Another Monday Barnwell Visit

A change of day did not bring a change in the weather and if anything there was even less sun than yesterday. Despite this unpromising outlook I took my usual stroll around Barnwell CP where I saw a few bits and bobs though nothing too exciting.

Mandarin and Emperor.

Barnwell must be one of the best places to see Mandarin Ducks in the county, today there were over ten and all much closer than the Blatherwycke hoards. Kingfishers were vocal again today as they moved along the river and the park. Two Siskins were a nice surprise as I don't normally see them in the Summer but I gather that small numbers have been on the move. Final decent bird was a Common Tern that visited several of the lakes before heading off down the river.

Scarce Chaser and Southern Hawker.

Few dragons were seen today and Common Darter was the only species that was represented by more than a singleton with about half a dozen present. A male Scarce Chaser and females of both Emperor and Southern Hawker were sitting out the windier spells of weather in amongst the vegetation. Rather more damselflies were on the wing with the cloud tolerant species such as Blue-tailed and Common Blue the most numerous. Banded Demoiselles were taking a leaf from the dragons' book and shelter amongst the nettles. The Red-eyeds were clearly made of sterner stuff as they took up station on lily pads. A single male Small Red-eyed was also seen and unlike last week's example I'm pretty sure of the identification.

Commas and Red Admiral.

Commas are emerging in very good numbers and I can't remember seeing so many while there were lots of Red Admirals too. The pristine condition of many of the latter suggests that they were locally born rather than migrants. More Gatekeepers were noted, fresh examples must rate as one of our most attractive brown butterflies. Other species seen today included Meadow Browns and Ringlets as well as lesser quantities of Large Skipper and Small Tortoiseshell. Whites seem to be doing well too as many Small and Green-veined were observed.

Gatekeeper and Small Red-eyed Damselfly.

Family Jewels

A long walk today taking in Weldon, Deenethorpe, Deene and Priors Hall though it was well worth the effort. As well as seeing several year firsts I also saw plenty of other interesting stuff despite the gusty wind.

Gatekeeper and sick looking Rabbit.

First highlight was a Crossbill flying over as I entered Bears Lane heading in the direction of Harry's Park Wood. The next part of the walk across the fields was pretty dull as most wildlife appeared to be sheltering from the wind. Deenethorpe Airfield produced my first Gatekeeper of the year, I saw a second later in the day at Priors Hall. Very few Small Heaths were active today and it looks as if this brood is coming to the end of their flying period.

Green Sandpiper and Broad-bodied Chaser.

Deene Lake inflow held three Green Sandpipers and a small flock of Lapwings, I presume that the sandpipers are returning failed breeders. The main lake had both Black-tailed Skimmer and a male Broad-bodied Chaser though the dragons were soon to be overshadowed. Walking along the lake shore produced a sighting of my first Willow Emerald of the year which was a female. Coincidentally she was within feet of where I saw my first one last year too. Other damsels in the area were Common Blue and Blue-tailed.

Willow Emerald and Southern Hawker.

Good numbers of butterflies were seen in the bramble filled lane that leads from Kirby Lane to the eastern end of Priors Hall. Hundreds of Meadow Browns and a double figure count of Commas joined a swirling mass of Ringlets and Marbled Whites sheltering from the wind. Such a supply of food and shelter proved irresistible to a Southern Hawker that landed long enough to let me take a picture. A couple of Ruddy Darters were also found in the same area.

Emerald Damselfly and Emperor.

Around the ponds at Priors Hall I found a young male Emerald Damselfly which was my second new damsel of the year. Several adult male Ruddy Darters were seen and there were also good numbers of Emperors on site. A Four-spotted Chaser was my sixth dragon of the day. Best butterfly at Priors Hall was a female Silver-washed Fritillary though a second Gatekeeper as mentioned earlier was none too shoddy either.

Silver-washed Fritillary and Green-veined White.

Better Than I Thought It Would Be.

Yet more dull and grey weather with an added dose of wind thrown in for good measure did not fill me with joy when I set out today. Deciding to stay local I headed over to Willowbrook Industrial Estate to see what might be braving the wind and occasional shower.

Small and Essex Skippers

It turned out that plenty of Marbled Whites were and also some of their relatives, mostly Ringlets and Meadow Browns but also a single Small Heath. A decent amount of whites were seen with many of them being Green-veined. One Small Copper was observed though not photographed and there were singles of Comma and Small Tortoiseshell. Much of my time was spent chasing little skippers around trying to see if there were any Essex about. Eventually I managed to identify two, there may have been more but few were inclined to settle. Lots of Common Blue Damselflies were present on site and there was also a single Emperor.

Marbled Whites and Comma.

Ringlets and Meadow Browns were the commonest species in Brookfield Plantation and the former included at least one aberration amongst their number. Large Skippers were another species present in good numbers though some are beginning to look a little raggedy now. Highlight was a pristine male Silver-washed Fritillary that was nectaring on a patch of Ragwort and I had good and prolonged views. Other species noted in the plantation were Large Wood and Speckled Wood. As well as more Common Blue Damselflies odes were represented by two Common Darters.

Silver-washed Fritillary and aberrant Ringlet.

There was very little other wildlife of note today apart from a Peregrine seen at one of their usual spots.

Peregrine.

Still Windy

Today was another gusty one and that coupled with the predominantly grey skies meant that it took a lot of motivation to drag myself out. I did eventually summon enough enthusiasm and energy to make my way over to Barnwell where I had a couple of hours strolling around and generally wishing that the sun might appear.

Blue-tailed selection, I couldn't get a good pic of the rufescens form.

Despite the total cloud cover whilst I was there I managed to find a few damselflies to look at of which Banded Demoiselles were the commonest. Plenty of Blue-tailed were mostly hiding in the vegetation and I saw all of the colour variations that this attractive little species is known for. Other species seen were Common Blue, Azure and Red-eyed Damselflies. One of the latter appeared to be enduring a particularly bad run of luck having flown into a spider's web while also suffering from the worst mite infestation that I've seen. I wondered if perhaps the poor thing had flown into the net deliberately to end its own suffering! When I posted a picture of it on Facebook I had my I.D upgraded to Small Red-eyed, given that this was by a bloke that wrote one of the field guides that I constantly refer to I'm in no position to argue. Only a few dragonflies were noted and they were immature Common Darters, presumably they were too young to know any better.

Suffering Small Red-eyed and Common Blue Damselfly.

Few butterflies were found and most of those were flushed from cover by my clumsy feet. Ringlets and Meadow Browns were the commonest while the only other species seen were Red Admiral and Small Skipper. Not much else in the way of interesting wildlife though I heard a Kingfisher several times and a few Mandarin Ducks were seen including several young.

NOTE. Turns out that the mite infested spider food was in fact a Red-eyed Damselfly.

Pristine Ringlet and duck Mandarin.

Thar She Glows

My brother and I made a late visit to the wildlife trust reserve at Collyweston hoping to see some Glow Worms. This is a species that I saw a few times during the 1980's at Souther Wood whilst looking for Nightjars but I hadn't seen one in the county since.

Sunset.

I wasn't entirely optimistic that our efforts would meet with success due to the still strong and fairly cool breeze but we waited patiently for night to fall. Some other wildlife made the wait a little more bearable with an overhead Yellow Wagtail the first to show. Somewhat later a Sparrowhawk came past and was presumably trying to catch something on its way to roost. There were good numbers of Rabbits on site and it was these that probably encouraged a young Fox to pay a visit.

Curious Rabbit and Glow Worm.

Once the sun had set and it was becoming dark my brother managed to find a single female Glow Worm. The green glow was fairly bright and was visible from six or seven feet away and I took a rubbishy record shot. It was good to catch up with one again in the county, I hope the next sighting won't take as long!

Blowing a Gale

Strong winds were the order of the day at Priors Hall as I tried to find some interesting insects in the more sheltered parts of the site. There was quite a bit more sunshine today and a lot less rain so when I did manage to find one of those sheltered areas it was pleasantly warm.

Essex? and Small Skippers

Many Marbled Whites were noted and it's amazing to think that this attractive species only arrived here a couple of years ago. Matching the Marbled Whites in the numbers stakes if not the beauty ones were Meadow Browns. Other browns observed in lesser numbers were Speckled Wood, Small Heath and Ringlet. Few whites were seen though there were quite a few skippers on the wing. Large Skippers are fairly easy to identify but separating Small from Essex is another matter altogether. Apart from the fact that the speedy little blighters keep close to the ground when flying all their chosen foodplants were short species such as clover or Self Heal which made checking the undersides of antennae a tricky business indeed. From the photographs I took I thought that I might have seen two Essex but at the moment I can't be 100% sure. Few other butterflies were braving the blow but I did see Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell and Comma.

Ringlet and Speckled Wood.

The challenging conditions were proving to be not to the liking of either dragonflies or damselflies either. Many damsels were sitting out the gale in long grasses or on other plants and appropriately enough Common Blues were the most numerous. Rather more Banded Demoiselles than usual were present including a few males around the ponds. Other damsels noted were Blue-tailed, Azure and Red-eyed. Commonest dragon was Four-spotted Chaser with a double figure count being recorded. It looks as if more Common Darters emerged this morning, I'm guessing their first flights were quite exciting! Few other species were seen though these included an Emperor and several Black-tailed Skimmers.

Emperor and Four-spotted Chaser.

No interesting birds were noted today and I didn't manage to find any other wildlife to report, they were probably all sitting out the wind which was a decision I agreed with after a couple of hours.

Showers

Today was dominated by squally showers and blustery wind with just the occasional sunny interlude though it did brighten up to leave quite a nice evening. I went for a long stroll today as far as Spanhoe Quarry and although I didn't see a huge amount of interesting stuff it was OK.

Marbled White and Meadow Brown

At Willowbrook Industrial Estate there were a few Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns braving the wind while in Brookfield Plantation there were quite a lot of Ringlets and a single Common Blue Damsel. I was hoping to see Crossbills here but my search came to nothing. My walk to and beyond Gretton added Small Heaths and s few whites to the list but not much else.

Ringlet and Small Heath

Recent rain means that two of the ponds at Spanhoe now have water in them though the weather kept dragonfly activity to a minimum. About half a dozen Common Darters looked newly emerged and there was a single Emperor ovipositing. Damsels were represented by Azure, Common Blue and Blue-tailed, I had hoped that some Emeralds might be out but if any were I didn't see them. Of the butterflies seen a Small Skipper was perhaps the best.

Small Skipper and Azure Damselfly.

Harringworth Lodge Lake had a single male Small Red-eyed Damselfly and a Black-tailed Skimmer but not much else. The other butterflies seen today were Speckled Wood, Small, Green-veined and Large White, Small Tortoiseshell and Large Skipper.

Common Darter and Small Red-eyed Damselfly.

Fallow Deer were seen in and near Brookfield Plantation and also near Spanhoe and among the birds noted today were Peregrine and Osprey.