Green Lane and Slimbridge

Saturday 28th July 2007

A warm, sunny morning walking from Ryall's Lane (Cambridge) and along Green Lane to the viewing platform produced eight Little Egrets and a Common Tern on the 100-acre, at least eight mostly juvenile Long-tailed Tits with a party of Tits, a juvenile Common Whitethroat, a Garden Warbler, three Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler, six Linnets, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, two juvenile and an adult Sparrowhawk, two Stock Doves, and a Buzzard. There were also lots of insects, including Green-veined White (I think the Green-veined White must be the most under-rated butterfly, what an exquisite insect!), Peacock, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies, Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damselflies, Common Darter, Ruddy Darter and Migrant Hawker dragonflies.

Later at Slimbridge WWT the only birds of note from the Holden Tower were Oystercatchers, four Curlews, a Stock Dove and a Kestrel, however the best birds were on South Lake with 92 Black-tailed Godwits, 60 Dunlin, a male Ruff, a Spotted Redshank, 30 Common Redshanks, four Oystercatchers and c100 Black-headed Gulls. Again, lots of butterflies including a Comma near the Martin Smith hide.

(Photos of, from the top, Green-veined White, Ruddy Darter, Dunlin in flight, Spotted Redshank with Common Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin in flight with a Common Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit © Paul Masters)

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