Staying local

August Bank Holiday weekend is usually the 'great escape' so a weekend to avoid travelling too far! We had a busy weekend so only a Saturday morning walk was possible, so back to Pitsford, which is definitely now our 'local patch', we're getting to know the place better and hopefully will learn more of the birds and the cycle of the seasons as we spend more time there.

First stop the car park, to watch some folk feeding the waiting birds, one gull caught my eye in the crowd of Black-headed Gulls, a Common Gull:

Of course they're not as common as the name suggests... you can see a Black-headed Gull on the left-hand side for comparison.

Pitsford was quite quiet, except for the flocks of tits, which seemed to be everywhere. The numbers of Terns present has decreased quite notably but we were chuffed to see this Arctic Tern stop-off for a feed:

Another bird present in good numbers was the Willow Warbler, this juvenile was inquisitive and as you can see quite brightly coloured (for a warbler):

Now I know I've said in the past I don't really do butterflies, it occurred to me there'd be no harm in trying to identify those we do see, so here's a few more, starting with a Meadow brown:

A Speckled wood:

A Common blue (which wouldn't open its wings):

A Brimstone:

and the last one of the day, a Small white: