First Of The Season

 I'm off to Majorca tomorrow and looking forward to some decent birding but in the meantime I kept myself amused today in the county. I split my time between Oundle and Priors Hall and enjoyed a pretty entertaining session. With the weather proving to be quite warm and with the sun shining I hoped to see a few interesting insects and it turned out that I wasn't to be disappointed.

Green Woodpecker, Grasshopper Warbler and Green-veined White

The floods near Lower Barnwell Lock look rather interesting and the water level looks promising for waders. I only saw Oystercatchers and Redshanks this morning but I'm sure that more species will be noted before the spring migration is over. If the waders were underwhelming it was left to warblers to provide some interest. A trio of year firsts were singing in the large field between Prince William School and the River Nene and these were Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat as well as at least one reeling Grasshopper Warbler. I only managed brief views of the first two but the Grasshopper Warbler showed fairly well. Several butterflies also showed before I headed off back towards Corby and these were Orange-tip and Green-veined White.

Orange-tip, Speckled Wood and Peacock

Having got off the bus at Weldon I made my way to Priors Hall where I hoped to catch up with some early Large Red Damselflies.  The Quarry Lake had its usual selection of birds while around the ponds a small number of Siskins and a squealing Water Rail were left overs from winter. Plenty of Speckled Woods are now on the wing while other butterflies included Peacocks, Brimstones and Orange-tip. Whilst walking around one of the ponds I caught sight of a Large Red Damsel fluttering up from the reeds which then obliged me by landing long enough to allow me to get some pictures. More sightings followed and I saw a minimum of at least thirty three during my walk. Many were fresh looking tenerals making their first flights but others looked as if they had been out for several days. These were my earliest ever sightings beating my previous record by two days. Once I'd finished my wander I walked into Weldon where a pint and lunch in the George brought things to an agreeable close.

Large Red Damselflies.