Worth The Effort? - Probably

 Today's weather was dominated by a fairly strong south westerly wind bringing in a series of sometimes heavy showers. Although sunshine was a rare commodity during my stroll it did brighten up during the afternoon. In contrast to last week's excitements today was rather more pedestrian and I had to work to see anything of note. My route today took me as far as Deene Lake taking in Deenethorpe and Weldon along the way.

Small Red-eyed Damselfly and Black Swan

I began by checking some of Corby's industrial sites though I did not manage to find much to report. Kirby Lane was a little on the dull side too though I did find a couple of Common Blues sheltering in grass near the Horizon Centre. Deene Park was paying host to a large Audi car club rally but I still found a couple of things of interest. Near the dam a small selection of damselflies included several Small Red-eyeds while the highlight at the inflow was a group of six Green Sandpipers. My arrival at the inflow had coincided with one of the longer and heavier showers and I took shelter under some trees noting a couple of Black Swans and three Little Egrets as I waited.

Faded glory - Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper.

Close by and Deenethorpe village held both Banded Demoiselles and White-legged Damselfly. The nearby airfield was being blasted by the wind though in the shelter provided by neighbouring Weldon Park Wood there was a small number of Migrant Hawkers. Butterflies here included Small Heaths as well as Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper. Walking across the fields along the public footpath produced sightings of Red Admiral and a Holly Blue with the latter only my third of the year.

Holly Blue and Red Admiral.

Bears Lane provided a sighting of  a female Willow Emerald near the pond adjacent to the airstrip which was my first record here. The airstrip itself was home to a Brown Hare while there were individuals of Common Darter and Large Skipper nearby. I ended my nature spotting in Weldon where a few more Banded Demoiselles were on view.

Willow Emerald and Brown Hare

Ladies Man

 After yesterday's adventures out of the county I kept things local today with a walk around Harry's Park Wood being the limit of my ambitions. Although I failed in my efforts to see any Purple Hairstreaks I enjoyed my wander around and saw plenty of other butterflies during the sunnier parts of the morning.

Silver-washed Fritillary and Painted Lady

During the early part of my visit it was fairly cloudy and only a few browns and whites were on the wing. It was pleasing to see quite a few Large Whites though I'm fairly certain that any growers of cabbages might disagree! Another species putting in a good showing was Painted Lady, about half a dozen were seen which constitutes a return to form after last year's dismal showing. With sunny spells now becoming more frequent and longer there was a noticeable rise in butterfly numbers. Both male and female Silver-washed Fritillaries were seen with the male looking in good shape given that it's quite late in their season. One White and two Red Admirals almost gave the morning a nautical theme while more new brood Peacocks were noted. One male Common Blue was a good record for the site while the skipper tally was made up of Large and Small. 

Large White and Peacock.

A good number of Migrant hawkers were hunting over the rides and they were my first of the year. They were way too active to photograph and so too was a Brown Hawker. More accommodating in that respect was a male Southern Hawker just outside of the wood along Bears Lane. Other odes noted on my walk were Common Darter and Common Blue Damselflies.

Common Blues.

Best bird today was a Raven and I heard a good number of Nuthatches suggesting that they've enjoyed a decent breeding season. The only other wildlife that showed were a couple of Brown Hares, one on the airstrip and another in a field neighbouring the wood.

Southern Hawker, Common Darter and Wren.

Striking Gold

 Alan Shorrock offered me the opportunity to visit Frampton Marsh today and I leapt at the suggestion. With Autumn wader migration starting to gather pace the chance to check this usually excellent reserve was just too good to miss. While the weather forecast had suggested a dry but grey sort of day there were actually some pretty sharp and heavy showers during our visit, I'm so glad that I'd took a rain coat with me!

Pacific Golden Plover

Star of the show today was a Pacific Golden Plover which initially was showing on the salt marsh beyond the sea wall, we got there just before a rather heavy rain shower arrived. Although I could only manage a few record shots of the bird I did at least get great views through the scope. During the rainy spell the bird became quite mobile and we got some good views, once the shower had stopped the bird returned to its favourite patch on the salt marsh. This was only the third time that I've seen this species and luckily for me two of them have been in Summer plumage.

Wood Sandpiper and Spotted Redshanks

Another good wader showing from the sea wall was a close Wood Sandpiper, we enjoyed excellent views. Other waders of note included four Spotted Redshanks and a good sized flock of Greenshanks. Out on the marsh a Short-eared Owl was fence post hopping in the distance while several Yellow Wagtails were also noted. Returnning to those waders and Black-tailed Godwits were the commonest species though Ruffs and Avocets did not lag that far behind them. Numbers of Dunlin were gathered on the reserve though a check through them could not produce anything more exotic. Frampton has in recent years become a good place to see Spoonbills and today was no exception with at least a dozen birds being seen. Not too much else to mention but it was a pretty good session and even that unwelcome rain could not put the dampeners on it.

Ruff, Knot and Spoonbills

Third Time Unlucky

 Alan Shorrock and I made a third and quite probably final attempt to see the Finedon Southern Migrant Hawker. The weather was notably better than on our previous two visits, there was plenty of sunshine, but rather blustery conditions were not ode friendly. We spent several hours searching for the exotic visitor but our efforts sadly came to naught. looks as if we will have to venture to Canvey if we want to see SMH.

Brown Hawker and Four-spotted Chaser

Despite our dip related disaster the visit was not a complete failure by any means. Shozzer managed to find a couple of Migrant Hawkers that I contrived to miss while we both saw Southern and Brown Hawkers. An Emperor was holding court over the pond where several Four-spotted Chasers were also active. A final dragonfly making its way on to the list was a single male Common Darter. Best damselflies were once again Willow Emeralds with at least five being noted on our walk around the site. Not many other damsels appeared to be enjoying the wind with just Common Blue, Azure and Blue-tailed being noted.

Willow Emerald and Brown Argus

It turned out to be a good visit for watching butterflies and we found quite a few species. Highlights were a Brown Argus and several Essex Skippers and there were a few new brood Peacocks on the wing too. Not much else to report apart from the noisy young Sparrowhawks that we've recorded on previous visits.

Essex Skipper and Gatekeeper.

Double Dipping

 Alan Shorrock and I took a bit of a chance this afternoon when we set out in an attempt to see the Southern Migrant Hawker at Finedon Pocket Park. The weather forecast once again made mention of sunny spells but the reality suggested some optimism on the part of the weather guessers. We left Corby in warm sunshine but arrived to find threatening clouds and the odd rumble of thunder at Finedon.

Emerald Damselflies and Southern Hawker.

Rain soon began to fall shortly after our arrival and we spent half an hour hiding under the dense foliage of some trees listening to the thunder and watching the rain bucketing down. Happily it did ease and then stop encouraging us to press on towards the pond. There was a short spell of sunshine while we were there but sadly it was not long enough to encourage any dragons to come out. A small selection of damsels were a little hardier though of which several Emeralds were the best. Single Brown and Southern Hawkers were hunting along the paths some distance from the pond but that was that as far as odes went. With another bank of clouds moving in to block out both the sun and any chance that we had of seeing the SMH we threw in the towel and called it quits. Few butterflies were noted, a female Silver-washed Fritillary being the most memorable while the best birds were several young Sparrowhawks whose begging calls vied with the thunder to provide the soundtrack to our visit.

Wandering White-leg

 Continued with my Monday Barnwell CP addiction this morning though with the school holidays now in full swing I may have to come up with an alternative and less noisy option. An earlyish start saw me taking up my familiar position in the Kingfisher Hide hoping for a view of their majesties.

Kingfisher and Garden Warbler.

At first things looked a little unpromising, I could hear calling coming from neighbouring North Lake but there was initially no activity in front of me. I contented myself by watching the Mandarins feeding or snoozing until a 'fisher put in a welcome appearance. The King or perhaps I should say Queenfisher given that it was a she took up station for a short space of time on one of their favoured islands and I had some good views. She was flushed by a passing dog and sped off out of sight, over the next half an hour or so I had a few more brief sightings of birds in flight. Not many other birds to report other than a family party of Garden Warblers that I enjoyed watching.

White-legged and Small Red-eyed Damselflies.

The highlight amongst the day's odes was a White-legged Damselfly which was only my second ever at this site. I'd imagine it's wandered from somewhere along the Nene though this river does not appear to be very good for this species. Other damsels included the usual cast of characters of which Banded Demoiselles were the commonest. No surprises amongst the dragons though I finally managed to get a few pics of Brown Hawker. Not too bad a selection of butterflies were on offer with an Essex Skipper being the pick of the bunch. I also had some good views of a fresh looking Comma and an equally pristine looking Peacock.

Brown Hawker and Comma.

With the park getting increasingly busy I chose to pop along to the fishing lake near the marina. Best ode was a male Scarce Chaser and I also enjoyed seeing good numbers of Small Red-eyed Damselflies on lilies near the bridge. The lake itself held a reasonable selection of odes though there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Brimstone and another view of her majesty!

More Willow Emeralds

 Friday's dipression had eased somewhat by the time I got on the bus for Weldon this morning though Friday's weather seemed content to linger. Those far flung and heady days of last week's heatwave were all but forgotten as temperatures had fallen a little and clouds have taken a hold. I wasn't entirely sure that I would see anything of note though my morning session at Priors Hall was entertaining enough (just!) to warrant the effort.

Willow Emerald and violacea form of Blue-tailed Damsel

Damselflies contributed most of the ode activity and a small number of teneral Willow Emeralds were again the highlight. I wonder if emerging on overcast days reduces the risk of predation, there were certainly very few dragons on the wing today. Commonest damsel was Blue-tailed, this species is usually the most active on overcast days. Not too far behind in the number stakes was Common Blue and there were still a few Azures keeping them company. A single female Banded Demoiselle completed my damsel list for today. The only dragon identified was Common Darter, a few tenerals were seen to take their first flights.

Common Darter and Silver-washed Frit.

Not surprisingly given the conditions it was the browns that provided most of the butterfly sightings. Ringlets and Meadow Browns were the commonest species though both Gatekeepers and Marbled Whites were present in decent enough numbers. A single Speckled Wood was probably a survivor from the previous brood as there are very few about at the moment. Perhaps the best species seen today was a male Silver-washed Fritillary as there's only a relatively small population here. Rather a lot of Large Skippers are still on the wing while both Green-veined and Small Whites were seen. Numbers of Six-spotted Burnets are rising and I also saw a couple of Common Heaths.

Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown.

Best bird was also the last that I saw today with an Oystercatcher present in the quarry area on the new workings. These workings have restricted the view of the lake meaning that future birding here will be difficult if not quite impossible. The only other wildlife noted day was a single Fallow Deer near one of the ponds.

Large Skipper and Oystercatcher.