Barnwell Dragons.

Managed to get a day off work today and with the weather looking fine I headed over to Barnwell CP for a spot of nature spotting. Plenty of insects were taking advantage of the conditions and it gave me the chance to try out my newly acquired camera.

Barnwell and a mayfly.

There was a Cuckoo  calling as I arrived and I also heard a Cetti's Warbler while several Garden Warblers were singing too. No other birds of note though I didn't really expect to see much birdwise today. Plenty of Banded Demoiselles were about with most of them hiding in riverside nettles, shouldn't be too long before they move down to the river. I may have been hasty or perhaps just plain stringy when I claimed Red-eyed Damsels on Sunday's travels but today there were a good number of newly emerged genuine individuals which, like the demoiselles were mainly hiding out in the nettles. Of the other damsels seen today Azure was the next commonest with double figures being seen while the day's list was rounded off by several Blue-tailed and also a single Large Red.

Female Banded Demoiselle, Red-eyed Damsel(honest!) and Azure Damsel.

A Hairy Dragonfly was my first dragon of the year and though it landed the view was obscured and it took off before I could maneuver myself into a better position. My second dragon of the year was a bit of a surprise as I didn't expect to see Scarce Chaser before Four-spotted. When the first one flew weakly from some reeds I assumed that it would indeed be a Four-spot but closer inspection proved otherwise. To show that this was no fluke a further three emerged from the reeds and flew into nearby vegetation, this is the earliest that I've ever seen this species.

Scarce Chasers and a Blue-tailed Damsel.

Butterflies were present in small numbers and the species seen were Orange-tip (ca5), Green-veined White (2), Brimstone (7 or 8), Holly Blue (2) and a Peacock.

Brimstone and Green-veined White.

I took a brief walk along the Nene as far as Lower Barnwell Lock but couldn't really add a great deal to the list with just a few more of the commoner damsels noted.

Beetle assortment and Tree Bumblebee.