Leader: Tom Rogers
Ten of us met our leader, Tom, at the entrance to the new “rewilding” site at Honeygar Farm on the Somerset Levels. Jamie Kingscott, the only paid staff member at this newly formed wild space, was our guide on a warm, sunny day. He gave us a talk as we walked around the grounds. Part of the old dairy farm had been given over to the rewilding scheme, and we took notes on the creatures we saw as we followed him through the fields and wooded areas on a circular walk back to the farm buildings.
Birding at this time of year is always a bit difficult, as adult birds are either feeding young or moulting, so identifying species is mainly done through listening rather than seeing. We saw Kestrel, Whitethroat,and Blackcap family groups, and heard Chaffinch, Goldfinch, and Pied Wagtail calling. A family of Ravens croaked overhead, and Swifts were joined by Swallows and House Martins as they pursued flying insects around and over the fields and barns.
Butterflies were well represented, with the entire group getting superb views of Clouded Yellows, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, and Red Admirals. Alvan saw a Brown Argus, and ones and twos of another fourteen species were spotted.
Wasp spider © Glen Maddison
Roesel’s bush-cricket © Glen Maddison
Five stunning Yellow, White-, and Black-Striped Wasp Spiders were noted in close proximity to a patch of thistles. At least two were seen feeding on hapless Meadow Brown butterflies!
We saw a variety of grasshoppers and crickets, including both Roesel’s and Long-winged Coneheads. As we neared the waterway that marked the boundary between the dairy farm and the wild area, species of Odonata became increasingly visible, including Emperor and Black-tailed Skimmer dragonflies alongside Common and Ruddy Darters.
Tufted hairgrass or Tussock grass Deschampsia cespitosa at Honeygar Farm © Alvan White
Amphibious bistort AKA Water Smart Weed Persicaria amphibia (syn. Polygonum amphibium) at Honeygar Farm © Alvan White
We had lunch in the car park at the Avalon Marshes Centre, then finished the day with an hour-and-a-half walk around part of Shapwick Heath. There, we found a Slow Worm under some corrugated tin and Red-eyed Damselflies on lily pads in the dyke.
Marsh woundwort Stachys palustris at Shapwick Heath © Alvan White
Narrow-leaved everlasting-pea Lathyrus sylvestris at Shapwick Heath NNR near canal
Alvan identified the white flowers of Frogbit adorning the surface of the water. In front of his vehicle in the car park he saw a small tortoiseshell he described as looking like an orange, frazzled leaf.
It was a good, though very warm, day out, with a credible thirty species of birds seen or heard and eighteen species of butterfly logged.
Glen Maddison
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