Ruff Stuff

 I had a day of work today and used my welcome taste of liberty to journey over to Summer Leys. Under the now almost customary grey skies I had an OK sort of day, it certainly beat working for a living at any rate! There were a couple of interesting birds and a few odes were seen during the few sunny spells but it was far from being my best day out in the county.

Heron double and immature Great Spotted Woodpecker

I walked from Earls Barton past Mill and Hardwater Lakes without seeing much of interest though that may have been due to some shooting that was going on nearby. On reaching Summer Leys I was greeted by a fly by Ruff seen from Rotary Hide, according to another birder that I spoke to it had been feeding on the scrape before its departure. The scrape provided most of the birding interest with a Great White Egret that was feeding in the middle when a Grey Heron wasn't bothering it. Two Snipe dropped in briefly before continuing their journey and a Kingfisher made a flying visit. I didn't manage to find many more birds during my circuit of the reserve other than a Raven.

Tit selection.

Those sunny spells that I mentioned earlier did bring a few dragons and damsels out with Migrant Hawkers being the most active. At least one Brown hawker was also on the wing and there were several darters too. Common Blues were the commonest damsel but the most interesting was a male Willow Emerald which was my first at this site. A Banded Demoiselle rounded off my ode list at the reserve while butterflies seen included Speckled Wood and Small White.

Migrant Hawker, Willow Emerald and Banded Demoiselle

Walking back along the Nene added more demoiselles and Migrant Hawkers and I also saw a Ruddy Darter near Mill Lake. I searched this promising looking area for more emeralds but didn't find any, I suspect the grey conditions may have been at least partially to blame.

Ruddy and Common Darters