Nettled & Clegged

Treecreeper

Lesser Whitethroat
Pyramidal Orchid [pale form]
Meadowsweet

[Dwarf] Poppy

Mullein

Mallow

Cherry

Snail

Today was the final session of the standard summer term - a previous Tuesday was cancelled because of bad weather. Today several cloud systems looked threatening, but they passed over without disgorging their contents. We did get a view of a Green Woodpecker in the morning, but the Treecreeper was the star bird. There was a whole family in the car park, and another in the birch woodland - they were as confiding as always. There were also some Blackcaps, Whitethroats and Garden Warblers were still singing fitfully. The biggest surprise was a Lesser Whitethroat which was in full song in the morning - they don't often sing this late in the season. For the first time during our visits we were accompanied by a yellowhammer, which eventually included the final 'cheese' to its repetoire. A Little Grebe was seen with 2 chicks, and a Shoveler had gone into eclipse. A Lapwing appeared to be sat on a nest in a nearby field, but otherwise there weren't many other birds around. However, there were plenty of insects, and many new species of flowers had opened since last week. New species now blooming included: Meadowsweet, Evening Primrose, Mullein, Mallow, Pyramidal Orchid, Centaury & Rosebay Willowherb. The venue was new to the majority of people who were impressed with how beautiful a place had become where the Hull WWII rubble had been dumped! On the downside I was bitten by a Clegg (horsefly) on the same finger I had been nettled earlier. My finger is still tingling as I type this, but at least the Clegg bite hasn't yet swollen my finger to twice its normal size!