Invertebrates Galore

Lovely summer sunshine, but a little breezy. I popped over to Tophill in search of dragonflies and butterflies today, and was not disappointed. So far the summer has been a disaster for both with many affected by the heavy rains.

My first quest was for Marbled Whites which normally would be about in their dozens by now. North Scrub did give up half a dozen or so, but they kept quite low in the breeze, perhaps laying eggs while they could. Other butterflies seen today included Meadow Brown, Ringlets, Large Skippers, a single 7-Spot Burnett, Speckled Woods, and a couple of small Tortoiseshell and Red Admirals.

Marbled White

Marbled White

The stars today were the dragonflies. The wind presented a few problems, but where there was some shelter there were plenty to see. By far the numerous were the Common Darter, but there were also a few Southern and Brown Hawkers around the reserve. And there was plenty of food available for them.

Southern Hawker

Common Darter

Common Darter

Head-on Common Darter

Male Common Darter

Long-Horned Beetle

From a birding perspective we are still in that quiet period of the year, and wait for the autumn migration to really start. Tophill has recently seen a couple of Green Sandpipers, and today there were a couple of Greenshank stopping in at Watton Burrow Pits on their way south.

Greenshank