By the time I arrived at Brandon Marsh this morning I'd missed the
Marsh Harrier over Alban's Reedbed. Although as I post this update I see it was seen again at 18:30hrs this evening.
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| Small Copper on River Meadow |
With the birding still quiet my morning was spent with the butterflies, bugs and dragonflies and I finally connected with my first ever
Hairy Dragonfly for Brandon, a species that was only noted for the first time here last year. Unfortunately, that was only one of two dragonfly species seen today, the other a
Brown Hawker at Ted Jury Hide.
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| Sun Fly (hoverfly) |
Lots of
Banded Demoiselle damselflies on the wing down on River Meadow and here a year first
Small Copper butterfly and a
Small Yellow Underwing moth. My 'bug shot' of the day was a
Sun Fly, which according to legend only appears when the sun shines! It's scientific name Helophilus pendulus apparently means "dangling marsh-lover"
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| Small Yellow Underwing Moth |
Other butterflies noted today included: (2)
Brimstone,
Comma, (2)
Large White, (2)
Red Admiral (3)
Speckled Wood,
Peacock and (8)
Green-veined White.
