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23C Thursday 4th July 2019 ~
A short early morning visit to Harbury Spoilbank, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, just a 10-minute drive from my moorings. The history of this nature reserve dates back to the construction of the Leamington to Oxford railway in the 1840s. The resulting spoil banks of lias clay now host a grassland rich with wildflowers.
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| Dark-green Fritillary ~ Harbury |
Despite the road closure on the B4452 for resurfacing, I was able to get down as far as the reserve entrance, approaching from the Southam end.
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| Another Dark-green Fritillary at Harbury |
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| Small Skipper ~ Harbury |
Within minutes of arriving, I was into three
Dark-green Fritillary, which despite being mostly on the wing, did offer the odd photographic opportunity. In fact by the time I'd finished the visit a very healthy count of twenty-one specimens were noted. Equally, there was an excellent count of
Marbled White and
Large & Small Skipper were also recorded.
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| Marbled White ~ Too numerous to count |
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| Six-spot Burnet Moth on Privet |
Varied numbers of
Meadow Brown and
Ringlet, plus (2)
Six-spot Burnet moths were added to the day list. Flora of note included plenty of
Common Spotted Orchids.
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| Silver-washed Fritillary at Brandon Wood |
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| A confiding Silver-washed Fritillary at Brandon Wood. |
After Harbury and a coffee at the Brandon Marsh Nature Centre, a short walk around Brandon Wood was a little quiet but at least in the shade! The highlights: A single
White Admiral,
Silver-washed Fritillary, (4)
Speckled Wood and my firs
t Brown Hawker dragonfly of the year!
