Rather windy, though warm when the sun came out, and as a result there were a lot of Swifts around, but very few raptors noted-two Buzzards and a Kestrel. Have not yet seen a Hobby here yet. One Cuckoo still calling, and plenty of activity in the reed beds from its victims with lots of Reed Warblers feeding. Brian had noted a mammal earlier, presumed to be a Fox in the reeds. We were surprised when a female Muntjac suddenly emerged, tail up and barking. It returned to the reeds but continued calling for some time. Can only presume there was a fawn somewhere and the (probable) Fox had done something.
I left Brian to feed the viewpoint Robin and went down to Hollycross. The wind was a concern and it took a long time to find anything. I eventually found abundant numbers of Azure and Blue Tailed damselflies in the grass, along with a few Common Blues and Large Reds.
Lats night, the first Scarce Chaser for Herts had been found at the far end of the trail and I spent some time here but could not locate it. Not surprised as a search last evening was unsuccessful.
Picked up a few Banded Demoiselles on the way back, and the only large Dragonfly, a Hairy in the shelter of the bridge.
With not much else here I decided to go down to Wake Pond at Epping. Took a bit longer than expected driving through Roydon and Epping as the traffic was pretty bad in places and I got there around noon and only remained around half an hour . Ran into Darren Bast as I got to the pond and soon after picked up several Downy emeralds in one of the sheltered bays, plus a few pairs of Large Red Damsels and an Emperor. Also got a nice birding tick as I had completely forgotten about the Mandarins that nest here.
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