Long Walk Amply Rewarded.

I took quite a hike today and although my feet hurt just a little by the end a quick stop in the George in Weldon restored me to some sort of normality! Beginning at Bears Lane I popped into Harry's Park Wood for a quick look. Within ten yards of the entrance I'd already seen my first of two Silver-washed Frits and also the first of six White Admirals. There were a lot of butterflies active here and these included a Black Hairstreak in a different spot to the others that I've seen here but sadly no Emperors.

Silver-washed Fritillary and Black Hairstreak.

Walking along the footpath towards the A427 did not add much to the list though at Deenethorpe Airfield there was a good number of Marbled Whites and Small Heaths. The village itself had a Raven croaking from one of the trees and several damselflies of which the pick was a White-legged. A short walk took me to the inflow at Deene Lake where two Green Sandpipers were the highlight. Near the dam at the main part of the lake another White-legged damsel showed well but this was overshadowed by a somewhat surprising discovery. I'd caught a glimpse of a large damselfly flitting away from me and was glad that I saw it land. An inspection through the bins revealed a totally unexpected Willow Emerald which was confirmed by responsible adults later. Not only was this an early record but it was also a site first. I've now seen a total of five Willow Emeralds in the county at a total of four sites.  Joining this pair of damsels were Common Blue, Blue-tailed, Red-eyes and Black-tailed Skimmer.

White-legged Damselfly and Willow Emerald.

From here it was a reasonably short walk to Priors Hall where a truly staggering number of butterflies were seen. Meadow Browns, Marbled Whites and Small Heaths were present in very high numbers and I really couldn't attempt to count them. Several Speckled Woods and a Ringlet or two were noted though my favourite species here was a Silver-washed Fritillary. Red Admirals were present throughout the day in reasonable numbers and there are still a few Painted Ladies coming through too. Plenty of fresh looking Commas were observed and so too were a decent quantity of Small Tortoiseshells. Both Small and Large Skipper were noted but I couldn't find any Gatekeepers. Small and Green-veined Whites rounded off the list.

Red Admiral, Small White and Small Tortoiseshell.

Among the dragons and damsels on site I liked a pair of Emerald Damselflies most while dragons noted today were Emperor, Black-tailed Skimmer, Four-spotted Chaser and both species of darter. Of the latter Ruddies were much the commonest but at least one Common was confirmed too.

Emerald Damselflies, Ruddy Darter and Marbled White.

Several interesting birds were seen on site and these included a pair of Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Sand Martin and Mandarin. The only other wildlife of note today was a Brown Hare at Priors.

Ringed Plover.