Thursday May 23

A warm and sunny morning with a very light south-westerly. I decided to do my duty and complete my now biennial census of the breeding birds.

It could be seen as a bit of a chore, but must have gained me some good karma because I was rewarded with an unexpected year-tick. Between Bannams Wood and the village there is a thick copse, and as I approached I heard a rich warbling song. I knew I needed to see the bird to be sure, and was delighted when it popped into the open for a second and confirmed my suspicion that it was a Garden Warbler. This species, if it occurs at all, tends to appear early in May and then moves on. I can only recall one autumn record, so I had thought my chance had gone for this year.

I did try to photograph it, but only managed a shot of the bush. Except that on closer inspection there is a brown blur which could be the bird flying back into cover. I'm too embarrassed to show it here, but ... oh go on then.

Brown blur

Birdwise that was pretty much the highlight. The pair of Teal and a pair of Gadwall remain on the evaporating nearest flash, and I could see a single Little Ringed Plover.

As the day warmed I became increasingly distracted by insects, and added Banded Demoiselle and Broad-bodied Chaser to the dragonfly year-list, Silver-ground Carpet to the moth list, and saw the second Red Admiral and Brown Argus butterflies of the year.

Mother Shipton moth

Female Beautiful Demoiselle

Male Beautiful Demoiselle

Broad-bodied Chaser - female

Azure Damselfly - adult male

I saw a lot more Mother Shipton moths than usual, maybe half a dozen without really trying, and Beautiful Demoiselles were also in good numbers (about seven).

Then there were the Gnats.

Every dot is a Gnat