Wildlife survey at Hemblington Church

This morning - a bright, somewhat breezy day - I joined Sue & Peter for the regular survey of the churchyard. The bird list was predictably sparse, with just a few gulls, pigeons, Blue Tits and so on. The insects, however, were a different kettle of fish!

We've never found Brown Argus in the churchyard before: today, in one hour, we counted over fifty! Even more abundant were Gatekeepers - they were everywhere! Higher numbers of other butterflies were encountered: these included both expected Whites, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral and Peacock.

It was the same story for odonata: Brown, Southern and Migrant Hawkers patrolled the hedges, while a few Common Darters were sunbathing in the long grass. Lots of Honey Bees, as well as what I think is a Flower Bee of some sort and a large Hoverfly