Lullingstone

A cold and grey morning's walk at Lullingstone this week certainly added to my "heard" list rather than species seen!   There weren't even any butterflies or many flowers to enjoy with such a delayed early summer.

English Bluebells

Crosswort was good to see, along with the twisted bark on the trunk of Sweet Chestnut trees.  Another delight was watching Swifts mating on the wing - I had only seen this a few times before this year, but I have obviously been luckier (or more observant!) this year with a least a dozen sightings over the last week.

Sweet Chestnut flower

House Martin and Swallow were feeding over the fields and lake near Lullingstone Castle, and although we heard several Whitethroat this morning, Blackcap were surprisingly quiet, although as I walked ahead of the group at one stage I found a singing male perched on some dead wood.   Willow Warbler serenaded part of our woodland walk, but it appeared to be only one bird.

Rough Hawksbeard (Crepis biennis) was of particular interest to Malcolm as it is home to a gall later in the year.

Crosswort

In the afternoon, we moved off to Horton Kirby to recce our walk the next day with the local Rainbows group, we did find a Chiffchaff nest, and had a Sparrowhawk circling overhead.