Dip Willow, Dip Willow, Dip Willow.

The emergence of the Willow Emeralds at their only Northants site on Monday was justification enough for four of us to set out from Corby on our way to Finedon Pocket Park. As the title of this post may already have hinted at the results I will waste no more time and say only that at least we tried!  As I later learned that two other observers did strike lucky it seems that we were either unfortunate or may have to book an appointment with our opticians. Whatever other conclusions that we arrive at one thing is clear, another visit may be called for.

Veteran Ruddy and handy Common Darters.

The pond and surrounding area were not totally lacking in interesting stuff to look at and both Migrant and Southern Hawkers were feeding along the wooded path, others were seen around the pond. At least one Brown Hawker frequented the same area while several Emerald Damselflies were seen too. Both species of the common darters were present in good numbers and they included one Common which sat on one of our group's hand.

Emerald Damselfly.

Butterflies included rather a lot of Speckled Woods and also a Holly Blue though the most interesting sightings of the day was of a Spitfire that made several passes overhead and a Shorts Tucano which did several low flypasts. No compensation for dipping on the Willows but interesting never the less.