Continuing heat Wednesday 18th July 2018
At four o'clock this morning it was raining and blowing so the ground had a little soak, but nowhere near enough to mitigate the effects of the on-going dry spell. After attending a meeting in the country park I ambled over to the burrows for a mooch about. As ever though there always seem to be something that rattles my cage and today was no exception with a pile of used dog poo bags left at the entrance of the reserve. WHY? Despite the dry spell and the dry and dusty conditions there was quite a variety of wildlife to be seen, with many butterflies on the wing, a nice selection of wildflowers and good numbers of birds. The Grayling stole the show on the butterfly front with many along the track to the hut, second or maybe third generation Small Blues along with Common Blue and Meadow Brown. A good showing of the Dark Bush-cricket, with several in the park office, was something I've not noticed before. Flowers included Purple Loosestrife growing in the "