Friday 2nd September 2011 - Holt and Grimley

Today, Bev and I decided to have a drive over to Grimley for a few hours.  The weather was hot and sunny so it looked good for insects.   With a drink and a narna sandwich packed we headed off.

On route we decided to check out the nearby sling pool at Holt.  Unlike last time I visited it was pretty quite here although an immature Common Redstart on a nearby hedgerow was a bonus.   Good numbers of warblers were present in the adjacent wooded area with both Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff singing occasionally.

Next stop was the north end of Camp Lane pits.  Here there were 3 Northern Wheatear present at the NW corner.  There was very little of note on the scrapes here.

We then popped to the causeway and checked out the main pool at Camp Lane.  The only waders present were a single Common Sandpiper and half a dozen Lapwing.  The highlight for me though was seeing 3 Wigeon on the pool.  These are the first I have seen back this Autumn.  Also of note on the pool were 2 Shoveller.  Little Grebes have again bred well here with a number of juvenile birds seen on the pool.  Good numbers of Gadwall and Tufted Duck were also present.  The only hirrundines recorded were small numbers of Swallows.

Dragonflies were well represented along the causeway with 4 Migrant Hawker, 1 Brown Hawker and a 4 Common Darter recorded.  A single Common Blue Damselfly was also seen.

The nice weather had also bought out the butterflies with Common Blue, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Small White seen.

All in all it was a pleasant way to while away a few hours.  Incidentally, the prize for photo of the day goes to Bev for her fantastic series of shots of a Comma....the last photo is an absolute blinder! (see photos below).

Wigeon

Little Grebe (juvenile)

Common Darter (over-mature female)

Comma

Photo by Bev Kernohan

Photo by Bev Kernohan

Photo by Bev Kernohan