Something Neglected

A much finer day today, with good periods of sunshine but also a brisk wind. This made for a good insect day, they were concentrated on the south side of any hedge or bush, sunning themselves out of the wind and so easy to find. I start with a picture I neglected to post yesterday, it is of a neglected rustic, one of the dullest moths you are likely to see, perhaps why it gets neglected.
It was a good day for dragonflies, with migrant hawkers, like the male in the picture especially frequent. There were also a few southern hawkers, a report of a golden ringed dragonfly and a good few common darters.

The dragonflies are active hunters of smaller insects, but others also do this, I saw a number of robber-flies sunning themselves on rocks and leaves and got one more or less ok picture. Although unrelated to dragonflies they share the large eyes and elongated body shape.

Butterflies were also in evidence, with red admirals especially frequent, but also comma (picture below), peacock, small tortoiseshell, large white, small white, green-veined white, holly blue, silver-washed fritillary, meadow brown, speckled wood and brown argus.

The bird highlights were headlined by a pied flycatcher seen early on outside the Goosander hide, sadly this was seen by only one person, although a late report of one on Rockford Common could perhaps have been the same bird. For most the several appearances of the osprey topped the bill, although it was last seen heading off very high to the south, so it will be interesting to see if it is seen tomorrow. A single swift was again seen and the two turnstone and two ringed plover were doubtless those seen since Friday. Other birds included a peregrine, 9 Egyptian geese, 4+ common sandpiper and several hundred sand martin.

Whilst in tracking down a group of men with eight or nine dogs hunting rabbits at the end of the day I came across a young fox on the north shore of Ibsley Water, perhaps the one I saw curled up like a cat by a fireside on the lake edge there yesterday when looking across from the Lapwing hide. Such poaching a fairly regular nuisance, causing a good bit of disturbance, on this occasion I caught up with them just before they headed south between Ibsley Water and Mockbeggar Lake, so the effects were not too bad, just the north shore of Iblsey Water being disturbed.