Sunday August 6

A sunny morning with cloud increasing by lunchtime. A light westerly breeze. I set out with great optimism but as the morning wore on it became more and more like after the Lord Mayor's show.

The main disappointment was that I could find no sign of the Great White Egret. It was still present by late morning yesterday, but Matt had given me the impression it was still flying around a lot. He was trying to relocate it when he rang. Later, came news that the Great White Egret which had been at Walton Hall until Thursday, had reappeared over Compton Verney. Although these localities are about 20 miles away, the obvious inference is that this could be the Morton Bagot bird.

Unfortunately I was not able to find any other birds of particular note. Two Cormorants flew over, the first since the spring, while the wader tally was 12 Green Sandpipers, nine Lapwings, and a juvenile Little Ringed Plover. A Teal was now present on the nearest flash. Five Swifts flying south was the only sign of passage.

Dragonflies were also pretty run of the mill, so it was left to the butterflies to raise my spirits. A couple of male Common Blues were nice to see, and I later saw a Holly Blue, the breeze forcing it to keeps its wings partially open giving an unusual opportunity to see its upper parts.

Common Blue

Common Blue

Holly Blue

Other butterflies seen included numerous Speckled Woods, and a few Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers. A single Painted Lady, and Brimstone were slightly unexpected, while a particularly nice one was the first Small Copper of the year.

Small Copper