WFV, Rodley Nature Reserve, 25th August 2015

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Fri, 28th Aug 2015, 12:17pm

The LagoonThe Lagoon

At last a nice day in August; although a bit breezy, we had plenty of sunshine throughout the day for another of our visits to this local reserve.  It is only open to the public on Wednesdays and weekends but they make an exception for our group for which we are very grateful.

Only 5 travelled on the mini-bus including our driver Julia. Several cancellations had reduced our number, this included Joan, one of our key botanists, who had sustained a gardening injury. Many members had however made their way there by their own steam plus Julia's mum and dad who were visiting from their home in London.  Our leader for the day was Graham who had arranged to take us around parts of the reserve not normally open to the public; The Willow Path & The Fish Pass.

A total of 31 birds were recorded including Kingfisher, Sparrowhawk, Red Kite and Reed Bunting. Dragonflies seen were Brown/Southern and Migrant Hawkers, Common Darters, Blue-tailed and Common Blue Damselfys.Brown HawkerBrown Hawker The hawkers and darters were all seen on the very first pond as you enter through the gate to the dragonfly pools. Brown H, Southern H & the darters were all seen oviposting.

Butterflies seen: Green-veined and Small Whites, Speckled Wood, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper and Common Blue. Overall numbers were low due to the cool breezy conditions, only warm when the sun came out.  Only 2 moths spotted; Udea lutealis and Agriphila tristella.

The ponds are a delight for botanists with an array of aquatic plants; White and Fringed Water Lilies, Flowering Rush, Water Plantain, Purple Loosestrife, Bogbean, Water Mint plus many others.ChicoryChicory On the wildflower bank; Crown Vetch, Viper's Bugloss, Marjoram and trefoils and this is where most of the butterflies were to be found.

Lunch was taken in a variety of places but for those of us who chose to frequent the Visitor Centre thanks go to June and Marilyn for making the drinks.

During our walk around the Willow Path Graham pointed out an amazing honeycomb. I had certainly never seen anything like it. By the time we exitted the path Graham realised that he had lost most of his flock and had to go back to round them up.  He had clearly failed his 'Shepherding exam'!  After lunch we were shown the Fish Pass and we then walked from there behind the lagoon and Sand Martin Wall and came out by the Lagoon Hide, where earlier in the year I had been fortunate to see a Cettis Warbler.

A most enjoyable visit.

John Gavaghan 

 

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