Avocet, Quail and damselflies.

Hello

An early morning visit to the Lilbourne Meadows reserve provided for three Green Sandpipers, at least one Oystercatcher, one plus Little Ringed Plovers and on territory Meadow Pipits and Yellow Wagtail. There were nine Little Egrets on the dwindling flood water meadows and breeding birds with young included Lapwing and Gadwall. Mammals included three Roe Deer. Five Little Ringed Plovers were on the adjacent DIRFT pools.

Eleanor ran around the southern section of Pitsford Reservoir this morning and was surprised to see an Avocet on the dam by the valve tower at 7am. This bird later flew past her on it's way towards the causeway but wasn't noted again. The drake Red-crested Pochard and a Cuckoo were by the Gorse Bushes.

The Purple Heron again didn't show at Summer Leys LNR but two Cuckoos included a rufous phase bird did. A Spotted Flycatcher was on the village Green at Creaton and a Quail was heard calling from a cover crop on the Cottesbrooke estate this evening (no public access).

A visit to the Welland valley this afternoon in the vicinity of Gretton Weir was good for a variety of odonata which included lots of White-legged Damselflies, many of them in cop. Another eight species of damselfly and dragonflies were present but the bad news was that there were large numbers of dead fish, particularly Chub, Dace and Perch. The Environment Agency were on-site and trying to determine the reasons behind the big die off. Two Cuckoos were very vocal around the riverside trees there.

Regards

Neil M

The Purple Heron
at Summer Leys LNR
(but not today) courtesy
of Jim Dunkley.

Buck Roe Deer.

Doe Roe Deer.

Male White-legged Damselfly.

Large Red Damselfly.

Female Banded Demoiselle.