Up on the Tracks

With the weather finally starting to brighten up and the winds abating yesterday I decided to head up onto the old train tracks behind my house to see what butterflies were present. The habitat is good for Wall Brown, a species I have yet to see and which has colonies around the Wyre at Stannah and Fleetwood less than a mile away so I was hopeful about finding some. Unfortunately the cloud decided that that it would be a good time to come out so the butterflies weren't flying around as much and therefore harder to see. I found at least 8 Gatekeepers between my house and Thornton, which is a new species for me on the tracks, and I also added Green Veined White to this list. There were several pristine Red Admirals flying around which ties in with a large influx I have been seeing at other sites this past week, and a single Speckled Wood in my garden was a surprise as it isn't a common species here. I also managed to add Migrant Hawker to my garden list as it flew around the brambles.

On the bird front a male Lesser Whitethroat in the hawthorn bushes was the first I have seen this year from my house and I assume is a migrant moving back south which is being noted in species such as Willow Warblers all over the county. I also found a family of 2 adult and 4 juvenile Common Whitethroats which confirmed what I had suspected that they have been breeding nearby.