Dipping But Not Too Disappointed

 A pretty cold and grey start to things this morning at Summer Leys where Alan Shorrock and I spent some time wandering around hoping to find some interesting birds. We failed for the most part in our attempts though Shozzer did pick out a couple of Hobbies which were far and away the best birds that we saw today. As the morning progressed there were growing signs that the sun might break through the clouds and this brought some hope that insects might become more active. A selection of damsels showed at Mary's and also around the Toad Pond and these included my first county Common Blues of the year. The only dragonfly on the wing was a Hairy which did several circuits of the Toad Pond. Not many butterflies to report with just Peacock and Orange-tip doing the business.

Common Blue and rufescens form of Blue-tailed Damselflies plus Peacock

Yesterday an exciting report came through on the Northants Dragonflies Facebook page of a sighting of a Downy Emerald dragonfly at Quarry Lake, Earls Barton. With the weather showing distinct signs that it was getting better Al and I set off hoping to see this great county scarcity. We failed in our attempt though the visit was far from being a failure, I added Red Admiral and Brown Argus to my county butterfly year list and also got more pics of Brimstone. Dragonflies were represented by Hairy and several Four-spotted Chasers but it was the damsels that caused the biggest surprise. As we walked from Station Road towards Quarry Lake a female Beautiful Demoiselle put in a brief appearance before disappearing into the tree tops. A little later on two males showed near the lake while a further one was seen nearby from the public footpath. This may be a new county location for this species but for the moment I'll have to await confirmation. These was a decent enough number of other damsels flitting around and these included a Large Red in their number. Other wildlife showing in the general area included a Hornet while the best birds were several calling Water Rails. Having concluded our spotting activities we headed to the Saxon Tavern in Earls Barton where a pint brought things to a very agreeable close.

Beautiful Demoiselle, Brown Argus and Red Admiral