A Game of Two Halves

Part one of my day's nature spotting was spent in and around Harry's Park Wood near Weldon. While it was nice to see some sunshine I didn't really see a whole lot in the wood itself though it wasn't a total waste of time.

Green-veined and Small Whites.

No White Admirals or hairstreaks today though I did manage to find a couple of rather tatty looking Silver-washed Fritillaries. Good numbers of browns and whites today and there are still quite a few Large Skippers around. At least one Essex Skipper was noted at the Brigstock end of the wood though I didn't manage to find any Smalls. A decent number of Red Admirals were observed as well as lesser numbers of both Peacock and Comma.

Essex Skipper and Silver-washed Fritillary.

Small numbers of Siskin were noted on site while dragonflies were represented by several Emperors, a Brown Hawker and a Common Darter. I actually managed to get a photo of the male Brown Hawker which is a fairly rare event as most of my BH pictures are of ovipositing females.

Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell.

An attempt to locate White-lettered Hairstreaks at a nearby spot failed though I did see my first Painted Lady of the year. I didn't get a pic as it wouldn't settle but it was good to catch up with one, it certainly is a far cry from last year's invasion of this attractive species. Not for the first time recently a Crossbill flew over heading towards the wood, the summer of 2020 will definitely be remembered for this species' irruption. Nothing else to report at the moment though I'll add the second part of my day a little later on.

Brown Hawker.