Blackcap and Bugle

May 22nd
Rusland Valley
On warm spring days I cannot help but return to the Rusland Valley, in fact I just can’t resist this beautiful place any time of year. Today I walked along the Beech lined road and past the woodlands, then onto Hay Bridge nature reserve, a vast expanse of damp deciduous woodland and mosses.

The Beeches along the roadside and in the woods are still very light green, but will now start to darken and so will end the Bluebell carpet that thrives in the semi-shade and looks stunning right now. Wood Anemones are still flowering here and are a few Wood Sorrels, though these are hard to find now.

Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs and Chaffinches were calling in the woods, and Wood Warblers could be heard with their quite but lovely trill from the Oaks and Beeches. A Blackcap with his very loud song was singing from deep within the trees somewhere; these birds have a cunning way of throwing their voice and so making it hard to pinpoint their exact position.

Digger Wasps were abundant today, these wasps always seem to be abundant on the roadside vegetation and on the woodland edges, I don’t know much about these so will have to study them a little bit more this summer.

Ramsons and Garlic Mustard still flowers along the roadside, attracting the Orange tip butterflies, and once again the males never seemed to stop, so not any photos yet. I have never seen a butterfly so busy, the males seem so occupied in fending off rival males and looking for a female to mate with, and they just never seem to rest.

Out in the open, and getting hotter under the heat of the sun, I found Eyebright, a tiny and attractive plant that as its name suggests is used in the treatment of eye infections, and has also been used to treat colds and coughs.

A lone Buzzard was circling over the valley, I often see a family of these preditors here, but today I only saw the one, and this one was very high up too taking advantage of the warm thermals that rise from the woodland slopes.

The only Butterfly on the roadside was a Comma, very attractive and very unusual in that their wing shape always looks as though a child has cut them out with a pair of scissors.

House Martins have returned to nest in the old Tannery building, this is a small single story stone building that is ideal for these birds, and they were darting in and out and also taking mud for from the stream edge to build their nests with.

Hay Bridge nature reserve
Bugle was flowering in the field near the stone bridge, just one patch of these blue flowers in the long grass behind a wooden gate. Sedge Warblers were singing from the edge of the streams, low down in the Reeds and always hidden from view, but what a lovely sound this is.
Germander Speedwell, Tormentil, Cuckooflower and Marsh Marigold were abundant in the boggy grassland, and a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly was flitting about from plant to plant.

Willow Warblers were singing from the Willows and from the Reeds, and a Blackcap reeled off his song from deeper in the wooded area. Not much more bird activity apart from the odd Curlew flying up and calling from above, and a Cuckoo calling from a farm in the distance.

I saw my first ever Raft Spider here though, these are a large spider that sits at the edges of ponds with its front legs dangling in the water, they dart out and catch passing Tadpoles and small fish, and probably water beetles and anything else that passes by.

So far this has been the hottest day of the year, it was perfect and in a place like this with a picnic, one could not wish for a better day out.