3rd July 2011 - Dartford Warblers, Stonechats, Redpolls.

We took a gentle walk this evening, as the sun was setting, and the air was decidedly freshening after a long hot muggy day.

No sign of the deer, but a few rabbits and the tail of a retreating dog fox were the total mammals seen.

Plenty of stonechats were hopping from bush to bush- many family groups still flitting around together.

I'm not entirely sure why, as the image is not of high quality, but this appealed to me at the time, and still doesn't completely offend.

A group of Dartford Warblers was about also, I think a single adult male with a pair of juveniles, but while keeping a distance in the fading light it was hard to categorically decide.

A first for the area, and one we have previously only seen in Ham Wall (Somerset) was this Redpoll, with his partner.

Nice to see, and made a change!


Concerningly we have heard about another fire, it would appear that on Saturday a (luckily much smaller than Upton Heath) area was deliberately burnt.  My feelings are likely to be guessed- I will be trying to find the area affected to see the extent of damage for myself.