In July the birds go quiet and birdwatchers become butterfly watchers.  The Mounts are an old clay quarry, rubbish dump, school playing fields, and now a sort of unofficial park where people walk their dogs among the overgrown grass. The numerous thistle flowers usually bring in the butterflies at this time of year, and in the good weather they didn't disappoint - although there were far fewer speckled woods this year, we saw lots of painted ladies.  The latter we usually see one every couple of year; this time we saw them so often we could tell they must have bred.  And as well as the usual meadow browns, gatekeepers and commas, we saw a small copper which is apparently quite rare!

A walk (and boat trip) around Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire.  One of the oldest nature reserves - 1899! - and the fifth property bought by the National Trust.

Spent Father's Day taking Dad around Attenborough. Lots of young birds - Reed Warblers and Whitethroats, Tree Sparrows, Great Tits, Coot, Moorhen, Mute Swan and Mallard all got photographed.

There were also a large number of Banded Demoiselle dragonfly-type creatures around; enough that we saw a sparrow catch (and drop) one, one got caught and eaten by a spider, and we found just the wings of another on the path. Mating Ladybirds and a bunch of Peacock Butterfly caterpillars, and some strange cricket-type critters, were amongst the other insects we saw, not counting all the flies and midges.

Just a walk on a sunny day, and everywhere around were young birds...

Random bits of nature photography from various places (Chichester and London certainly, some of it inside the office and my house!)

Having tried digiscoping in my previous trip to the inlet, I thought I'd give it another shot - not great, but interesting to play around with.   I also took a few snaps of the flora of the area.

Pagham Harbour's just north of Selsey Bill, or about 7km from Chichester as the crow flies.

The first time I went there I walked the scenic route, walking down the canal and then deciding to just keep going until I got to the sea.  Needless to say, this time we went a more conventional way, on a bus!