Emperors

 It was a bit on the blowy side this morning but there was enough sunshine to persuade me to make the trip to Harry's Park Wood. On my way past the steelworks I saw that a little bit more of Corby's history is disappearing as they are tearing down some of the huge old camouflaged sheds. These have been here since before the war and by that I mean the Second World War rather than the one that Orange Donny and his cohorts appear to be in the process of starting. No doubt we can look forward to yet another logistical park full of empty warehouses!

Large White and Ringlet.

At the wood there were enough dogwalkers to suggest that renaming the place Harry's Bark might be in order but the pooch pack dispersed fairly quickly and I was left to wander in peace. Bears Lane had already provided sightings of seven or eight common butterfly species as well as some Common Blue Damselflies, things were looking promising. Within a hundred or so yards of the entrance I'd seen my first White Admiral but it like most of the five or six that I saw later in the morning did not settle and I had to wait for over an hour before I finally got an indifferent pic of one. Lots of Ringlets and Meadow Browns were present in the wood and were joined by at least four Marbled Whites. Several Emperor dragonflies were patrolling the rides but it took rather longer before I saw the butterfly equivalent. A male flew past at knee height and looked as if it might settle but it decided not to and flew off out of sight. I wasn't too disappointed at this stage and continued my walk along the main ride.

Purple Emperors

Apart from those Emperors there wasn't too much ode activity to report though I was glad to find at least three Beautiful Demoiselles on my travels. Although these were my first in the wood both Shozzer and Phil had already seen them here this year, a far cry from when we had to visit Towcester in order to see them. There was another Purple Emperor flypast but on this occasion his Imperial Highness decided to land. I managed to get plenty of pictures before he eventually flew off, it's always nicer to get photos when the subject is not sitting on a Dame Thora! Somewhat later during my visit I had equally good views of a second individual.

White Admiral and Wood White

Having grabbed my emperor photos I decided to leave the main rides and travel along some of the narrower ones. My first Silver-washed Fritillary of the year flashed past, I was to see a further three on my amble around but none paused for pictures. Fool's Frits or should I say Commas were rather more accommodating and I saw many in the wood. A Wood White was a nice find and better yet it proved to be the first of three including an egg laying individual, I really hope that this delicate species becomes established here. While there was plenty of bird activity in the wood it was mostly of the mundane variety and only a brief sighting of Raven stood out from the norm. A lunch date with my family meant that I couldn't dally for ever and my last sighting of note was of a Small Heath which I believe was my first ever one in the wood itself.

Beautiful Demoiselle and Small Heath