Normal British Summertime Resumes....Briefly.

There was a distinctly grey look about the place this morning as a rare cloudy sky replaced the blue. Throw in a cool breeze too and it felt much colder than it has of late. I hopped on the bus and headed over to Oundle and though I struggled to find much of interest at the beginning it did improve slightly as the day warmed up.

The River Nene and a fresh Peacock.

Of the butterflies only the whites were active with Green-veined in particular seeming rather common, I can't remember a recent summer when whites have seemed so numerous. A few browns were seen too with Gatekeepers being the more frequent. Not many dragons were about with Banded Demoiselles and Blue-tailed being the only ones along the river. Birds too were of the mundane variety, a few Sedge and Reed Warblers were singing and there was a small flock of Lapwings in the field where the floods were.

Green-veined White and Red Admiral.

Around the marina there was an Egyptian Goose while many hirundines were hunting low down, a few Swallows appeared to be gathering nesting materials from the ground. It was beginning to get a little brighter by now and a few Common Blue damsels were noted, a Peacock and some Ringlets made their way on to the list too.

Scarce Chaser and Black-tailed Skimmer.

Barnwell CP had probably the highlight of the day with a late male Scarce Chaser showing at the North Lake, it's probably going to be my last of the summer. Other dragonflies began to appear as the sun came out with two Southern and one Brown Hawker, an Emperor and a Black-tailed Skimmer becoming active. Plenty of Red-eyed Damsels were present on the lakes and there were a few Small Red-eyeds. The latter appeared to be the favoured food of at least one Mandarin Duck, I saw one lucky teneral manage to escape but I suspect that many did not.

Egyptian Goose and Mandarin Duck.

It looks as if a pair of Mandarins have bred successfully around here as there were at least half a dozen about the place. A partly bald Marsh Tit and a similarly bald Dunnock were perhaps parents that had neglected themselves as a result of constantly seeking out food for hungry mouths, rather a lot of tits in particular can look scruffy at this time of the year.

Marsh Tit and Swallow.

Increased sunshine had an effect on the butterflies too with additional species including Red Admiral, a Small Tortoiseshell and Large and Small White being seen.

Mute Swan family.