Plant life

Lydd - warm, dry and sunny, se 3 - This weekend we`ve been searching for orchids along the old railway line track where in past years double figures of Pyramidal Orchids and several Bee`s are normally found, but not so this year with just one of the former located, and a stunted specimen at that. I think the problem is the drought; the ground is bone hard and most of the grasses and flowering plants that have survived are in poor condition too and burnt to a crisp. The grassland butterflies have suffered likewise with hardly any noted along the transect.

                                 Pyramidal Orchid

                                White Mullein

 

                               Coot with young

  Typically, as we approach the summer solstice bird song is already much subdued and some of the adults are looking worse for wear as finding food for hungry broods takes its toll; one of the male Whitethroats out back has lost his tail entirely and unable to balance atop the gorse to deliver his jaunty cadence. Whether he will be able to make it back to the Sahel in such condition is unlikely.
  The Oystercatcher pair nesting on the steep-sided scaffold island are still attending to at least one well-grown juvenile. Their habit of feeding the young directly is unusual in waders, but it does mean that they can nest in all sorts of strange locations such as roof tops and the like, which in turn lessens the chance of ground predation. Once food is delivered the adult bird then flies over onto the shingle ridges for a breather, before heading out onto the bay to feed.

  A flyover Little Egret was the first for some time, as were several small parties of Sandwich Terns and Mediterranean Gulls high over the cottage calling. I eventually caught up with one of the local Red-footed Falcons this afternoon, an immature male found by SM.
  The moth trap was again disappointing with only Buff-tip and Lackey new for year.

                                Buff-tip and Lackey