A hot weekend!

Saturday 26th May 2012 Hot and sunny, light N/E breeze. I was working Saturday morning, and I received a message that 2 White-winged Black Terns had been found by Martyn Wilson at Stodmarsh, so when I got home I had a quick bit of lunch and a change of clothes I headed over to have a look. They are really lovely birds, so I was happy when I got there and they were showing well, feeding over the main lake the whole time I was there. I stayed a couple of hours, enjoying the birds, and attempting some photos. The sun was right in my eyes, so the photos aren't great, and my lens seems to struggle to lock-on to birds in flight. Anyway, record shots below:

Sunday 27th May 2012 Hot and Sunny, light east breeze. This morning I was at Chambers Wall by 5am, in search of migrants, but the day was just too nice. There were hardly any birds of note: 1 Common Sandpiper in Coldharbour, 2 Grey Partridges, 1 Wheatear along the embankment, 1 Marsh Harrier and a few Yellow Wagtails. At about 7:30 I drove round to Shuart, and took a walk up to the coast, where I met Tim for a chat. Again, little to see, a pair of Turtle Doves, more Yellow Wags, the usual warblers. About 9.30 I took a walk down to Brook to look for dragonflies. Loads of Hairy Dragonflies, none of which settled, and plenty of Common Blue Damselflies. Out on lillypads away from the bank were a few Red-eyed Damselflies:

A Common Buzzard flew over being harassed by a couple of crows, and a Hobby passed over as I was leaving. I had a short walk round East Blean Woods looking for butterflies, of which there were none, though a Nightingale was singing by the car park. Last stop of the morning was Thornden Woods, where at last I found a few Heath Fritillaries:

This evening I took a walk at Westbere, inspired by Marc's sighting of a Scarce Chaser recently. On the trail behind the lake, leading to the river, there were loads of Blue-tailed Damsels, and several Red-eyed Damsels, though as at Brook earlier today, the Red-eyeds were away from the bank. There were also many Hairy Dragonflies. I've seen more this year than in any other year. Along the river I came across a few Banded Demoiselles, mostly males but 1 or 2 females:

I spent a couple of hours strolling slowly along the river, finding a few Azure Damselflies, and an immature Scarce Chaser. It must have been my lucky day, because the chaser eventually landed on some nettles, within reach of the long lens.

What a fantastic day out.