I've not had a chance to walk into work for over 10 days now, so a stroll out to Ditton Quarry at lunchtime was literaturely a breath of fresh air. The Queen Anne's Lace formed a fantastic white avenue along Kiln Barn Lane. Light, spitting rain turned into constant drizzle so no butterflies today, but the humid air was enough to keep the birds singing. 8x Whitethroat 'scratched' along, 1x male Blackcap flitted around, probably irrited by my infringement of his territory. A ChiffChaff and Garden Warbler were also heard in the dense scrub. However the 'rattle' of a Lesser Whitethroat made my day - heard in an area I rarely explore and my first record of this species at the quarry this year. Things improved even more as the bird showed briefly and managed to flush out a pair of Bullfinches, who 'phewed' alongside me as took the path back out of the quarry. Almost made up for the Glossy Ibis I missed at Pett Levels by 10 minutes on Saturday! By the pond a Fox cub was curled up in the long grass and failed to notice me as I crept past - obviously in deep, contented sleep.
A broken Song Thrush egg was evidence of yesterday's high winds.
Also noticeable was a large number of Ladybird larvae around on the stinging nettles, good year Ladybirds but not so good for the aphids hopefully.
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