Comma

I have yet to see my first summer visitor of the spring but an increasingly sunny and warm afternoon produced my first butterfly of the year in the form of a Comma. I was having a late lunch and saw it dart across the garden out of the corner of my eye and settle on the Box hedge. I didn't have a camera to hand and by the time I got one it had gone. Luckily it returned a minute or so later and sunned itself on the Box hedge and the lawn before departing once more. Interestingly it returned a second time and sunned itself in the same spots before heading off again.

Comma 14/03/2017

Comma 14/03/2017

On the bird front I had put a net up in the garden this morning and caught 10 new birds in just over half an hour - 8 Siskins, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Goldcrest and just 1 retrap, a Siskin. There is a steady turnover of Siskins at the moment so I try and get a net up 2 or 3 times a week, if conditions allow, but I keep the ringing sessions short. The garden is a bit of a sun trap, as the Comma showed, so I only put a net up if it is overcast and there is little or no wind and it had been like that earlier. This little and often approach can be more productive than longer and less frequent ringing sessions in my small garden.

The forecast is looking good for the morning so I may go up to the site at Billinge to see if I can connect with a Chiffchaff or a Wheatear or better still, both.