Nuthatch nest activity on Church patch.

Just before i post about the Nuthatches, I would like to clear up any confusion I may have caused by my "choice of wording" in my previous post. What i meant was- It was the Purple Hairstreak that i had found in my garden. Both the Hummingbird hawk moth and the SWF, were found/spotted on my "Mereworth Patch".
Sorry for any confusion there guys, i blame my Australian education, for "my way" of wording things sometimes!!!.

So onto the Nuthatch nest site then. Back at the end of March this year, I posted/blogged about the Nuthatches that i noticed using a hole in the church wall for a stash of food/nuts/seeds. I photographed them coming and going from this hole in the wall, and with each visit they would emerge with a nut/seed of sorts.
Well it seems that these clever little birds also use the very same "hole" for their nesting site too.

I spent a good hour observing the nest site on the 5th of July, and whilst the adults were cautious, I still managed to capture some nice shots. I have to say, i missed a fair few shots too. With a better camera/lens and the use of a tripod(I'll get one one day!) i would have captured some great images for sure!

The Nuthatches worked the same pattern, both male and female were involved, they would catch various insects, then land either on the edge of the church roof , or the stone arch above the window, give a quick look around to see if all is safe, then fly to the hole, enter and feed those hungry chicks, and exit the hole, sometimes carrying a waste/poo sac.

Some photos then. The pictures tell the story, cheers.

There were a few out of focus shots of the Nuthatches in flight, this was one of the better ones, it would have been nice to capture an "in focus" flight shot, but I cant complain, it was a great way to spend an hour(early lunch break from work!).

Hummingbird Hawk Moth, SWF, and a Purple Hairstreak in my garden.

Silver-washed Fritillary up first then. On the 29th of June i spotted my 1st SWF, but i couldnt capture any really clear shots, so the following day i tried again, and this time I managed to get better shots, even though the light/sun is back lit. This butterfly is on a mission, and it was very difficult to keep up with it, let alone capture a photo, but i chased that sucker down in the end!

After seeing some of  "The Butterfly Man"(AKA) Greenies photos, Im pretty sure this is a male SWF?

Here you see the same butterfly "getting close" to a Comma!

One last shot.

The 1st of July, and another first for me, coming in the shape of a Hummingbird Hawk Moth.

Im pretty sure i saw 3 of these on the day, they were all found some distance from each other, but who knows, the speed of these guys in flight, and it could of been the same one?! I wasnt really looking for them, i just stumbled on the 1st one, but after that, I then kept my eye out for em! I took several poor shots of them in flight(my camera is not a DSLR) so it struggles with fast movements. But then the Moth landed a few times, so I crept up close to it, for some easier shots!

Then its just about to land on the woodland floor here.

Landed.

The same moth, landing/at rest, on two other occasions.

This last image(2nd) was shot some time later in the day, and my 3rd sighting of the day, was just that! because I had no chance to capture a shot at the speed it was going!

On the 3rd of July I spent some time in my back garden. To be honest though, i was constantly looking at the top of the Elm tree in the hope that i might see a return of those White-letter Hairstreaks? No such luck, but next to the Elm is an Oak tree, and what should land in there? Well it was poor light, and some distance away, but it looks like a Purple Hairstreak to me?

One last thing to add, well two actually! Ive found a Nuthatch nest site on my Church patch today, so i will try to capture some shots of the nesting activities.

And Ive also thrown together a makeshift "Moth Trap", made out of a plastic bottle and sticky back plastic!!! Not quite, but it was made out of stuff that was just lying about the place. 1st night was last night, and i did pretty well for a complete beginner, i must have got 10 different types of moth, ive just gotta figure out how to ID all these moths now!!! Cheers.