Amwell

With the planned weekend trip for butterflies out of the window thanks to the wind and rain, I decided to pop into Amwell for a few hours this morning. Most of the morning was spent chatting-William had just come back from a Hebredian cruise with Basking Sharks, Minke and a host of great birds, and Phil had been in Madera where photographs of bats, petrels and orchids featured. Unfortunately William was just too late for the River Warbler at Applecross.

As many of us are into butterflies we discussed various sites in Hertfordshire and beyond, apparently Chalkhill Blues and Silver Washed Fritillaries are on the wing at the moment, so I will have to see what I can do next week.

The only birds of note were Common Sandpiper and a Little Ring Plover. Two Teal were among the moulting ducks, and Coot and Lapwing numbers were very high. After the frequent showers there were small flocks of House and Sand Martin over the water, as well as some Swifts and Swallows. Hobby seems to be scarce this year, and only one seems to be present at the moment.