Sunday July 31

Cloudy and a little cooler this morning. A very light north-westerly breeze.

I decided to walk along the road through the village and back down to the pool. This route rarely seems to produce much of note, and today was no exception. In fact the whole site was pretty quiet for birds, the only noteworthy events being the presence of several small flocks heralding the onset of autumn; 40 Goldfinches, 50 Starlings, 43 Lapwings, 80 Jackdaws, and seven Green Sandpipers for example.

A juvenile Goldfinch

Most of the Goldfinches were juveniles, and there may actually have been two separate flocks of about 40 birds.

Fortunately, on quiet days other stuff comes to the rescue. The field behind the pool contains a spectacular bloom of yellow flowers which I believe are Prickly Sowthistles.

The field also contains stacks of Red-tailed Bumblebees, and is also a haven for Reed Buntings, Skylarks, Whitethroats, and Goldfinches. While I was searching for birds, a buck Roe Deer appeared and stuck its tongue out at me.

Shortly afterwards it barked its annoyance, and headed off over the ridge. A second buck then appeared and did the same thing.

The day was a little too cool for many dragonflies to be on the wing, but there were enough butterflies  to encourage me to do another 15 minute count. As luck would have it the period produced the two butterfly stars of the day, a Comma and a Small Copper.

Comma

Small Copper and Meadow Brown

I was particularly pleased to see the Small Copper as it was my first this year, and has been highlighted by Butterfly Conservation as a declining species. They have never been particularly obvious on the patch, but I expect to see one or two every year.

Finally, I took a photograph of a plant at the dragonfly pools in order to try to identify it. It grows quite readily there, and now seems to be coming into flower.

Not the most spectacular thing, but I have worked out that it is called Gypsywort and likes to grow near water. Which it does.