Paxton Dragonfly Walks

We were lucky with the weather (warm but not too hot) for our walks at Paxton today with a good turnout of people keen to explore Paxton's Dragonflies. We split into two groups with our group exploring the Heron Trail in the morning and then Cobham Hide and part of the Meadow Trail in the afternoon. Trying to separate the Common and Ruddy Darters occupied a lot of time - seems to be the pale stripe on the legs in the Common Darters plus the 'Waists'  in the shape of the Ruddy Darter. Usual title sheet to check IDs

 

Preparing for Dragonfly Day at Paxton

Today is our Dragonfly day at Paxton Pits reserve with walks in the morning and afternoon - thankfully in cooler conditions according to the forecast. Yesterday we did short walks in the heat just to check on what is around. Certainly the Migrant Hawkers are the stars with their stationary hovering as well as frequent perching but there are Brown Hawkers, Common and Ruddy Darters and some Damselflies on the wing as well as some incomers this year such as the Lesser Emperor and Southern Migrant Hawker though with a reserve as large as Paxton, sightings cannot be guaranteed!! Plenty of other insects if the flying conditions are right such as the Beewolf Wasp.

Guided Walks – Dragonfly Day – Paxton Pits Nature Reserve

RSPB Sandy 12th August

 A curtailed but enjoyable RPSNature outing to Sandy on Wednesday - those booked to come on the outing who lived a long distance away took the advice to postpone to a cooler time so just Chris and I braved the temperatures spending most of our time where we could stand in the shade photographing insects on sunlit plants. We concentrated on the Butterflies and Hummingbird Hawkmoths in the morning. In the afternoon, I hoped to get a range of Bee species on the heather to start to learn IDs for this group of insects but there were very few active in the intense heat so we decided it was wise to also abandon the open spaces and head for home!!

Eclipse 12th August 2026

The last total eclipse visible in the UK was 1999 (and the next with equivalent totality in June 2151!) so yesterday's event was quite significant though not as spectacular as a lot of people who gathered on the highest point in Toft were expecting with the hype from the media. Certainly the light values fell at the time of totality and the colour of the light moved to the bluer end of the spectrum. 

Delights of a Garden Pond

 Having spent the morning clearing brambles etc from the surroundings of my garden wildlife pond, I could sit comfortably in the shade observing the comings and goings in the afternoon. A species of wasp not recorded this year arrived first, Dolichivespula media, the Median wasp only arrived in England in the 1980s and is slowly expanding its range northwards and becoming more common. This was joined by Common wasp, Hornets, Paper wasps and several Bumble bees. A Blue-tailed Damselfly and a much too friendly Southern Hawker (egg laying right under my feet!) completed the party of guests.