The first day in a four-day weekend as I struggle to use up holiday before the end of the month and an fairly early start as I had arranged to pick up my mate John en route at 9.00am. We drove east and made straight for the RSPB reserve at Winterbourne Downs just to the south-east of Amesbury, and as we left the A303 and took to the minor roads that led to the reserve saw at least half a dozen Corn Buntings along the way, perched on various posts and bushing, most in full song, and one or two allowing us to park alongside them.
Once we reached the reserve we decided to take the long walk and saw a few things of note along the way, the pick being a Stone Curlew which John managed to pick out somehow in a field! We also saw three Red-legged Partridge and several Skylarks and Yellowhammers were singing. Both Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat were present near the car park, three pairs of Bullfinches were seen and a flock of twenty-two Lapwings flew over.
But whilst we saw some good birds it was really the butterflies that stole the show and we managed to see fifteen different species, including my first Gatekeepers of the year. Other butterflies of note included a couple of Small Coppers, several Large Whites, and at least one Brimstone. We got back to the car just after midday and drove off to our next site.
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