Alan's Stones Wobble Again

 Shozzer and I kept things local and during the course of our wanderings today venturing no further than Deene. The weather was for the most part sunny and warm, any cloud cover was burnt off before noon. After a stop at the farm ponds where a Small Red-eyed Damsel had been the highlight we turned our attention to the main lake.

Small Red-eyed Damsel, Willow Emerald and Black Swans

There are still Willow Emeralds maturing between the church and the dam at Deene and we also saw a further Small Red-eyed. Bird wise here a pair of Black Swans with two cygnets were my personal highlight, I've never seen young here before.  Elsewhere there were Grey Wagtails at the weir but not much else of note and we soon moved on. After a long and enduring drive of at least two minutes we found a parking spot near the inflow. Here a Mandarin Duck and a snoozing Green Sandpiper were the best birds while there was only my second Brown Argus of the year too.

Mandarin, Green Sand and White-legged Damselflies in cop.

Deenethorpe village close to the brook delivered some good stuff too and White-legged Damselflies in particular showed well. A Spotted Flycatcher was heard in the poplars though sadly not seen, it spent its time hidden in the canopy. At the brook more White-legged Damsels were seen and for only the second time in my life I saw a pair of Banded Demoiselles in cop. Once Alan had eaten his lunch we set off for Priors Hall.

Banded Demoiselles, Common Sand and Emerald

The Quarry Lake had quite a few birds but the only one that really stood out was a Common Sandpiper. In the southern gullet I was watching my first Emeralds of the year when a call from Alan announced the discovery of a Southern Migrant Hawker. A male was giving very good flight views as it patrolled its territory. News was put out and we were eventually joined by our county recorder, Mark Tyrrell. Happily for him the dragon showed well but more importantly we found a second individual close by. More than content with our sightings we moved on to the Samuel Lloyd where I enjoyed several pints of good beer.

                                              

Southern Migrant Hawker.