Duff Start, Better Later

 A dull start today both in terms of the weather and also the wildlife spotting which began with an entirely fitting Grey Wagtail in the village as I waited for my bus. My journey was brief as I got off at Weldon making the A43 pond my first stop. Nothing new to report with at least three of the young Tufted Ducks still present and drake Gadwalls and Mallards begin to emerge from eclipse. Once I'd finished here I set off for Willowbrook Industrial Estate in my continuing search for migrants.

Robin

Stonechat

Willowbrook was pretty dire with the only sign of migration being a flock of high-flying Meadow Pipits heading south. Very little else to report I'm afraid with just a couple of Fallow Deer to raise interest levels albeit only slightly! The morning's mist had all but gone by the time I set off for Priors Hall in the hope that my day might improve. What was presumably last week's male Stonechat was still present and he could be settling in to winter in the North Gullet. Not much else on view here though the weather at least was continuing to improve as the sun began to break through.

Spotted Flycatchers

The South Gullet provided some interesting sightings of which two Spotted Flycatchers were the most welcome. Nowadays this once regular breeder has been reduced to the status of passage migrant and it's not easy to catch up with them. I was able to watch them for quite a time as they sortied out from their favoured tree in search of prey. Some of that prey may well have included damsel and dragonflies as the lengthening periods of sunshine was bringing more out. My first Willow Emerald in this part of Priors was a decent find and other odes included Common and Ruddy Darters and Migrant Hawker. My most interesting insect sighting however was a first ever Water Stick-insect which had left its aquatic home behind to wander about in vegetation next to a drying pond. These impressive bugs can apparently attain a length of seven centimetres though I think mine was shorter than this. Buoyed by my improving fortunes I eschewed my usual pint in the George to check some of the Weldon sites for odes.

Water Stick-insect

Two Banded Demoiselles were seen along the stream, I don't think I'll be getting any October specimens this year. Another lingering damsel, a Small Red-eyed Damselfly, was seen at the Woodland Park. Plenty of Willow Emeralds were active around the pond and I also saw several Brown Hawkers. Not many butterflies are on the wing at the moment though I did see a Red Admiral on some Ivy in the Pocket Park. Plenty of noisy Ivy Bees were also buzzing around though many of the flowers have yet to bloom. With time pressing on I left the bees to their business and headed to the bus stop for my return trip back to the village.

Willow Emerald and Red Admiral.