I have noticed chiffchaffs singing in 6/8 time rather than the more usual 2/4.
This morning I arrived at work (
) early. In between the song thrushes I heard a chiffchaff singing in 3/4 time, at a somewhat slower tempo than a Viennese waltz. The song was phrased, but while I was listening to the phrase structure I was distracted by a swallow hawking for the plentiful insects just above the long grass. The aircraft coming in to land at Elmdon may have contributed to my loss of focus, though it's evident that the wildlife has adapted.
At lunch our leader found time between/through his hay-fever debilities to mention a spotted orchid he'd seen last week. To cut a long story short, there were 2, about a couple of metres apart. One was heath spotted (had been provisionally identified, but not recorded on the site for about 3 years & a Warwickshire rarity). The other was a comon spotted orchid; I don't know if any had been previously recorded there. Later after noon, we found 2 substantial clusters of the heath spotted species, which looked like a sustainable population.
At the end of our day, as I stripped off sweat-soaked layers before riding home, I was attacked by a horde of voracious horseflies, not normal on that reserve, but... we've had a mild, wet winter.
