Paint It Brown

 After yesterday's long distance jaunt I decided to stay closer to home and so headed off to Priors Hall. The weather was much better than had been predicted in the long range forecast during the week and I treated today as something of a bonus. A mixture of sunny spells and cloud greeted me and there was a fairly strong north west breeze but I still managed to find some good stuff.

Marbled White, Small Skipper and Ringlet

My initial highpoint was finding a first for the year Ringlet on the verge of the A43 near Weldon, there were quite a few around Priors Hall too. They always look so good when they first emerge, velvety chocolate perfection, but it doesn't take long before the argumentative little beggars start looking much rougher. Almost as soon as I'd arrived at Priors I added another species to my county year list with the discovery of a Marbled White. There must have been quite an emergence as they were the commonest butterfly today. Another species making its way on to my county year list was Small Skipper, at least five or six were observed today. Mid summer is a great time for brown butterflies and plenty of Meadow Browns and Speckled Woods were joined by several Small Heaths, it shouldn't be too long before they're joined by Gatekeepers. Other species on site included two Painted Ladies and a couple of Large Skippers while moths were represented by my first Six-spotted Burnet of the year.

Hairy dragonfly and violacea and rufescens Blue-tailed Damselflies

My search for Downy Emeralds drew a blank but there were still dragons to enjoy. A veritable swarm of Four-spotted Chasers were present and they spent their entire time either fighting or mating, it reminded me of Mr Bips on a Friday night! Other species putting in an appearance were Black-tailed Skimmer, Emperor and an ovipositing Hairy Dragonfly. No surprises amongst the damsels though it was good to see several different forms of female Blue-taileds.

Six-spotted Burnet, Large Skipper and Painted Lady

Best bird today was a site rarity Peregrine which flew in from the north and circled several times before it moved on. Male and female Cuckoo were heard calling and so too was at least one Water Rail. Other wildlife in the area included a Brown Hare and a Fallow Deer which crashed off into the undergrowth when it caught sight of me.

Peregrine, Green Woodpecker. Grey Heron and Linnet