Not One Of My Best.

 A less than spectacular day began at a grey and breezy Blatherwycke Lake where a Raven was the only thing of interest. Not a great deal to report between here and Deene either though at least by the time that I arrived there the sun had at least began to emerge. Another Raven was observed here and so too was the resident Black Swan while a Kingfisher was heard. I couldn't find any Willow Emeralds here and the ode highlight was male and female Small Red-eyed Damselflies.

Small Red-eyed Damselflies (m top)

Priors Hall provided the only dragons of the day with Common and Ruddy Darter being the commonest. A few Migrant hawkers are beginning to appear though the only Southern noted was sadly a dead female floating in one of the ponds. Several Emperors included ovipositing females as well as males and singles of Four-spotted Chaser and Black-tailed Skimmer.

Migrant and unfortunate Southern Hawker.

I bumped into Priors regular Alan Shorrock and it was perhaps just as well because Shozzer managed to pick out two male Emerald Damselflies. Few other damsels were noted with just Common Blues and Blue-taileds being added to the list. No surprises amongst the butterflies with the most numerous being Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns and Small Heaths. Plenty of whites were seen and a growing number of Common Blues. Other species on the wing were Brown Argus, Ringlet, Large Skipper, Speckled Wood, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell.

Emerald Damselfly and Emperor.

I checked the quarry on the way past and found at least twelve adult Yellow-legged Gulls in amongst the many Lesser Black-backeds and a solitary Herring. There may well have been immatures present too but in truth it was now too hot to bother trying to find them!

Yellow-legged Gull.