Diverting

 A trip on the X4 to Oundle this morning turned out to be anything but routine. It all started normally enough but a road closure at Lower Benefield created something of a problem. Our driver did a nifty three point turn into a field opening and we took the back road through Glapthorn. That should have been it but another road closure in Oundle caused the bus to take a rather circuitous route through residential streets before we ended up near the north bridge. I took the opportunity to get off at this point and headed towards the floods near the A605.

Scarce Chaser and Hairy Dragonfly

Having recovered from the travel trials and tribulations I began to scan the floods noting a pair of Shelduck and a trio of Little Egrets. There was not much in the way of birds to report and only a Lesser Whitethroat near the six form college and a Cuckoo at Barnwell CP were noteworthy. Happily for me the morning grey gave way to sunny spells and some insects appeared to add some much needed entertainment.

Variable and Red-eyed Damselflies

The riverside nettle beds are now full of Banded Demoiselles while the area near the Princess Lake still holds many Red-eyed Damselflies and a few Blue-taileds. Best here was a male Hairy Dragonfly taking a breather on some Hawthorn. At Barnwell CP a brief view of a chaser flying up into a riverside tree raised hopes that I'd found my first Four-spotted of the season. I eventually found it with the bins and was surprised to see that it was a female Scarce Chaser. This seems quite early for this species but I'm sure that my identification was correct. Other species of odes on the wing included a few Azures and a female Variable at the country park.

Holly Blue and Orange-tip

No new butterflies were seen today though a reasonable selection was on view. Orange-tips were the commonest but Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood and Holly Blue were also recorded. Not much other wildlife was about today other than a brace of Muntjacs near the floods.

Shelduck