A Day By The Nene

I had another day out in the company of Alan Shorrock and we began our watching at Barnwell CP. Although we had to endure the odd grey spell the weather was a bit kinder than yesterday and there were some warm periods of sunshine. The warmth certainly seemed to have an affect on dragonfly numbers and we saw seven different species today.

Brown Hawker and Common Darter.

Of the dragons it was Brown Hawkers that were commonest and as well as hunting individuals there were two ovipositing. Emperors were present in decent numbers too and as with the previous species several were noted laying eggs. A few freshly emerged Common Darters were seen and an adult male Ruddy was found. Four-spotted Chasers were active over the lakes while several Black-tailed Skimmers preferred the margins, a pair were also noted in cop. Of the damsels Small Red-eyeds were out in good numbers around Mill Lake with many pairs ovipositing and others hunting around waterside vegetation. Red-eyed Damselflies were present on all of the lakes though they were generally outnumbered by Common Blues. Two other species were seen with a small number of Blue-tailed vastly outnumbered by Banded Demoiselles.

Black-tailed Skimmers and Emperor.

A new brood of Brimstones appears to have hatched and at least half a dozen were flitting about. Red Admiral numbers continue to grow suggesting some immigration, several certainly looked as if they had had a hard life. Some new brood Peacocks were also observed joining Commas nectaring on the many thistles. Nothing else of too much interest with the usual browns and whites on show.

Brimstone and Red Admiral.

Eight Mandarin Ducks were seen around the park though the best bird seen today was a male Kingfisher seen from its namesake hide.

Kingfisher and Mandarin.

Having spent some time at Barnwell we decided to pay a brief visit to Ringstead GP in the hope that we could see the breeding Cattle Egrets that have been reported there. News was recently released now that the chicks are ready to fledge and the threat of egg collectors or excessive disturbance have receded. Sadly for us we could not find any though we added Southern Hawker and Holly Blue to our day list and also saw more Small Red-eyed Damselflies.

Small Red-eyed Damselfly and Holly Blue.