Sunday May 19

A largely hazy sunny morning with cloud building later, and virtually no wind.

As expected, bird migration is now tailing off. A third Reed Warbler singing in the reed bed represented the best count since they first occurred. I had them down to die out because of the dryness of the reed bed, so what do I know?

A few more Swifts occupied the air space, and the Greenshank was still present. A remarkable seven Gadwalls are present on the flash pool along with two pairs of Little Ringed Plovers and around five pairs of Lapwings.

Lapwing

None of the above appear to have produced young yet, but there are at least five broods of Greylag Geese which is easily the best season to date. A new brood of Mallard was also present.

The best find today was a Brown Argus, the first I have seen here in Spring. The underside of the forewing lacked the extra spot near the base which a Common Blue might have shown, and the black dot on the upper forewing is also meant to be diagnostic.

Brown Argus

An insect which I had not knowingly seen here before was a longhorn beetle called Stenocorus meridianus. This is a very big family of beetles, but some of them seem to be pretty distinctive.

Stenocorus meridianus

Other butterflies seen comprised Orange-tips, a Brimstone, Large, Small, and Green-veined Whites, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Small Heaths, and a Speckled Wood.

Although we saw several Large Red Damselflies, and a Beautiful Demoiselle before the sun went in, cloudier conditions restricted our tally at the Dragonfly Pools to three teneral damselflies which may prove to be Azure Damselflies.

Azure Damselfly

The Azure damselflies have been accepted as correct by the County Recorder.