With an unsettled days weather forecast again for today,i was undecided whether to go out,but as the sun broke through another rain shower i decided to head over to MSQ in the hope there had been an emergence of the hoped for Dragons and Damsels in numbers at last.It soon became apparent that a few species had emerged and after meeting up with Dave i began to count the species.It was a close run thing between Azure and Common-blue Damselflies for sheer numbers with 529 and 448 respectively counted and this was probably an under count as mass clouds were encountered in a few areas were there was shelter from the north westerly wind.Other species logged and their numbers included 8 immature Red-eyed Damselfly,6 Large-red Damselfly and 131 Blue-tailed Damselfly,with my first Hairy Dragonflies being seen also,with 7 individuals being counted.Several species of Syrphidae were also seen today and included the attractive Leucozona leucorum and Dasysyrphus albostriata,Eristalis pertinax and three 'First's' for the year in the form of Parhelophilus frutetorum/versicolor,Episyrphus balteatus and Epistrophe elegans.A few butterflies were on the wing in between the showers featuring 7 species,the best of which was a very active Wall,which would not settle for photos.The vast family of Coleoptera found on and around the reserve today included a few niceties with Cream-spot Ladybird being the best,found feeding on a Birch in the heath area,a cracking little species and other members of this family included several Seven-spot and a single 14 spot.Very few new birds were recorded today,but included 6 singing male Garden Warbler and 40 Swift.The former being my fave warbler,with it's lovely liquid rambling song,a real joy to see and sadly a declining species through habitat loss in many areas.So today was a very productive visit and we saw no rain and the temperature was fairly warm.Hopefully over the next week more emergences will mean some bigger numbers on the next visit.
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| Large White. |
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| Common Footman Caterpillar. |
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| Cream-spot Ladybird. |
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| Chiffchaff. |
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| Female Hairy Dragonfly. |
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| Larval case of Coleophora serratella |
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| Male Pheasant. |
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