Paxton

 Alan Shorrock and I took a trip to Paxton Pits near St Neots where our primary aim was to see the Norfolk Hawkers that are present here in good numbers. Unfortunately for us the weather was far from ideal with cloud for most of the day broken only by the briefest of sunny spells. Despite this unpromising situation we enjoyed a productive wander around seeing more insects than I expected to see.

Darter and Emerald doubles

At the small pond near the visitors centre I saw my first Common Darter of the year, we noted several more during our walk. In the same area the first of many Variable Damselflies were found, they far outnumbered the few Azures that we saw. During one of the few and far between sunny spells Alan picked out a Ruddy Darter which was my first this year and so too was a Norfolk Hawker which landed for the shortest of moments before it was flushed by a dog walker. We saw several more at the lake where the water soldier is though I didn't get any satisfactory pictures today. On this same lake we noted a healthy population of Emerald damselflies and also my first Small Red-eyeds of the year. Two other odes were also my first for this year and these were an unphotographed Brown Hawker and a very obliging Willow Emerald.

Small Red-eyed and Variable Damselflies

As well as the dragons and damsels there were a few butterflies of which a year first Gatekeeper was my highlight, at least three were eventually noted. Cloud tolerant Meadow Browns and Ringlets were fairly active while Comma, Large Skipper and Small White came out when it got brighter. There were not many notable birds with just a Kingfisher to report. The rarest thing on the wing today was a Fairey Swordfish which made a ponderous flypast as we returned to the centre.

Gatekeeper and Swordfish

Having enjoyed a pint at the Dukes in Woodford on the way back we popped into Harry's Park Wood for a short visit. A Black Hairstreak showed fairly well and appeared to be in good condition despite the lateness of the season though they did emerge later this year. Pick of the other butterflies was a Comma aberration, possibly sagitta-album which was my first ever. Other species included Small Tortoiseshell, Ringlet, Meadow Brown and Large Skipper. With the cloud cover now beginning to move back in after a period of sunshine we upped sticks and headed back to Corby.

Black Hairstreak and Comma aberration.