July 8th 2008

Arrived at Draycote Water mid-morning where there was a cold blustery wind and I just managed to make it to the cafe with Bob Hazell before it rained. Birds seen up to then were Sand Martin, Sparrowhawk, Common Sandpiper 4 in toft bay and Lapwing 55 flying over rainbow corner plus Yellowhammer 2, Skylark, Green Woodpecker 7, Grey Wagtail 2, Buzzard 6, Black-headed Gull 3 and 15 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
After the rain in a sunny warm sheltered spot me and Bob spent over an hour looking for Butterflies and managed to find Ringlet 60+, Large White 1, Meadow Brown 5, Gatekeeper 2, Large Skipper 1, Small Copper 20, Marbled White 12 (another 5 were in Country Park) and Speckled Wood 5 plus Common Blue and Azure Damselfly and also two Bee Orchids but the flowers had gone over.

Marbled White by Bob Hazell
The dodgy duck of curious parentage I have been going on about has finally been correctly identified as a Cape Shelduck female by Dave Hutton so many thanks and just shows how much I know about exotic ducks. A South African species so he picks up the star prize of mounted Yellowhammer droppings.
Also of interest on my patch was this Pyramidal Orchid at an undisclosed site which Bob took better pictures of than me. Not a rare species but one of those people love to pick.

The weather looks really crap for tomorrow so its shoe shopping for me and little else by the look of things.

Richard