Thankfully, the forecast (for once) was about spot on! The bridleway or Roman Road just east of the car park, at the end of Otmoor Lane, is a fantastic place for insects in general. This day was no exception, with butterflies and dragonflies zipping around - Red Admirals in particular were abundant.
From late July and into August, it is a reliable area to look for Brown Hairstreaks, a very localised species, albeit slowly spreading and one that perhaps will recolonise Northants in the future.
It took a little while, but eventually I caught sight of a couple of male Brown Hairstreaks around the tops of some blackthorn along the bridleway, with one of them resting lower down on some foliage for a short while to soak up some rays. Further on, what must be an Ash 'master tree' held perhaps as many as 10 BHs (all males from what I could see), as well as a lone Purple Hairstreak and a Willow Emerald Damselfly nearby too.
As time pressed on, my hopes of getting one down close up were fading fast. Then just when I was thinking I may need to head home fairly soon, a pristine Brown Hairstreak dropped onto a creeping thistle right next to me, while I was chatting to someone! Weirdly, in the space of about 20 minutes I then had a further two down to creeping thistles in the same area, including one that had been severely munched by presumably, a dragonfly!
Having been treated to a really good showing, I headed back home. On the way back, I was also treated to a surprise trio of Hobbys hunting by the side of the road between Middleton Stoney and Ardley. Conveniently, a lay-by was close by and I was able to park up and enjoy them for a few minutes.
Elsewhere this past week, I've popped into Grimsbury Res and Bicester Wetland a couple of times each at least. Grimsbury held a Sanderling on 27/07, found by Gareth B - a scarce patch bird on return passage. If we get them it is almost exclusively in Spring, so a pleasant surprise.
Bicester Wetland has held up to 16 Green Sandpipers in the past 10 days or so and were joined by both a Dunlin and a young Little Ringed Plover last week. Wader passage is now underway and with the reserve showing plenty of shoreline and mud, let's hope for something a bit scarcer over the coming few weeks.
The weather has been a bit of a mixed bag and not great for seeing butterflies. However inbetween the showers and cloudy skies, there has been a bit of sun on occasion. Of interest, the garden produced a couple of Gatekeeper abberations, one I'm yet to ID, however the other is ab. tithonellus, showing a few extra spots and standing out amongst the more standard ones.
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