Wildlife along the Old Railway Cutting

Andy M took one of his (now regular) early morning walks along the Old Railway Cutting on Saturday, and took a few photos of the wildlife he saw along the way.  Of the birds, only a Magpie and Jay caught his eye, although there were Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Song Thrush singing in the hedgerows, as well as both Common and Lesser Whitethroat.

Early morning sun and shade at the entrance to the cutting

 An ever watchful Magpie, surveying the landscape from on-high

 and a shy Jay, beating a hasty retreat

Being early in the day, Andy startled a male Muntjac out in the sun, which rapidly headed for cover before bellowing its annoyance at being disturbed!

Muntjac

As the morning warmed up, a few more insects started to appear. Of the butterflies, one or two Small White, Holly Blue and Red Admiral were around, and a number of small bees - both Hairy-footed Flower Bee and White-tailed Bumblebee - were busy collecting nectar and pollen from the Cowslip flowers.

 Holly Blue

Red Admiral

 Red Admiral

 Hairy-footed Flower Bee

Hairy-footed Flower Bee 

 Hairy-footed Flower Bee - with large sacs of yellow pollen

White-tailed Bumblebee - which had seemingly already been busy visiting flowers with very orange pollen!

There were a good number of flowers out, including a few of the first Elderflower, Dog Rose, Wild Strawberry and Bugle starting to show.

 Hawthorn (or May) in full splendor

 Wild Strawberry

Bugle 

 Bugle - with a more unusual pink variant

 Germander Speedwell

 Rough Hawkbit

 Elderflower

 Dog Rose

 Daisy

 White Dead-nettle

 Cowslip 

 Cow Parsley 

 Red Campion

Common Yellow Rocket

Dandelion 'clock' seedhead

Cowslips along the path