All great at Feckenham

Now that we are in full flush of summer the reserve is looking fantastic.

Our six young Galloways are now on site and munching their way through the southern end. They have plenty to go at and when they've had their fill there we'll move them on to another meadow. It doesn't look likely that we'll get a mow this year but that's not a problem. If we can get more cattle we can selectively graze and this will actually be better than having tractors on site - in previous years they've proved too damaging. These Galloway youngsters are lightweights and so hopefully won't poach the ground as much as the heavyweight Herefords and Long Horns we've had before.

There are masses of butterflies and in particular we've seen significantly bigger numbers of ringlet, meadow brown and currently small whites which are in 'plague' proportions. Small skipper are also in good numbers but to date no large or Essex skipper. Yesterday I photographed this pair of green veined white. The female was hardly dry from her emergence before the male took advantage - nothing like getting in early!

Plenty of southern hawker and emperor dragonfly and literally hundreds of assorted damselfly. Not so many broad bodied chasers and few black tailed.

We have a breeding pair of dunnock and a young family of willow warbler near to the main hide. Our kingfisher is back making frequent visits before heading off towards the Bow Brook.

All in all everything is looking good!

Paul, Feckenham Wylde Moor