Tuesday 22nd. May 2012

Although better was promised , I arrived at Sevenoaks Reserve with grey skies and a very cool wind blowing . Plenty of birdsong on the way to the Public Hide , but just Shellduck , Greylag families feeding on the bank , and very distant sightings of two Little Ringed Plovers was a s good as it got . Moving on a calling Goldcrest , but no sign of any Great Crested Grebes at either of their nest sites on that side . The first of several Garden Warblers heard whilst on site , just before Tower Hide , which produced Moorhens and Canada Geese . No sentry at Slingsby Hide , but several Reed Warblers calling from the reedbeds . I settled down to see if I could photograph one of them , whilst

also watching the gully used by the Water Rail . No luck with the latter , but this probable female Reed Warbler obliged , collecting nesting material from last year's heads . I had lots of sightings , but very few clear ones , and with that wind , it wasn't easy , and I was getting cold . A Wren landed on

the Elder tree just outside the hide and posed for a shot , before dashing off again . A little later , movement over by the small hide turned out to be a female Blackcap , seemingly collecting food ,

hopefully for a successful brood . Needing to get out into the now sunshine , I got one more

opportunity with the Reed Warblers . Another unseen Garden Warbler as I left the hide , and plenty

of male Blackcaps , still in good voice around the site . On the way back , I could hear the constant calls of young Woodpeckers , but when I found the nesthole , I couldn't get near it , mainly because it

was pointing towards the water , but got a couple of shots of the adult bringing in food . I hadn't noticed them as I passed first time , but on my return , a family of Egyptian Geese were on one of the

outer island , and it looked as if they had a good brood . They lay between 5 and 8 eggs , and it looked as if this pair had towards the upper number of youngsters , all under the female on the right .

On the way down to Carter Hide , I found a juvenile Long-tailed Tit , no sign of the rest of the family . The lack of GCG breeding continued on this side of the reserve too , the site where I

photographed the pair mating , is now occupied by Coots . I spent some time trying to find and photograph my umpteenth Garden Warbler , without success , by whilst waiting had a Sparrowhawk

flap and glide over high up . As I crossed the bridge over the Darenth near Willow Hide , I was watching a male and female Banded Demoiselle , when I noticed a very large Pike , bigger than the

one the Cormorant tried to swallow , lying alongside the tree roots in shallow water . Apart from the thousands of biting mosquito type insects around , there were also large number of Alder Flies /

Sialis lutaria , lifting off for their maiden flights . Odonata seemed to be enjoying the better weather ,

and Common Blue , Azure - pictured devouring one of the biting insects , Blue-tailed and Large Red

Damselflies were all found in adult , but mainly immature forms . Best find of the visit though was a red beetle that said Cardinal Beetle , but not quite . I couldn't work it out whilst on site , but when I

got the book out at home , I could see it had the wrong coloured head . The Cardinal Beetle / Pyrochroa coccinea has a black head , and this one's head was red . It turns out that it is , believe it on not , the Red-headed Cardinal Beetle / P. serraticornis , the first time I have come across this species .
I spent the afternoon up on the Downs looking for reptiles and recording butterflies . Dealing with the reptiles first , all I could muster were 5 Slow Worms , not a sign of anything else . Butterfly species did much better with 12 recorded . But , the numbers of butterflies are still woefully low , as

can be seen here . Small Tortoiseshell ( 1 ) - pictured  , Dingy Skipper ( 24 ) , Small Heath ( 7 ) , Grizzled Skipper ( 6 ) , Orange Tip ( 3 ) , Green Hairstreak ( 3 ) , Brimstone ( 8 ) - including a male ,

on left , trying to mate , unsuccessfully , with female , Holly Blue ( 4 ) , Small White ( 4 ) , Large

White ( 2 ) and my first Common Blues of the year ( 4 ) . And finally , the Early ? Purple Orchids on

site are much fewer in number this year , just 13 plants , but , due to the weather , are still showing well .