Beddington Farm - Exploration time!

My attentions of late have turned to completing survey schedules but I have been visiting the Farm and doing some exploring in areas I don't usually traverse. There has not been much to report on the rarity front but I guess that anything that turns up now is going to be a mega! Therefore it would be futile to desert the place just yet!

During my rounds I have taken the opportunity to expand my patch photo list. A singing Skylark gave away its position on the mound one morning and the photo opportunity was duly taken!

A late snipe popped up on the South Lake the other day. The design of this lake was completed and looks far more appealing to the eye than the North Lake.

I spent yesterday morning checking the nest boxes on the Farm with Derek Coleman and we happened upon these Great Tit that are not far short of fledging!

There is a good spread of wild flowers in the fields and on the slopes of the mound. The ploughed area also looks very inviting to tired birds. A Whimbrel spent a couple of days feeding in this area. With the additional fauna and considerable rises in the daily temperature s it was not long before the butterflies put in an appearance.

A walk through the Bedzed field and area adjacent to the old site of the railway bridge produces Small Tortouiseshell Common Blue and Peacock butterflies. I have signed up to the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme and will be collecting data on my BBS square at Oaks Park.

A Bee took the opportunity to photo bomb a picture this time. I am beginning to get quite a collection of these pictures. At the time of taking the shot I am oblivious to the goings on in the background!

At the end of this week I will be at New Barn Farm West Sussex for the BTO Nest Recording Scheme. I am looking forward to this course which will be another piece of my ornithological jigsaw puzzle!