Sunday May 15

A sunny start, but it became mostly cloudy by late morning. A very light northerly breeze kept the temperature on the cool side.

I stepped from my car on arrival and immediately noticed an adult Peregrine on the pylons.

A good start. The reed bed continues to contain only Sedge Warblers, the eventual total for the whole area being four singing males.

An adult male Linnet in full summer plumage

Dave arrived, and we set off on the usual circuit. It was difficult to shake off the feeling that spring migration is at an end, and with virtually no new arrivals to look at we inevitably started concentrating on insects.

The first Small Heath of the year

The pair of Canada Geese on the main pool now have three goslings, while we also noticed a Moorhen with a brood of three on the Clowes Farm pool. Two juvenile Blackbirds were recently fledged but at the Flash field there seems to be only one Lapwing sitting, and the presence of both adult Redshanks may mean that their breeding attempt has faltered. A single Little Ringed Plover was present again, as were the four Shelducks, both pairs engaging in courtship behaviour.

Back to insects, with a continuing dearth of damselflies I was left to photograph this distinctive species of Froghopper.

Cercopis vulnerata

Apparently it is unusual among Froghoppers in that the nymphs develop underground, but like their more familiar cousins they also surround themselves in cuckoo-spit.

The final piece of bird action consisted of a pair of Sand Martins which flew over before joining a spiralling flock of House Martins and Swifts hunting insects in a thermal.