Back from Switzerland

Just back from two and a bit weeks in Switzerland hence the lack of entries. I'm back now and had a little wander but it was only a short walk over the fell. Far too much unpacking, washing, lawn cutting etc etc for anything more at the moment.  I have done a separate Blog to show my little wanderings whilst I was away called A Waldridge Naturalist in Switzerland.

I'll  gradually put on my sightings of the birds, butterflies and flora I saw over the next couple of weeks.

Meanwhile back at Waldridge, I sneaked off for 45 minutes this afternoon and it's surprising how the flora has changed in a couple of weeks. The common umbellifers are now Upright Hedge Parsley and Wild Angelica and a walk through the South Burn Woods and around Brass Castle Pond  added another nine species.

Campanula rotundifolia (Harebell) 
Centaurium erythraea (Common Centaury)
Circaea lutetiana (Enchanter's-nightshade)
Eupatorium cannabinum (Hemp-agrimony)
Galium palustre (Common Marsh-bedstraw)
Lysimachia verticillaris (Whorled Loosestrife)
Mentha aquatica (Water Mint)
Rumex conglomeratus (Clustered Dock)
Senecio sylvaticus (Heath Groundsel)

False Fox Sedge

Water Mint

Harebell

Not surprising considering the time of year and time of day there was little in the way of bird life. A few butterflies were around, in the way of Meadow Brown and Small White and a single Peacock on Hemp-agrimony at Brass Castle Pond.  I spent ten minutes or so examining the heads of the umbellifers for hoverflies. Two new ones were present though one, the Marmalade Fly - Episyrphus balteatus, I had seen in the garden earlier today. The other was another common species, Syrphus ribesii.  Also present in very large numbers was the Soldier Beetle, Rhagonycha fulva.

Hoverfly Syrphus ribesii