Another Trip To Oundle

As work were once again kind enough to give me the day off I found myself with some time on my hands. Given that Barnwell CP has been kind to  me recently I thought that it might be a good idea to head over to those parts once again.

Banded Demoiselle and Red-eyed Damselfly.

Not for the first time the patch of reeds on Town Lake played host to an emerging Scarce Chaser, this is proving to be something of a nursery for them. Alongside the river the nettle beds were alive with both Banded Demoiselles and Red-eyeds. Despite having had an interest in dragons for some time I learnt for the first time today that Red-eyeds emerge directly on to lilies rather than crawling up emergent vegetation, you learn something every day! These nettles held one more surprise in store for me, checking the Azure Damselflies produced a sighting of a male Variable Damselfly, not sure what's going on with this species but they seem to be getting commoner  at the moment.

Variable Damselfly and Hairy Dragonfly.

Hairy Damselflies always seem to do well at this site and today was no exception with perhaps as many as ten showing. While most were males there was at least one female ovipositing. Several Four-spotted Chasers were also seen with at least a couple taking up territories next to the lakes.

Chaser trio.

Good numbers of damselflies were found around the park and these included a couple of Common Blues. Other species included Large Red and Blue-tailed while butterflies were represented by at least three Holly Blues, a Common Blue, several Orange-tips and at least two Brimstones.

Holly Blue and Orange-tip.

I decided to take a walk along the river past the marina and managed to find a first for the year female Broad-bodied Chaser. While I had to wade through almost shoulder high nettles to get a pic it was at least just about good enough to justify the pain.. Highlight amongst the birds noted today were male and female Cuckoo in the park and the regular Cetti's Warbler.

Emerging Red-eyed Damselfly.