Chambers Farm Wood....

An all day effort at Chambers today with young Mr Royle,resulted in my attempt to get anywhere near a Grass Snake failing miserably,but we enjoyed cracking views of them all the same.These along with their venomous cousins are stunning reptiles and today we managed a total of 6 individuals all in the same small copse,cracking stuff!!.Other sightings of the reptilian and amphibian nature included my first Common Frog and Common Toad sightings of the year at the now overgrown Brickpit Pond,with a few individuals of each species now present.Birdwise it was fairly quiet,but i did manage nice views of my first Chiffchaff of the year,watched flycatching and singing his little head off in the spring sunshine along the edge of Ivy Wood,a sure sign of things to come.Also seen was a handfull of Siskin,4 Common Buzzard,a single Woodcock and 3 drumming Great spotted Woodies.On the insect front it was also pretty quiet,with me seeing my first White-tailed and Buff-tailed Bumblebee's of the year and a few Seven-spot Ladybirds and we managed to find two clusters of Vapourer Moth eggs,but no butterflies!.A nice wander around this great woodland.