Chicks Lost and Taking Flight

Sorry for lack of posts over the last few days, mainly due to internet problems. Despite "good" weather the Little Ringed Plover chicks all seem to have fallen prey to predators, although the largest single Lapwing chick continues on. The Common Terns on the rafts on Ivy lake are starting to fly, the first three, all from one brood, flew on Tuesday and there are still over thirty chicks on the rafts.

The warm conditions have brought out lots of dragonflies with good numbers of Scarce Chaser and more Gold-ringed Dragonflies than I have seen here before. The numbers of Common Blue and Azure Damsels are amazing, with hundreds together in places. The picture shows a male Azure Damselfly.
Moths have been quite good in numbers, with several Privet, Eyed, Elephant and Poplar Hawk-moths. Following on from the sighting of its parasite, I actually saw a Horn-tail near the Centre the other day, seemingly the first for the reserve.