Braving Barnwell

 Willow Emeralds are now becoming an established resident in Northamptonshire but that doesn't mean that I'm giving up on looking for them. It was for that reason that I decided to pay a visit to a busy Barnwell CP and brave the masses. Sadly my efforts did not produce any sightings either here or at the nearby Princess fishing lake near the marina.

Male and female Migrant Hawkers.

Despite the dip it wasn't a complete waste of time and I managed to find a few interesting things. Not too many birds though with just a Kingfisher and several Siskins noted. With it being for the most part fairly warm and sunny I managed to find a few dragonflies of which Migrant Hawkers were the most visible. Patrolling males often hover for quite lengthy periods of time and for this reason I managed to get a few reasonable flight shots. No such luck with a Brown Hawker though as it landed long enough to raise hopes but not long enough to let me raise my camera. Luckily more were seen near the fishing lake and a male was a little more obliging than this flighty individual. The other dragon present was Common Darter which was present in decent enough numbers.

Brown Hawker and Common Darter.

Small Red-eyed Damselflies were far and away the commonest damsels with them outnumbering their larger cousins by a large margin as only a few Red-eyeds were noted. Just two Banded Demoiselles were found and it looks as if their season here is coming to an end, hopefully they stick around a bit longer at Weldon. The other species seen were Blue-tailed and Common Blue.

Small Red-eyed Damselfly and Banded Demoiselle.

Only a few butterfly species were on the wing of which Speckled Wood was the commonest. The three common whites were all noted and there were singles of Small Heath and Common Blue as well as a brace of Commas. Small numbers of Silver Y moths were seen and these migrants may well have moved northwards on the same winds that have brought a smattering of Painted Ladies in.

Comma and Small White.