More Darter Diversions.

Given that it was the August Bank Holiday and that the weather had turned out to be lovely I took advantage of the fine conditions by heading out to Harringworth Lodge Lake. Taking my now normal route via Willowbrook Industrial, Brookfield Plantation, Gretton and the Jurassic Way I enjoyed a reasonable if not spectacular day.

A Small Heath catching the morning sun.

Not too much to enjoy at the site of the old Sunday market where a few Small Heaths trying to catch the morning sun and a worn out looking female Common Blue were the only things of note. A little further on a Peregrine flew over and that was perhaps the most interesting bird of the day though another was seen later.

One of three Fallow Deer feeding in Brookfield Plantation.

The first thing of note in Brookfield was a trio of Fallow Deer which included a nice gingery example as well as two of the more normal chocolate brown coloured ones. A few Speckled Woods were twisting and turning amongst the sunlit branches of hawthorn bushes and a single Common Darter hunted around the upper branches of the pines. There were surprisingly few birds about here given how many tit flocks are moving through the countryside at the moment but they could have been anywhere in this vast wood.

On the way out? Meadow Brown.

A dead heron near the flooded quarry at Gretton was a sad sight, I'm not sure that I've seen one before but I'll be happy if I don't see another. Nothing much else to report until I reached the Jurassic Way where a large flock of Meadow Pipits were found and they seemed to be accompanied by at least one Yellow Wagtail. The large butterfly field was jam packed with Small Heaths. The bad tempered little blighters seemed to spend all their time in a constant squabble. While pairs could be seen turning around each other all over the place there were times when larger groups of up to six or seven individuals could be seen having a bit of a dogfight. It wasn't all blue on blue either, Common Blues, a Small White and even a few tiny moths attracted some aggression. A Meadow Brown, one of two seen today may well prove to be amongst the last of the year.

Migrant Hawker...again!

Harringworth Lodge Lake.

Closer to the lake a few more butterflies including Small Torty and Red Admiral were found and there was a growing number of darters and Migrant Hawkers on view. The lake itself had the usual high numbers of Coots (at least 35) as well as the more usual selection of waterfowl. A few Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damsels were present and it was good to see reasonable numbers of Small Red-eyed Damsels too. What looked like a newly emerged male was a nice find , I don't think I've seen this before. The calm on the lake was briefly interrupted by a loud voiced lady walking a couple of mutts that both decided to take a bit of a paddle despite her shouted prohibition. She left swearing at the two now bad tempered hounds and I can't pretend that I missed her or them one jot. Several Ruddy Darters were discovered after the dogs had gone though they were outnumbered by Commons. A male Tawny Owl hooted rather incongruously in the bright sunshine but was still nice to hear.

Peregrine.

A large patch of flowering ivy near the lodge itself was attracting a good sized swarm of hoverflies, flies and bees and this insect buffet attracted in turn a few predators. Both Migrant Hawkers and Common Darters were picking off prey while up to four or five Hornets were menacing the bees in particular but unfortunately did not land long enough for a picky.

Newly emerged Small Red-eyed Damselfly.

One of many Common Darters.

The return journey did not produce much else of note though a few extra butterflies in the shape of Peacock and Green-veined White were added to the list. Brookfield's now sunlit rides did have a veritable swarm of Common Darters flitting around and their monopoly was broken by a single Southern Hawker.

Southern Hawker,

A rare sight on a bank holiday, no not the kite, the blue. cloudless skies!