Run of the Mill

Not one of my most interesting days if I'm honest but still a few things to report as I repeated my walk of last week travelling around the Deenethorpe, Deene and Priors Hall area. Lots of sunshine first thing and conditions were quite pleasant though clouds took over from around about 9 o'clock.

A bit of this may be required if I want ot see more interesting stuff.

Bear's Lane had lots of Chaffinches in particular which may have included some migrants while numbers of Swallows continue to build. It may have been the promise of an easy meal that drew in a Hobby though this one was being pursued by two Carrion Crows so food may not have been its first priority. Still, Hobbies have been hard to come by for me this year so it was great to catch up with one. A few warblers along the lane included Chiffies, a Willow Warbler or two and Whitethroat.

Hornet enjoying a fruity breakfast.

For a third week in a row I was lucky enough to encounter Hornets and this time at least one of them fancied fruit for breakfast and so the other insects could live in peace. A first Red Admiral, one of five seen today, showed briefly but this was not a good day for insect watching. Lots of newly released Pheasants and Red-legged Partridges were about in the countryside around Deenethorpe Airfield, I can't believe that these creatures provide any sport being as they are so approachable and tame. Still if people derive their enjoyment from recreational killing who am I to judge? At least the shoots around here appear to leave our raptors alone.

Living targets, newly released R-l Partridges.

I was hoping to catch up with some passage migrants today and there were loads at the airfield but sadly for me they were all Meadow Pipits, at least sixty of them in fact. Plenty of the resident species here too with rather a lot of seed eaters such as Linnets and buntings. A Raven was seen to drive a Kestrel off and there was an impressive number of Red Kites on the wing.

Lots of Meadow Pipits moving through.

Linnets.

Deene Lake inflow was awash, the rains of the last week raising the water level and covering most of the mud. A result of this was that Green Sand numbers had dropped to one and that a lot of Teal had moved in. The Wheelie Bin Triangle was privileged to receive a royal visitor in the shape of a Kingfisher while the Lapwing flock had moved on. Nearby Deene churchyard had four Mistle Thrushes feeding on the many Yew berries, a big reduction from the twenty plus of last week but still nice to see while a Nuthatch was my first here.

Teal.

There has been a festival in Deene Park over the weekend which meant traffic was far greater than usual and there was a rise in the amount of rubbish around the area, Why can't people take their booze cans and bottles home with them? I enjoy a swig or two but I don't subject others to my rubbish. I don't want to come across like some grumpy old man but the selfishness and laziness of these morons really annoys me.

Insects were scarce today so this Common Darter was a good find.

Drizzle welcomed me to Priors Hall and although it passed over quickly it was enough to stop me from hanging about. A meagre haul of three Common Darters represented my total of dragonflies while rather a lot of Speckled Woods meant that my butterfly total doubled. The lake in the quarry held a good number of gulls but not much else. Priors Hall did though provide my rarest sighting for a while, an Avro Anson C 19 which made a welcome appearance.

Avro Anson C19.