Sunday July 22

A cloudy start, but the sun soon burnt through and it became very warm again. A very slight westerly breeze. As expected, the pool is now well on the way to drying up.

From a birding point of view it felt as though all our eggs were firmly in the basket of hoping there would be something in the Flash field. There were some good signs; 62 Lapwings, a juvenile Little Ringed Plover, a Snipe, nine Green Sandpipers, and seven Teal. Nothing new though. Until Dave spotted a Sand Martin. Whoo hoo, a tick at last. The only problem was that he was some way from me and by the time I'd cottoned on, the bird had made a sharp exit. Never mind, there will be another...surely.

In the meantime, we reverted to looking at insects. It was noticeable that there were more Common Blue butterflies (almost double figures), and about a dozen Brown Arguses in the grass. The skippers we looked at were a mixture of Essex and Small, so I finally got a shot of the former.

Essex Skipper

We also saw at least three Small Coppers, an encouraging sign. Other butterflies included a very worn Red Admiral, and an absolutely pristine Painted Lady.

Small Copper

Fortunately for me, Dave had not given up trying to add birds to the year list. As we stood next to Kingfisher Pool, a movement in the hedge on the other side of the field led him to discover a male Redstart, and this time I managed to see it.

Redstart

A true record shot (distance, heat haze etc).

Painted Lady

Common Blue

Small Heath

By the time we got back to our cars, the heat was getting to us. We were flagging.

However, I was revived when I opened the car door and a moth flew in and landed on the upholstery of the passenger door.

Smoky Wainscot

I know that with my new found enthusiasm for moths I should be able to identify it. But I can't. It's a bit worn and is certainly one of three or four Wainscot species. Basically they all look the same.

PS: many thanks to John S who has suggested the above moth is a Smoky Wainscot.