Sunday 24 June 2018

24th June


It’s been a while since I last posted which has reflected a post-holiday feeling of things being a bit tame in comparison and little to report and but I managed a walk along the river
There were really good numbers of Banded Demoiselles with at least 50 individuals, the majority seen were males…


They were aggressively interacting with each other but more surprisingly with an Emperor Dragonfly which was holding territory along the river. A number of demoiselles were ‘mobbing’ it as it patrolled. I don’t know whether this is just a mating/territorial instinct or whether they saw the emperor as some sort of threat.
Birds seen along here included Kingfisher, a single Yellow Wagtail, two corn Buntings, three Reed buntings, six Herons, a pair of Oystercatchers and a single Lapwing…


A small group of Sand Martin had set up a colony of around a dozen nests in a newly exposed face but were absent from one of last year’s main sites and generally seem to be around in smaller numbers. It’s the same with House Martins with no nesting pairs recorded in Ainderby Steeple so far this year although Morton numbers seem broadly similar including this group gathering mud in one of the last damp field ditches in the parish…