DAVID'S NATURE BLOG

9 MAY 2026 – THORLEY QUARRY and SOUTHERN COUNTRY PARK (SCP)

A reasonably early start was necessary to try and catch the ‘early bird’ so to speak - so I was out of the house by 0720 hrs. To save time I took a bus and disembarked at the stop after the one for the Coach and Horses pub, then took the designated footpath across farm fields to Thorley Quarry.

As soon as I reached the farm fields, I saw a Painted Lady butterfly (my first of the year) though it gave me the run-around for a bit before it settled and I was able to take just the one photograph before it flew away and was never seen again. It was rather faded specimen, suggestive of its long journey from Africa. A couple of Green-veined Whites and Small Whites were also seen but no other species of butterfly, although to be fair it was still relatively early in the day, despite bright sunshine.

It was interesting crossing the field because there was a huge variety of wild flowers amongst the dregs of crops from when the field was last in production a couple of years back; plants like Centaury; Red Campion; Poppies; daisies, and many others, and on my way to the quarry I took time to photograph them for identification later.

Over the brow of the hill as I approached the lake, I had hoped to see species of wading birds, but in fact the lake appeared deserted of birds, but a rudimentary scan in my binoculars revealed one Little Ringed Plover (LRP) and a Great Crested Grebe (which had been reported earlier in the week and is the first one I’ve seen at this location). Then grebe was over by the far bank and was almost invisible; a couple of Black-headed Gulls were seen there too, and a Lesser Black-backed Gull came down as I watched. But there were no Martins (Sand or House) and no Swallows or Swifts, nor was there any sign of any other waders like the Greenshank, Common Sandpiper or Green Sandpiper of recent weeks.

As I walked around the far bank the grebe moved accordingly and always remained a long way off, but as I continued I heard a wader calling, in time to see it fly across the surface of the lake to the opposite side, but I knew from it’s flight pattern and call that it was a Little Ringed Plover, and another was seen about fifty metres or so away below me, and that too joined the other on the opposite bank. So at least there was still a pair of LRP’s present, so a possibility that they might be breeding.

At that point, there seemed no point in staying around in the vain hope that something else might drop in, so I made may way up the track on the way to St. James’ Church and Southern Country Park, and in the process heard the call of a Yellowhammer somewhere along a hedge, without actually seeing the bird. It was the first Yellowhammer I’d recorded in the vicinity of the Quarry, and the first I’d seen since a wintering flock in January, by the commercial buildings behind the Church.

Since the morning was warming up nicely, I had hoped that I might see more butterfly activity once I arrived at SCP at around 0945 hrs, but I was to be disappointed on that score. I passed by the flower meadow (ex the Maze) without seeing a single butterfly, then down through Middle Wood; the Wedge and round to the chalk bank and saw a couple of Green-veined Whites; a few Small Whites; a lovely male Brimstone on the ground!); a few Holly Blues, and possibly a Common Blue too but that was about it. So, I made my way to the lake to look for dragonflies and immediately saw an adult Common Tern taking fish to another Common Tern resting on the fence along the walkway at the northern end of the lake and made a hasty beeline there. I could see both birds on the fence at that point and knew that I was likely to get some decent photos (as I’d done in previous years); but as the birds had only very recently arrived, I thought I’d test out my 2x Converter and telephoto combination, which meant that I didn’t have to approach the birds so near. And this approach paid off with excellent results, although both birds were very confiding - well, amazingly so, in fact. There was no dragonfly activity along the walkway, and no sign of any Reed Warblers - just the scratching song of a lone Sedge Warbler.

There was a small family unit of Mallards next to the feeding station, so I tested the camera and converter combination on them too, with very pleasing results. I started to leave the park at that point, but immediately before I did so, I had a better view of a Common Blue butterfly, and a beautiful female Broad-bodied Chaser (my first of the year) that alighted very conveniently on a twig by the exit, and was able to get a few really good photos, in excellent bright, warm sunlight.

So, overall, a reasonably successful morning, with the highlight being the Common Terns and the Broad-bodied Chaser.