Grey Day at Barnwell.

Not one of the brightest days as there was total cloud cover for all the time that I was out, more than a little galling as blue skies returned almost as soon as I got back to Corby! This lack of sunshine contributed to what was one of my more boring days for quite a while. As the school holidays will soon be upon us I opted to go to Barnwell CP where I hoped to enjoy a quiet visit before the legions of squealing sprogs get off.

Common Darter and teneral female Red-dyed Damsel.

Only one dragonfly was seen today and that was a Common Darter, another darter was glimpsed but too briefly to confirm an I.D. Damsels fared a little better and I saw five species within the park and another on the Nene. Commonest species was Banded Demoiselle with many resting in the nettle banks next to the river. Running it close was Blue-tailed Damselfly and it's perhaps not surprising that they're so common given how many pairs in cop that I saw, the little blighters could show Giant Pandas a trick or two when it comes to insuring the species' survival! Rather a lot of Common Blues were observed but only one Azure could be found. Red-eyed Damselflies are continuing to emerge and I saw at least one nymph that had crawled out on to a water lily. The final species recorded today was a single male Small Red-eyed on a water lily close to the marina, a poor record shot was all that I could manage.

Banded Demoiselle and Small Red-eyed Damsel.

Gatekeeper numbers really are rising quickly and they were the commonest species today, mainly males still but I did see at least one female. Other browns were almost as common with decent numbers of Ringlet and Meadow Brown showing. Whites seemed fairly tolerant of the dull weather with Green-veined being commonest, a few Small and Large were noted as well. The only other species seen today was a Small Tortoiseshell and a few Small Skippers on grassy land near the Princess fishing lake.

Gatekeepers and Green-veined White.

At least six Mandarin Ducks were found in the park suggesting that they probably bred here again though given that it's yucky ducky time again eclipse plumage meant that they all looked like females. Best bird of the day was an Oystercatcher in flight over Lower Barnwell Lock while there were also several Common Terns around the marina.

Mandarin Ducks.