I did miss much of the summer of 2011 due to work pressures, but I did get down when I could. In that time I have expanded my recording to all the wildlife of the area and, since this year, have been using the fantastic BTO BirdTrack app to pinpoint all my bird sightings and making my notebook almost redundant! I have finally managed to set up a Butterfly Transect and have been recording as often as I can, but this year's weather has made it difficult to do it every week.
Last year saw a surprise record of a white admiral in Reffley Wood. I thought it might be a new species for the area, but after contacting the County Recorder, I found that they were recorded for the first time last year!
There have been a few birds that have been added to the Gaywood Valley list, with water rail, marsh harrier, siskin, wood lark and short-eared owl being the pick of the bunch. The owls have been the surprise of last year and this with up to six birds using the area at the very end of 2011, and two being present every month of 2012 so far. I had been hoping they made it into the New Year when they first appeared last October, and I have been amazed every month to see that they are still here. I am now at the point of wondering will they make it to the year mark. Here's hoping!
I have been also recording damselflies and dragonflies this year and been uploading them to the BTO Birdtrack site too. I have managed to add common blue, azure, blue-tailed and large red damselflies to the list, as well as emperor dragonfly, four-spotted chaser, black-tailed skimmer, brown hawker and southern hawker. A surprise record was my first banded demoiselle for the patch last weekend.
Since discovering this area two years ago, the Gaywood Valley has continued to surprise me on almost every visit. There has been so much to discover and yet more to be discovered. And I still can't believe that I have such a place as this right on my doorstep!
short-eared owl
banded demoiselle
slow worm
white admiral
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