29 February 2012

Last minute square bashing

male Goshawk
Some last minute recording today in a couple of 2km squares was rewarded with a fly over male Goshawk. Apart from that a few Crossbills and Lesser Redpolls added a bit of variation to the day. A Robin made an amazing imitation of a Willow Warbler song at one point which stopped me in my tracks.
White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum)
It was hard to accept that today was technically still winter! Many insects were making the most of the summer like  conditions and a few Mining bees were attracted to the Colt's-foot that was in flower but most of the bumblebees I encountered today went whizzing past. The above Bombus lucorum did stop briefly to inspect a shaded area but my movement soon disturbed her and she was off. Not long after this I did find my first Red Admiral of the year sunning itself on a forestry track. There'll be talk of Wheatear before long.......
Red Admiral

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