Woodwalton again

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I heard that sometimes its better to visit a reserve earlier in the morning before its too hot so decided to try Woodwalton Marsh again in the hope of finding some green hairstreaks.   There actually was less butterflies flying than before, with just one common blue, small heath, brimstone and atortoiseshell.   I noticed a couple of people who had entered the reserve after me staring at one particular spot so made my way over to them see what they had found - it turned out to be a grizzled skipper which I hadnt seen before.  Unfortunately it had partly closed its wings but I could see enough detail to identify it.

I then made my way over to Monks Wood with the idea of a longer visit than last time and hoping to see some black hairstreaks.  It was a good sign to see a few cars already parked so I walked up the main ride to where a few people had gathered.  It turned out they were also on the look out for black hairstreaks and someone had already seen  a few.  It wasnt long before several small butterflies were noticed flitting around the vegetation but very few were willing to settle and when  they did, due to social distancing we had to take turns to photograph.   I waited till everyone else had moved one then managed to find one perched still enough nearby so I was able to get my photo myself.

I also managed to photograph a large dragonfly which I think is a broad bodied chaser.

No one  had seen anything else of interest a so I decided not to wait around any more and hopefully would return in a few weeks when there should be some more species around.

 small heath

 
common blue

grizzled skipper



 black hairstreak

dragonfly

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