Early August

The Reservoir has been quiet yet again with just a couple of Common Sandpiper to hold any interest. A Kingfisher was observed carrying food, so it would be reasonable to assume they have bred on-site, there have been a scattering of common Warblers but it has been really quiet. Today saw two Common Terns fly through but they didn’t linger.

Tuesday I visited Middleton RSPB where there was Garganey, Dunlin and two Willow Tit which were seen near the Canal Scrape but I later saw them over the border in Warwickshire at Fishers Mill Pool.

Wednesday saw me at Ladywalk where a Green Sandpiper and Dunlin were the highlights as well as a ride to Riverwalk hide in the Wardens four-wheel drive!

Friday saw Joy and I travel to Minsmere on the Suffolk coast where we had an interesting day which included seeing the Western Purple Swamp Hen a potential first for the UK. Perhaps more interestingly we saw Honey Buzzard, Spotted Redshank, Stone Curlew along with a host of waders. Also I bumped into Lee Johnson who used to run this blog, he has recently become a father – that will be a reality check if there ever was one. Good luck with the twitching in the future Lee – oh and all the best!

Purple Swamp Hen, Minsmere RSPB, Suffolk

Whilst we were making our way to the Purple Swamp Monster we observed a dragonfly lying on the ground with its wings flapping, we couldn’t make out what was wrong, that was until we saw it had caught a Wasp! The Wasp was in the Dragonflies jaws but the Wasp had managed to deploy its sting and both were locked in a macabre embrace.

There were a lot of Butterflies at Minsmere and I saw my first Grayling. At Shustoke today I had eight species with a Brimstone a little unexpected.