Alkborough......a fine day!.

Lacewing sp. Chrysopa carnea.

Devil's-coach Horse Beetle.

Devil's-coach Horse Beetle.

Pleated Inkcap.

An early start today,saw Dave and myself heading for the excellent Alkborough Flats to see what the avian world had to offer.After parking up near the church we made our way down to the main hide to see what was about.En-route to the hide,a Kingfisher was seen briefly as it flew along the small drainage dyke adjacent to the hide and hundreds of Teal were giving superb views in a flooded field nearby and 6 Bearded Tit exploded from a nearby reedbed,gradually gaining height until we lost them over the hillside towards the village.This is the first time i have seen the species gain such height when using this type of 'Irruptive' behaviour.From the hide,the highlights included 6 Spotted Redshank roosting on the edge of the main area of water,giving some nice views and 283 Black-tailed Godwit,29 Ruff,1 Grey Plover and a huge flock of at least 6000 Golden Plover provided a fantastic spectacle as they whirled around,almost turning the sky black.A return visit later in the day saw a very brief view of the juvenile Long-billed Dowitcher as it flew onto the main water area adjacent to the main hide,preened briefly and was then immediately flushed and flew with the Black-tailed Godwit flock,but i could not relocate it.It flew in from the next pool to the north and most probably went back to the same place again.After a visit to the superb 'Paddock's' Cafe for a full english,we decided to walk around to the hide overlooking Trent Falls and the fields and woodland areas to the southern end of the reserve.Highlights around this area of the reserve included a couple of Lesser Redpoll,one watched feeding on thistle heads with a small group of Goldfinch giving some nice views and a single female Brambling watched nearby in a Sycamore tree,giving away its presence with it's distinctive 'Eheep' call,a lovely surprise and species to see.Other highlights included 2 Jay,at least 7 Marsh Harrier which included 2 adult males and a Grey Wagtail in the small waterworks compound near the car park.Insect sighting highlights today were provided by 15 Common Darter,2 Migrant Hawker and a Devils-coach Horse Beetle.The only mammal sighting of note went to a single Roe Deer,early morning.