July 21st to 23rd

July 21^st
Draycote Water did not have much Sunday morning while today we managed 6 Common Tern, 4 Little Egret, 59 Mute Swan and a party of 9 Common Sandpiper flying pass. Another sighting of House Sparrow added to the two we saw on Saturday means we are having a good year for this species here. Some patience paid off later in the day when we monitored the avian life in a gully with two over grown hawthorn bushes ending up with an impressive 15 Spotted Flycatcher, immature Redstart, female Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, Treecreeper, family of Robins and a few Blue and Great Tits just to keep things ticking over. Later we had two Hobby hunting high over Birdingbury. Big numbers of Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell seen at various locations today.

July 22^nd
Luckily the mist shrouding the Grandborough valley did not drift towards the pond so our walk out to the spit was not hindered by poor visibility. Mind you with only 6 Common Tern, single Common Sandpiper, 5 Yellow-legged Gull, 4 Little Egret and 61 Mute Swan to report it wouldn’t matter if it did. A check on the gulley produced just one Robin but after searching we managed to find 9 Spotted Flycatcher 300 yards away near an overgrown pond.

July 23^rd

Decided to do Napton on the Hill first thing instead of the pond but it was virtually bird less apart from a juvenile Green Woodpecker though a stunning Hummingbird Hawk-moth briefly on the buddleia saved the visit. Ryton Woods was more productive as the day warmed up with 14 Purple Hairstreak, 6 Silver-washed Fritillaries, 4 White Admiral and 30+ Peacock among 12 species seen plus Clouded Border and Vapourer moth. After lunch a trip to Seeswood Pools near Nuneaton was called for to see the Night Heron there and after dining out early evening a visit to the pond on the way home produced 6 Little Egret, 2 Common Sandpiper, 5 Common Tern and 2 Yellow Wagtail. Dave added two more moths to his ever growing garden list with Wood Carpet and Large Emerald over the weekend.

Peacock

Silver-washed Frit

White Admiral

Large Emerald by Bob Hazell