BUTTERFLIES mainly

DUKE OF BURGUNDY FRITILLARIES and PASQUE FLOWERS at Ivinghoe Hills NR (Francis Buckle)

SATURDAY 2 MAY 2009

A pleasant day with some very warm sunshine, fairly light winds and long, clear periods. I utilised the fine weather by eeking out some of our scarce butterflies and rarer breeding species.

STUDHAM AREA (BEDFORDSHIRE) (0700-0900)

The singing EURASIAN HOOPOE, present since at least Monday, failed to show up in any of its favoured locations - not in David or Rita's gardens in Oldhill Wood, not in Dedmansey Wood nor in the open area adjacent to the scout hut in the Activity Centre at Byslips. It last showed at 1100 hours yesterday afternoon in Rita's garden. David managed some photographs on his patio (see my Tringbirding blog)

IVINGHOE HILLS NR (BUCKS)

Very quiet birdwise with a rattling LESSER WHITETHROAT, 8 male COMMON WHITETHROATS and a 'new' singing male Yellowhammer. Butterflies took pride of place with 4 very fresh DUKE OF BURGUNDY FRITILLARIES showing very well in their favoured chalk cutting, along with 2 GREEN HAIRSTREAKS, 2 Brimstones and a Speckled Wood.

CHURCH END (SP 941 150)

The best news here was the locating of a 'new' colony of breeding HOUSE SPARROWS - 6 pairs in all - at Grace Cottage and at 16 Church Road. There were also 2 singing male Common Starlings in the road, 2 male Collared Doves, several nesting pairs of Dunnock, Common Blackbird and Robin and a singing male Willow Warbler.

The chalk downland here is excellent for butterflies with at least 16 DINGY SKIPPERS showing well, a GREEN HAIRSTREAK and a very early SMALL BLUE.

BISON HILL, WHIPSNADE

One very recently emerged DUKE OF BURGUNDY was showing well on the Milkweed, along with several GRIZZLED SKIPPERS, numerous Peacocks and a Green-veined White.

LOWER SALDEN DISUSED RAILWAY CUTTING (SP 819 312) (with Darin Stanley)

At this site just north of Mursley and in 20 degrees centigrade of sunshine, the cutting slopes yielded 4 freshly-emerged WOOD WHITE butterflies. There were also a good selection of Large and Small White, 6 Orange-Tip and several Peacocks.

The cutting also yielded a singing male LESSER WHITETHROAT, 2 singing GARDEN WARBLERS, 2 Common Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler, 2 Common Buzzards and a Song Thrush.

MURSLEY VILLAGE (SP 816 285)

An impressive 25 pairs of HOUSE SPARROW present in the village

WING-WHITCHURCH ROAD

A total of 6 singing male COMMON WHITETHROATS

CUBLINGTON (BUCKS) (SP 840 222)

A further 17 pairs of HOUSE SPARROWS located, along with a pair of STOCK DOVE nearby.

WOODHAM DISUSED RAILWAY CUTTING (SP 703 175)

More HOUSE SPARROWS in Woodham itself, with the cutting yielding 8 singing COMMON WHITETHROAT, a rattling male LESSER WHITETHROAT, 2 Common Chiffchaff and a singing male Yellowhammer. A pair of STOCK DOVES was collecting grit at the roadside

MID-BUCKS FARMLAND

One of our very few breeding pairs of EUROPEAN TURTLE DOVE was showing well, the male 'purring' incessantly from the wires. These represented my first of the year and as usual, I could hardly bear to leave them - they are such delightful birds - and a real harbinger of English summer.

A pair of Common Kestrels was feeding three small young in a nestbox.

GROVEBURY SANDPIT (BEDFORDSHIRE) (SP 923 232)

Thanks to Johnny Lynch, I was finally able to add two scarce passage waders to my 2009 Beds Year List - BAR-TAILED GODWIT and EURASIAN CURLEW. Up until 1500 hours when I departed, the BAR-WIT (in full winter attire and possibly a first-summer) was feeding along the eastern flank just south of the rusting barge and the CURLEW was roosting with Lapwings on the spit on the west side - both perfectly visible from the track by the A418 bridge at the north end (SP 924 234). There were also 2 Ringed Plover and 2 Common Terns present.