Sunday July 8

Another extremely warm day with very little breeze. I was joined by Dave and we discussed whether to rush straight to the Flash field to see if we could see the Ruff, or be more circumspect. Dave was keen to see the Silver-washed Fritillaries so we opted for the road route.

We hadn't got very far before we saw a single Fritillary floating among the hoards of Gatekeepers and Ringlets. It didn't settle, and neither did a small butterfly which could have been a Hairstreak sp. We reached Paul's pool and there we spotted two broods of Tufted Ducks (one of six and one of five), and a single Holly Blue.

Holly Blue

A single Comma landed in the same area. Dave twice heard a Grey Wagtail, but I missed it completely.

Comma

Unlike last week I had made no attempt to systematically log the commoner butterflies, and I was soon regretting that decision. All I can say is that Gatekeepers were much more prevalent, while Ringlets, Meadow Browns, and Marbled Whites were flying in somewhat reduced numbers.

We reached Bannams Wood, even venturing a short distance up the track (and out of the recording area) before returning to the road where we promptly found a small colony of Purple Hairstreaks. We could see at least three insects resting on the oak leaves above us, but suspected they were the tip of the iceberg.

Purple Hairstreak

From very tiny butterflies we graduated to a great big one as Dave spotted a single Silver-washed Fritillary nectaring on a bramble.

Silver-washed Fritillary

When we reached the northern edge of the wood we turned to walk down through the fields towards the pool. In the dry grass hoards of grasshoppers were jumping out of our way. Thirty years ago I had no trouble hearing their stridulations (often a vital clue to the species), but now I seem to have lost the ability to hear some of them and I am stuck with trying to identify them by sight.

Field Grasshopper

Lesser Marsh Grasshopper

The key feature, I seem to recall, is the shape of the keel of the pronotum on the thorax. Although I am a bit rusty on the subject,  and after viewing other images and thinking about things, I have concluded that the species shown are Field Grasshopper and Lesser Marsh Grasshopper. If I could have heard them I would know for sure.

We reached the pool and saw Mike's photography hide. Sadly there was no sign of the Ruff, the only waders being a Lapwing and a juvenile Little Ringed Plover on the rapidly expanding shoreline. The nearest flash was almost completely dry but still supported about 30 Lapwings and four more Little Ringed Plovers, two of them juveniles. The furthest flash was full of water, but we could only see two Teal and a single Green Sandpiper. As usual the near shoreline on the furthest flash is largely obscured by vegetation so it is still just possible that the Ruff was present but out of view. But I think its probably gone.

A disappointing feature of the walk back was our failure to see any White-letter Hairstreaks, although at least one hairstreak did fly along the top of the hedge, but was considered to be Purple Hairstreak. Looking down was more profitable than looking up as we noted three Common Blue butterflies.

Common Blue

The only noteworthy dragonfly species was at least two Small Red-eyed Damselflies on the Kingfisher Pool (the first we have seen there).

Brimstone

Less frequently seen butterflies included the single Brimstone shown above, and the first Peacock of the new generation. By late morning it was getting too hot. Most of the Skippers were not settling, and those that did were Small Skippers.

I have to admit that it was almost a relief to get back to the car and its air-conditioned comfort.