Duff Start, Decent Finish.

 

A morning walk around Priors Hall was blighted somewhat by overcast skies and a light drizzle. While it was very mild, particularly for the time of year, there was little insect life on view.


You can see why the one on the left is a Lesser.

Grey Squirrel enjoying some haws.

The quarry lake held only the commonest birds which included a few Great Black-backed Gulls and there was a Kestrel hunting nearby. Birds provided most of the interest though examples of Brown Hare, Fallow Deer and Grey Squirrel were observed, are there any native mammals out there? A Chiffchaff was seen well as it fed in a hedgerow and there were rather a lot of Siskins on site. A single Redpoll was also picked out while numbers of both Meadow Pipit and Skylark were high. Three herons passed overhead, it's a little unusual to see little flocks in the UK, I tend to see them on migration in the Med. Two species of wader were recorded with a single each of Snipe and Lapwing showing. A Cormorant over the largest pond was noteworthy as they remain scarce at this site.

This Red Admiral looks like it's had a lucky escape.

His 'n' hers Common Darters.

By midday there were a few breaks in the clouds and both Red Admiral and Small Copper had been seen. The sun also brought a few Common Darters out with several posing nicely. As I had to do my packing for tomorrow's trip to Spain I couldn't hang around all day and so left heading over towards Weldon.

Survivors, male and female Banded Demoiselles.

Weldon was warm and sunny and these pleasant conditions must have worked their magic along the stream. Not one, not two but three Banded Demoiselles were seen, a female and two males which were rather obliging. I never thought for a minute that I would still be watching this species so late into the season though I suspect even these can't hang on for much later. A few Common Darters were also seen in the general area and several Siskins were found feeding in trees around the pond.

Another view of Banded.