

Finished early today (well it is Friday) and was in Greenford Park Cemetery by 5pm. I'd seen 1 unidentified Nymphalid on the way home (butterfly #6 of the year). Once in the cemetery I saw another 2 unidentified Nymphalids. They were just too quick and I was too far away (or maybe I've lost my chops since last year )

Anyway, a slow meander around the edges and I was rewarded with my first Peacock of the year

I then saw what I thought looked like a Small Tort. I've never seen one in West London and with their decline I wouldn't expect to really. As I mentioned yesterday they still seem common in the south and south west. Maybe I'd just never seen them here. I certainly didn't see any in the cemetery last year and I was over there a lot, most weekends and summer evenings. I watched it settle and it was indeed a Small Tort!

Here she (I think) is:

Then I saw another. This one was fluttering around at ground level and then disappeared into some undergrowth. For a moment I feared the worse but I watched as it fussily chose its spot and then crawled up underneath a dock leaf, hanging upside down. Not only had I just seen a butterfly I wasn't expecting to but I'd just witnessed something I may not again for a long time and I would imagine not many people get to see. Fascinating.

This was at 5.30 on the dot. The sun was still warm but getting lower in the sky and the temperature was still at 18 degrees (there was a billboard with it displayed on the way home). This could suggest its the height of the sun that prompts bedtime as opposed to the warmth.

The cemetery is bordered by houses, sheds and a big allotment patch so they may have been in there last year maybe. Or just maybe as I pondered yesterday, are they making a comeback??? Let's hope so. They really are one of my favourite species and I have fond memories of building cages to breed them in when I was younger.

Also, that does make it likely it was a Small Tort I saw in Acton yesterday. It's not that far up the road, but I'll never know.

[thepostieles]

thats great lee

[Lee Hurrell]

First Orange Tip and Small Whites today

Rather than a big field trip I opted for several smaller ones today instead. Our friend Helen has a lovely greyhound called Twiggy. Here she is:

The 3 of us went to Horsenden Hill between 12 noon and 1.30pm in lovely warm sunshine. The Middlesex Peacock branch really returned from winter manoeuvres today, we saw 12 along with my first Orange Tip and Small White of the year. There were a few early bluebells too. We also watched a bumblebee crawl into a tunnel in the earth - we'd found its home! Such a difference from a few weeks ago.

Total for Horsenden Hill:
Orange Tip (male) x 1
Small White (male) x 1
Peacock x 12
Comma x 3
Small Tortoiseshell x 1 (another one, and the first one I've seen there)
Brimstone (male) x 1 (my first of the year)

Here are some photos from the Hill (not sure what the blue flower the Orange Tip was on but he was nectaring from it - Susie, one for you?) Best photo I could do with him at the time - I must have watched him for 15 minutes and he didn't stay in one place long enough! In this photo he had just taken off

On return there was a Peacock in the front garden, one of three I saw there today. This one stayed all afternoon and posed quite readily, bless him. Or her.

It also liked the Choisya ternata sundance bush, or Butch as I've now named it.

It was still hot and sunny and a trip to Greenford Park cemetery yielded:
Peacock x 4
Small Tortioseshell x 2
Small White (male) x 1
Green Woodpecker

Had a last walk around Brent River Park and saw 4 more Peacocks.

Quite a day! 23 Peacocks, 3 Small Torts, 1 Orange Tip, 2 Small Whites and a Brimstone. Phew

[Susie]

Hi Lee, it's a Speedwell.

[Lee Hurrell]

Thanks Susie!
I knew you'd know...

[Susie]

Lol. I know it's a speedwell and I assume germander (there are a few different types) but I am not absolutely sure, my plant IDs can be a bit ropey at times. So never take it for definite until someone else has confirmed it!