Sunday August 19

Cloudy with a moderate westerly which eased during the morning.

Our initial impression was that there were not many migrants about, but managed to pull a Yellow Wagtail out of the hat as it flew from the pool and headed away, initially over the flash field, before veering away to the east.

The water level in both flashes looked ideal, and once again there were plenty of waders; three Lapwings, 10 Green Sandpipers, and 17 Snipe as well as 14 Teal and several Pied Wagtails. More significantly for us was the presence of an adult Ringed Plover.

Ringed Plover

This was the first this year, and the species is just less than annual. Not quite worth a fist pump, but definitely the sort of lift we needed.

The rest of the visit was a bit quiet. Insects were few; a Speckled Wood, a Small Heath, one or two "whites", a few Ruddy darters and hawkers, and a single Dark Bush Cricket.

Muntjac

Always nice to see a Muntjac, but this deer could arguably be considered a pest species because of the damage they do to the woodland understory.