A Sunny Sunday

The day started badly, I opened the Tern hide and realised there was someone sitting on the western shore of Ibsley Water, resulting there being no birds on the western half of the lake. I went round and spoke him and he went off alright, although a bit oblivious.

The moth trap was fairly busy with a couple of migrants, in the shape of dark swordgrass and a rusty dotted pearl. There was also a peach blossom, one of the more attractive moth species.

There are a fair few grey species, but I think the miller is the smartest, it is also probably the palest.

The morning was taken up with the first Sunday of the month volunteers, we were pulling ragwort again, unfortunately it is that time of year and there is still a fair bit to go yet. Still we have now got the western shore of Ellingham Lake done, or at least the major part of it.

In the afternoon I had a dragonfly walk, twelve people came for a two hour walk. It was a little disappointing, something I put down to the poor weather throughout most of June reducing numbers. We saw lots of common blue damselflies a few blue-tailed damselflies and a single large red damselfly.

Dragonflies were few but included egg-laying emperor, black-tailed skimmer, brown hawker and most surprisingly an egg-laying downy emerald.

At the end of the day from the Tern hide I saw the roe buck again, he was feeding right out on the lake edge.

Birds are still rather few, or at least ones of interest. On Ibsley Water a little ringed plover is still sitting on eggs and the geese are moulting in swarms, well hundreds. The geese included at least 5 Egyptian geese and the black swan is still in the mute swan flock.