I am also still furloughed. I called work recently, expecting to return, and was told that everyone is being re-furloughed. I presume that as long as the company is not having to pay for us it will continue. Supposedly we will receive letters eventually though since I am working for a company that has as a synonym a phrase involving a brewery I'm not expecting much.
Since my last blog update things have continued largely as they have done. I have been a bit more adventurous with some of my walks. Fairlands Valley which has been my default short stroll has on occasion got a bit longer in that I have been down to the end of Monks Wood and returned via Shackledell Grasslands, which has been very good for butterflies. In the June heatwave huge numbers of Meadow Browns and Marbled Whites have appeared, along with a selection of Skippers. Unfortunately the Blues have been very scarce.
I also had a very long hike down to Hooks Cross and Frogmore Pit. I used to do this occasionally up until the mid 90's but not since. Again it was a butterfly bonanza with vast numbers of browns and whites, and Small Tortoiseshells in particular. The return up along the very dry river Beane ended at Aston Ford and my last sighting of the Dark Green Fritillary, which had been present for around 9 days in total.
The Thursday before last I paid a visit to Sarah and Ed. This was the hottest day of the year of course. The primary reason was the usual plant exchange, but she took me round one of her shorter walks. Masses of butterflies of course in the field edges, and a couple of orchids-a very poor Common Spotted and a rather nice lone Pyramidal. However the Common Spotted in one of her garden pots was much more impressive.
Apart from a couple of visits to her, and one to Letchworth to have a minor service recall for the car, I haven't been out of Stevenage for birding/wildlife purposes. This changed last weekend.
I have visited the Bladock-Wallington road for Quail a couple of times. This seems to be one of the more favoured spots in the country these days with birds appearing most summers from June onwards. There are at least two birds present, but pinning them down is as usual almost impossible. There are also large numbers of Skylarks and Corn Buntings. On my second visit I also called in at Wallington church where I managed to locate three Spotted Flycatchers. Long gone are the days when I could expect to see several birds on any stroll around Stevenage.
Today I was a bit more adventurous and paid a visit to Amwell. Not the best time of year, with moulting ducks and very quiet post breeding woodland birds. Also as I discovered, with lockdown etc large areas are a bit overgrown, in particular the dragonfly trail. It was rather overcast, warm and humid, so there were a lot of Swifts feeding, along with a few Sand Martins. I added a few other species to my paltry year list including Common Sandpiper and a pair of Little Ring Plovers. The regular Oystercatcher was also around for a bit. Highlight I suppose was the pair of Ravens with their two offspring.
As expected with the conditions, insects were in short supply, and there were only a few blue damselflies seen, plus a few Ringlets that were flying up from the rank grass as I walked past. The orchid pen was very overgrown though one of the Southern Marsh spikes could just be seen.
Given warmer conditions I hope to be able to get out to Broxbourne Woods or maybe Hertford Heath in the next couple of weeks. I'm not expecting to do any long distance twitching for a while yet, but I do hope to get to some of our more regular summer sites eventually.
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