Tuesday 1st, Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th August

Tuesday 1st August 2017:
I started today's visit at the Wilden Top car park and on walking the footpath along the eastern edge of the Common I picked up on 13 Greenfinch (4 adult & 9 juveniles) feeding in the adjacent paddock, a  good sign that they have successfully bred locally.  Also present in the paddock were 3 Pied Wagtails (1 adult ♂ and 2 juveniles).

It was quite a dull overcast day and not particularly productive on the invert front although I did record a single Red Admiral.  What was interesting however was to see and photograph a Kite-tailed Robberfly perched with it's hoverfly prey.   The species gets it's name from the projecting tab on the last segment which bears a tuft of black hairs.  This tab is normally forked and resembles a kite's tail. 

Kite-tailed Robberfly (Machimus atricapillus)

Saturday 5th August 2017:
Today I undertook another walk around the Lower Heath side of the Common.  I arrived at the site early afternoon as the skies had started to clear following the morning's showers.  In one area of nettles I walked through I flushed 3 Mother of Pearl moths.  Interestingly, nettle is the food plant of the larvae of Mother of Pearl.  I also observed a single Common Carpet moth.  Butterflies noted during this visit included 1♂ Common Blue, 2 Small Copper and 2 Small Heath.

Mother of Pearl (Pleuroptya ruralis)

Common Carpet (Epirrhoe alternata)

As the summer draws on there is more fungi appearing on the Common with 3 Parasol Mushroom and a Mosaic Puffball noted during today's visit.

Parasol Mushroom (Macrolepiota procera)

Mosaic Puffball (Handkea utriformis)

On the bird front it was nice to hear (and then see) a flyover Yellow Wagtail that was heading ENE.

Sunday 6th August 2017:
I only had time for a brief visit to the Lower Heath section of the Common today but was rewarded with another species of  robberfly for my site year list in the shape of a Brown Heath Robberfly.  This is now the third species of robberfly that I've recorded at the site alongside Fan-bristled and Kite-tailed robberflies.

♀ Brown Heath Robberfly (Machimus cingulatus)