Interesting Insects

 A drizzly start eventually gave way to some lengthy periods of sunshine making my walk today a pleasant experience despite a stiff breeze. My wildlife watching matched the weather in that it was dull at the start but got much better as the day progressed. After yesterday's travels I decided to stay local and chose to check out some of the sites reasonably close to my home.

Small Heath, Common Blue and Red Admiral.

A walk around the area next to the town's STW failed to produce the hoped for migrants but there was a good crop of berries which may yet pull something in. From here I wandered along as far as Willowbrook Industrial Estate where another search for any migrants drew a blank for the second time. Happily for me a good selection of butterflies made up for the dearth of interesting birdlife and I spent an enjoyable hour or so gawping at them. Around the pond near the old speedway there was a good number of Common Blues and a few Small Heaths. An egg laying Brown Argus was too fleet of wing for my camera skills and so too was a very fresh looking Small Tortoiseshell. Moving away from the pond where a Brown hawker was patrolling I found a few Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers still on the wing as well as some newly emerged Speckled Woods. A Red Admiral posed nicely and I also noted a few Green-veined Whites.

Willow Emeralds and Small Red-eyed Damselflies.

My walk then took me to the A43 pond which was somewhat lacking in the interesting wildlife stakes but did have an Emperor doing its rounds as well as ovipositing Common Darters and a lot of Common Blues (damselflies this time!). The next stop on my rounds was the pond at the Woodland Park which was surprisingly rather quiet from a people point of view. All three hawker dragonfly species were present and I got my first pictures of Migrant. There was a good number of Small Red-eyed Damselflies but these were somewhat overshadowed by several ovipositing pairs of Willow Emeralds as well as a single male. Other odes in the area were Blue-tailed and Common Blue Damselflies and Common Darter. A walk along side the stream completed my walk and also added Banded Demoiselle to my day list.

Migrant and Southern Hawkers

For the second day in a row it was a plover making the bird headlines with a Ringed still hanging out at its potential breeding site. Few other birds were noted though a flock of eighty plus Goldfinches feeding on thistledown at Willowbrook was a good sight.

Is a young Bullfinch called a calf?