Sunday June 4

The sunny start was brief in duration and for most of the morning it was cloudy and cool, with a few light showers.

Dave and I trudged round with reduced expectations of seeing many birds, and the best we could manage were a Little Egret, and a Little Ringed Plover, while a singing Reed Warbler and a singing Cuckoo were also present. All of these birds have been around for at least a week.

Despite the temperature and gloom, insects were slightly more interesting. We saw the first two Large Skippers of the season, puzzled over what I thought was a bee, but was actually a soldier fly called Oxycera rara, and disturbed a number of moths.

The highlight was a spotted Roe Deer fawn which disappeared into the woodland before I could photograph it.

Here are some shots I did manage to take.

Banded Demoiselle

Large Skipper

Flecked General - Stratiomys singularior

Straw Dot

Silver-ground Carpet

Stop Press: The soldier fly in the middle photo which in my blundering novice investigation I had decided was Oxyura rara has been reviewed after I input the photograph into irecords as Flecked General Stratiomys singularior, which is normally a coastal species and only the second record for Warwickshire, the last being in 1986.

How very exciting.