Cetti's Double

 A lovely morning with plenty of autumnal sunshine saw me scrounge a lift over to Deene from my stepson. From there I took the familiar route home via Deenethorpe, Deenethorpe Airfield and Weldon. While it's true that I didn't see a great deal of interest I still enjoyed my ramble though I'm still struggling to believe that it's October already!

Red Admiral and Black Swan cygnet.

A Cetti's Warbler was singing at the brook as I made my way towards the lake itself, this species appears to be establishing itself in the area. In the churchyard birds included Nuthatch while the most interesting insect was a Red Admiral nectaring on Ivy flowers. On the lake I saw the seemingly single Black Swan parent with its two cygnets and also another pair of adults. Brief views were had of a Kingfisher as it perched along one of the streams near the outflow but it didn't hang around and shot off for pastures new before I could get a picture. Another Cetti's was at the inflow where several Siskins were also heard. Most interesting insect here was a female Migrant Hawker that hung up in front of me, her tattered wings suggested that she had already led a full life.

Migrant Hawker and Stonechat

At Deenethorpe village another Red Admiral was noted but I couldn't find any odes along the Willowbrook. The nearby airfield hosted a female Stonechat and plenty of Meadow Pipits but they were the pick of the birds. Insects included at least three Speckled Woods, a Small Heath and a Small Copper while there were several Common Darters too. My stroll along the A427 towards Weldon did not produce much of note and it wasn't long before I caught my bus home.

Speckled Wood and Common Darter.