Harry's A Bit Of A Letdown

 A promising looking weather forecast and a day off work were enough to suggest that a visit to Harry's Park Wood near Weldon might be a good idea. It's the time of the year when an assortment of goodies is usually on offer and I wanted to have a check. While it was a bit cloudy when I first arrived the sun did eventually bless me with some sustained warmth though butterfly numbers sadly remained low.

Silver-washed Frit, Large Skipper and Ringlet.

2021 will go down as one of my worst years for butterflies ever as the number of species and individuals alike remain low. Just seven species were noted in the wood and only one of those, Speckled Wood , managed to get into double figures. No sign of either White Admiral or Purple Emperor though I did see a single male Silver-washed Fritillary. Other firsts included Large Skipper and my first county Ringlets, the remaining species seen were Small White, Red Admiral and Meadow Brown. A few dragonflies included my first Southern Hawker and also my first Northants Black-tailed Skimmers. Walking back along Bears Lane added Emperor dragonfly and Small Tortoiseshell to my total.

Marbled Whites and Common Blue.

Weldon Woodland Park held small numbers of Marbled Whites which were new for the year and I also added Common Blue and Small Heath to my day list. The nearby pond was attracting quite a lot of ode activity of which the highlight was a first for the year Brown Hawker and my site first Hairy Dragonfly. Other dragons seen here were Emperor, Four-spotted Chaser and more Black-tailed Skimmers. No sign that Small Red-eyed Damselflies have emerged yet though numbers of Azure were high and there were a few Red-eyeds. Along the stream were the usual Banded Demoiselles and  single White-legged and Common Blue Damselflies.

Black-tailed Skimmers and Hairy Dragonfly.