Friday June 23

I've been sitting on a secret since the beginning of June, although it sounds like only I was keeping it, since the news seems to have been widely known for some time.

Anyway, at least one pair of Little Egrets has been attempting to breed on the island in the middle of Arrow Valley Lake. I was waiting for an outcome before mentioning it on this blog. Sadly it appears that the breeding attempt has been unsuccessful, and today I saw no Little Egrets at all.

Scroll back to June 2. A single Little Egret was incubating eggs on a small nest in the heronry.

A week later, it was still present but spent most of its time standing on the nest, and only a short period incubating.

Another week past, and on my next visit the nest was unattended, although four adult Little Egrets were present on the island. One of these may have been standing on a different nest, one that was hard to see although it may have been an old Grey Heron's nest.

I might be wrong, but I think this was the first breeding attempt in Worcestershire.

Sadly today it looks as though the attempt has been abandoned. I was left to look at the usual cast of characters, with at least three Common Terns still present. I'm sure they would breed if the council was to supply and maintain a couple of rafts.

Common Tern

The weather was rather cloudy, but warm enough for butterflies to be on the wing. I just didn't see any. Instead, a Six-spot Burnet moth was feeding in the strip of wildflower meadow by the cafe.

Six-spot Burnet

Unfortunately, when it finally settled I couldn't get a clear view of it. Just enough to count the spots though.