Saturday started with an early morning jaunt to Southease in East Sussex to twitch the previous days showy Squacco Heron. Previous day's being the operative words. Not a sniff. Local birders had been on site since 4.30am in the hope of seeing it emerge from the trees it was seen to roost in the night before with Little Egrets. A Buzzard drifted low over the roost and promptly flushed a dozen egrets but our target wasn't amongst them.
Myself and Sharpy decided to cut our losses after an hour or so and pay a visit to Thursley Common with a view to brushing up on our amateurish odonata id skills. The good old camera/book strategy paid dividends I think, but mistake corrections are always most welcome.
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| Azure Damselfly |
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| Black Darter |
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| Black Tailed Skimmer |
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| Common Blue Damselfly |
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| Keeled Skimmer |
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| Large Red Damselfly |
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Small Red Damselfly
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The resident Dartford Warblers managed to elude us but of avian interest were Redstart and Hobby. Common Lizards were soaking up the rays along the boardwalk,
...... and some beautifully intricate Orchids (help please if you can, I don't have an Orchid book) were growing round the margin of one of the pools
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| Orchid sp ??? |
It might be mid-summer doldrums time where birds are concerned but there are still plenty of excuses to grab your bins and camera and head for the countryside.
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