Friday June 27

I seem to be on a mid-summer roll. A visit to the northern Arrow Valley on Thursday was centred on Arrow Golf Course. The wannabe highlight was a possible calling Curlew, which after half an hour of thought became a probable, but later after much soul-searching was disregarded on the grounds that I didn't see it and I suppose it could have been another bird mimicking the call. The sound had come from north of the golf course in the direction of Beoley, but a wander over there produced nothing to encourage me further.

The course, with its mature woodlands and pools, was stuffed with common birds including breeding Coot and Mute Swan. My best find was a Red-eyed Damselfly typically resting on a lily pad.

During the afternoon I tried the pheromone lure in the garden, this time targeting Red-belted Clearwing for the second time. This time I was successful although my attempts to photograph it were just as cack-handed as with the Yellow-legged Clearwing.

Finally, this morning I took our friend Richard to Morgrove Coppice in the hope of adding Spotted Flycatcher to the year list. Well there was no sign of them, the trail having gone cold since a month ago, but I did get a year-tick when a Common Crossbill called in flight and was glimpsed for a millisecond before it disappeared behind the towering pines.

We retraced our steps in the hope of a second appearance but were not successful.

The weather is warming up again and the moth-trap will be deployed tonight. There should be lots of them.