Weird and Wonderful

Began the day at Blatherwycke Lake for my first visit since the spring. At least forty-four Mandarins were seen at their favoured spot along the wooded section of the shore, more may well have been concealed by the vegetation. Good numbers of Wigeon were also present with over thirty seen while a decent sized group of Shoveller were seen too.

Views from Blatherwycke bridge.

Around by the village an albino Peacock graced somebody's garden while the menagerie contained the normal Red-necked Wallabies and Rheas but were joined by at least one kangaroo too, the trio of Llamas were still present in their field across the road. A pair of Black Swans were seen from the bridge as they fed on vegetation at the stream.

Not so wildlife.

Leaving Blatherwycke behind I found a partially leucistic Jackdaw at Bulwick and also a Sparrowhawk. The inflow at Deene Lake had the first three Snipe of the Autumn feeding in the shallows in the company of many Teal. Not much on the main lake though the Black Swans were still present. Good numbers of Common Blue damselflies were seen behind the dam where they were joined by examples of both darter species.

Leucistic Jackdaw, Deenethorpe lane and Snipe and Teal.

A path that connects Kirby Lane with the eastern end of Priors Hall held many more darters and good numbers of Speckled Woods while half a dozen pristine looking Commas appeared to be feeding on blackberries. Numbers of Small Heath remain high though numbers of both Brown Argus and Common Blue butterflies are declining. Rather a lot of Small Whites were seen today with the majority appearing to be egg laying females. Several examples of both Brown and Southern Hawkers were seen around the ponds where they were joined by decent numbers of Migrants.

Common Blue Damsels and Migrant Hawkers.

On the quarry lake there were at least two adult Yellow-legged Gulls and also a Common Sandpiper though bird numbers seemed lower, perhaps not too surprising given that three motorcycles were roaring around the area. I finished my day in the Shoulder of Mutton at Weldon where I tried some Mad Max beer, very nice indeed.

Common Blues, Comma and Yellow-legged Gull.

Weldon Migrants

Spent the last day of my long weekend off down at Weldon where dragonflies were the main focus of my attention. Things were a little slow to begin with but gradually picked up as the temperatures rose.

Migrant Hawker flight views.

Migrant Hawkers were once again the commonest species and one male in particular was particularly showy. One each of Southern and Brown Hawker were hunting around the pond and both species of darter were noted. Damselfly numbers are dropping now and only a few Blue-tailed and Small Red-eyeds were at the pond though there were still reasonable numbers of Banded Demoiselles along the stream. This species lasted until mid October last year and it would be good if they repeated that feat of endurance again.

Common and Ruddy Darter.

A brief wander around the woodland park provided sightings of numerous dogs and a smaller number of butterflies. A tired looking Brown Argus, a Small Heath, several Small and Large Whites and a few Speckled Woods made up the modest total.

Banded Demoiselle and Brown Argus.

Plenty of small birds working their way through the bushes and trees while my dragonfly spotting was temporarily brought to a halt by the brief visit of a Kingfisher.

Seven-spotted Ladybird.

River Return.

Knowing that it was going to be hot and sunny again today was enough to have me making a quick return to Oundle, there's just something about being next to the river in this weather. I chose to walk between the north and south bridges and also braved the brats at Barnwell on the way.

Jolly boating weather.

River traffic was as busy as I've ever seen it with an almost constant passage of narrowboats and cruisers going past. Plenty of walkers too were making the most of the lovely conditions. With all this activity it was not too surprising that few birds were on show though I did see a Kingfisher speeding down the river. A large, twittering flock of hirundines were perching on dead tree branches near the marina and would take off together before settling down again, I suppose that they will soon begin their southerly migration.

Pair of smalls, Copper and White.

Migrant Hawkers were the commonest dragon with males patrolling their territories, it looks as if they prefer areas with trees or hedgerows nearby as they certainly seemed more numerous in such places. My first Brown Hawkers were around Ashton Mill where a very aggressive Small Copper was defending its patch from all comers. At the nearby weir a Banded Demoiselle landed on my head before heading off to some neighbouring nettles. It was one of half a dozen here but they were not seen anywhere else today. Blue tailed Damsels were once again the commonest damsel with small numbers present along the river.

Migrant Hawker and Banded Demoiselle.

Small Whites and Speckled Woods were the most frequently seen butterflies and there were also a few Small Heaths seen on the unmown edges of the fields. Darters were not too common and I suspect that they prefer still water to riverine habitats.

Grey Heron and House Martin.

At Barnwell I added Red-eyed and Small Red-eyed Damselflies to the day list but it was predictably very busy today and I didn't hang around.

That is one interesting wall!

Welcome Autumn.

Various weather people on the telly have said that today is the first day of Autumn but the weather at least suggests that summer still has a say in proceedings. Some plans that didn't quite work out meant that I had a day's holiday from work and rather than waste it went to Priors Hall for a look around.

Caspian Gull.

At the quarry lake there was a collection of bathing gulls which included an immature Caspian Gull in among them. Other species included both Great Black-backed and Herring. Much the usual selection of birds otherwise with a Common Sandpiper being the best.

Black-tailed Skimmer and Common Darter.

There was a surprise amongst the dragonflies today in the shape of a late Black-tailed Skimmer, I think probably a very mature female rather than a male. Both species of darter continue to do well while Migrant Hawkers remain common. Other hawkers included both Brown and Southern while damsels noted were a few Common Blue and two Blue-tailed.

Ruddy Darter and Migrant Hawker.

Speckled Woods remain numerous though Small Heaths seem even more common and although numbers of Common Blues have dropped there were still rather a lot about. What has been a decent year for Brown Argus is continuing and many were observed. Other species seen today were Large and Small Whites as well as a Red Admiral and a Silver=Y moth was also seen.

Speckled Wood and Brown Argus.

Best birds of the day were two Spotted Flycatchers, they have become really scarce around here in the last decade and all records are appreciated. Another passage migrant in the shape of a Yellow Wagtail was seen. On the way out of the site I had another look at the quarry lake and was pleased to find four adult Yellow-legged Gulls.

Very small Common Blue and Silver-Y moth.

Only one mammal was seen today and that was a Brown Hare which stayed true to type and sped off as soon as it was discovered.

Half Day at Oundle

Given that work were good enough to let me escape early I thought that it might be rude to waste it and so hopped on the X4 and headed off to Oundle. Learning from yesterday's mistake I made sure that my camera came with me and happily there were a few things to photograph.

River view and my favourite flowers - hops!

An adult Common Tern was flying around the marina when I arrived while numbers of both Blackcap and Sedge Warbler were feeding in waterside vegetation. As clouds were the dominant feature of today's weather it was not too surprising that insects were only present in small numbers though there were some decent species on offer. Small Coppers are always a treat for me as I never see anywhere near as many as I would like so one today was welcome. Two each of both Common Blue and Small Heath were found though they were outnumbered by Speckled Woods and both Small and Large Whites. A single Green-veined completed the butterfly list for today.

Small Copper, Common Blue and Speckled Wood.

Blue-tailed Damselflies seem to be one of the more cloud tolerant species and they were certainly the most numerous species today and the presence of several tenerals suggests that they' will be around for quite a bit more. A species seemingly on the way out around here are Banded Demoiselles with only a few on view though perhaps that was due to the weather. The only other damsel seen today was a teneral Common Blue. Not too many dragons around though double figures of Migrant Hawkers were observed with most being hunting males. Singles of Brown Hawker and Common Darter were also recorded. While watching out for damsels a large flock of Lapwings flew over, at least fifty individuals must have been involved.

Blue-tailed and Common Blue damselflies.

At Barnwell CP it was a case of avoiding the numerous screeching brats as they ran around enjoying the last week of their holidays. Despite the noise there were a few birds about with the highlight being half a dozen Mandarin ducks. Plenty of tits were moving through and their flocks contained several Chiffchaffs in their number. A sign of the approaching autumn was a large flock of Swallows twittering from the tops of several bushes before they all took off together and headed off to feed. That seemed like a very good idea to me though I favoured a late liquid lunch and so set off into town for a couple of pints.

Sedge Warbler, Mandarin and Goldfinch.

Waders and Willow

Bank Holiday saw me taking a trip out of the county in the company of two friends as we headed over to Frampton Marsh in Lincolnshire. A Stilt Sandpiper had arrived there last week and we hoped to catch up with this extremely rare visitor from North America. Clearly other people had shared the same thought as the car park was full to overflowing when we arrived and we found ourselves parking in a neighbouring field.

Avocet.

Our target was not too difficult to find as it fed amongst hundreds of Black-tailed Godwits on the lagoon next  to the visitor centre. No photos as the bird was always fairly distant and also because for the first time since I began this blog I forgot my camera. We saw the bird from several other view points and had plenty of good scope view of what was only my second example of this species. There was not a large variety of waders today, apart from the many Black-tailed Godwits there were a few Ruff, a Redshank, plenty of Lapwings and an Avocet.

Ruff and Black-tailed Godwit.

While the weather was nowhere near as awful as yesterday's it was still not great but there was just enough sunshine to tempt us into looking for a reported Willow Emerald damselfly. It had been seen and photographed on the pond near the visitor centre where they conduct a certain activity (I'm not using the D word) involving nets and buckets. We looked for quite a while and it was beginning to look a little like I'd bought my Northants luck with me. Happily one of our gang picked one out, a female, perching on a reed. She flew up to grab what looked like a pretty large prey item before landing again to eat it. I was able to get my scope on her and we were able to note the diagnostic pale pterostigmas as she munched her way through her substantial meal. Once finished she disappeared but I'd enjoyed seeing what was only my second ever Willow Emerald and Lincolnshire's fourth I believe. Other species seen around the pond included Migrant Hawker, Common Darter and Blue-tailed Damselfly.

Whooper Swan from today courtesy of Alan Shorrock.

On our way back to the car we found the reported Whooper Swan and as it was with last week's Great Northern Diver at Rutland Water it was good to see a winter species in much nicer conditions than normal.

Willow Emerald from last year at Finedon.

As I can't show pictures of my own from today I've put a few in from previous outings to provide a splash of colour. Alan Shorrock was kind enough to allow me to add a couple of his from Frampton.


Alan Shorrock's record shot of today's Willow Emerald.