The First Frost

We woke up on Monday morning to the first frost of the Winter. It didn't turn out to be a hard frost and as the temperature rapidly rose it soon faded away. It seems hard to believe that this time last year there was snow on the ground and the country was in the grip of the big freeze that would last until the end of the year. In complete contrast, with Westerlies dominating, the weather this Autumn has been mild, wet and windy.

Frozen reeds (Western Turville Reservoir)

There'll be Bluebirds over...

A few days ago I found a copy of Local Life, a free magazine of 'news and views', nestling on top of the day's consignment of junkmail that had been violently forced through my letterbox. Packed with gardening tips, church news and adverts for mobile hairdressers, school fetes (a fete worse than death) and Dog-walking services, the arrival of this exciting magazine is always highly anticipated in our household! As I trod the well worn path to the recycling bin I glanced at the front cover and it stopped me in my tracks. An attractive seasonal scene featured couple of Bluebirds at a bird table feasting on Mealworms, a photograph obviously taken in America. A quick glance at Sibley's Birds of North America confirmed, as I had suspected, that they were female Eastern Bluebirds. Obviously the twit who had chosen the photo had seen the reddish breasts and had thought that they were Robins! Unless of course there are a couple of Bluebirds lurking in a garden in the Tring area! Now that really would be something.....

Late Butterflies and Dragonflies

The butterfly and dragonfly season just seems to go and on. On Sunday morning with the weather unseasonably warm, and we decided to take a long walk in the Chilterns, the plan being to end up at one of our favourite pubs. It felt more like a spring day and I was not surprised to see a few Red Admirals, a couple of Peacocks and a Brimstone out enjoying the mellow sun. Red Admirals are immigrants from Southern Europe and North Africa but there is now evidence that they are successfully overwintering in Britain. I recently saw a photograph of a Red Admiral resting on a snowdrop, taken in January! I was much more surprised to see a male Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum out and about. The flight period for this familiar little dragonfly is from late June to late October, making this a very late individual. Only a few days ago I came across a Migrant Hawker patrolling a pond in a garden I was working in - another late dragonfly. 

A Red Admiral was out in the late afternoon sun today, probably my latest ever butterfly record and possibly not my last sighting of the year as there are few more mild days to come. It certainly makes the Winter seem shorter!

Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum - male

Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum - female