Breeding Bird Survey and Narroways!

This morning I got up at the crack of dawn to do my second Breeding Bird Survey visit to the local square in Montpelier, St Pauls and St Andrews. Highlight was a Song Thrush singing in Montpelier Park - I think this is the first one in Monty since 2012!

The counts in full:

Lesser Black-backed Gull 3
Herring Gull 3
Feral Pigeon 29
Woodpigeon 18
Collared Dove 7
Swift 1
Magpie 9
Jay 1
Carrion Crow 8
Raven 2
Goldcrest 1
Blue Tit 2
Great Tit 3
Coal Tit 1
Blackcap 1
Wren 9
Starling 5
Blackbird 7
Song Thrush 1
Robin 3
Dunnock 1
House Sparrow 18
Goldfinch 5

Between transects I watched a Mistle Thrush feeding in St Andrews Park.

Later went on a nice guided botanical walk around Narroways where the highlights were flowering Grass Vetchling, Mouse-eared Hawkweed, Lady's Bedstraw, Beaked Hawksbeard and Greater Bird's-foot Trefoil. Other wildlife we encountered were Swifts, a singing Chiffchaff, a Common Lizard under a refugia and a Speckled Wood butterfly. New to me were caterpillars of the moth Depressaria daucella found on one of their foodplants Corky-fruited Water-dropwort. We also saw a Garden Chafer, my first for Narroways.

Depressaria daucella caterpillar

Back in Montpelier there were a few interesting items along Fairlawn Road including a Nursery-web Spider, several Dark Bush Crickets, Thick-thighed Flower Beetles and lots of Harlequin Ladybirds. Bumblebees were dominated by just two species - Tree Bumblebee and Early Bumblebee.

Dark Bush-cricket

Thick-thighed Flower Beetle

Nursery-web Spider

A Blackbird was in the garden carrying food - I have assumed a nest is nearby as birds go crazy when a cat gets too close.

Blackbird