Riverside Ramble

England's land may still be pleasant but it's a lot less green at the moment as the hot spell continues. I headed over to Oundle but, aware that it's school holiday time I chose to take a different walk along to Cotterstock rather that tangle with the crowds at Barnwell CP.

River views.

On the stretch of the Nene nearest to the north bridge I found a White-legged Damselfly which turned out to be the only one today, I'm not sure how common they are on the Nene in general but they're certainly rare here. Banded Demoiselles in contrast were common with many males in particular being obvious. Both Red-eyed and Common Blue showed in good numbers too.

Brown Hawker.

Of the dragons Brown Hawkers were the most common with at least ten being seen and these included a female that landed long enough to photograph. A few Emperors were found but they were overshadowed by the sighting of two Scarce Chasers, I thought that their season might be over but was happy to be proved wrong. Several Common and two Ruddy Darters completed the list, one of the latter was adopting the obelisk position  which was perhaps in response to the heat.

Scarce Chaser and "obelisking" Ruddy Darter.

It's likely that the heat was forcing the larger butterflies to seek shelter as most were hiding amongst vegetation. Six Red Admirals were probably locally bred rather than migrants as they were in pristine conditions. The Commas and Peacocks noted were in fine condition as well though a battered looking Small Tortoiseshell might have been a survivor from last year. Pretty much the usual selection of the commoner species were on the wing with two male Brimstones and a Holly Blue at Cotterstock being the pick of them.

Comma and Red Admiral.

Few birds were noted though the local Red Kites put on a bit of a show and a Kingfisher was heard.

Banded Demoiselles.