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The heat over the last few weeks has become rather intolerable, and I haven't had much enthusiasm for going out on trips. The mornings can be nice and pleasant, but it tends to heat up rather quickly and by lunch time Ive had enough, though the same could be said for the wildlife.
A couple of weekends back, I thought it worth paying can early morning visit to Danemead and Broxbourne Woods. Both sites were full of butterflies of course-Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, Skippers, Ringlets and Whites of course, and lots of Silver Washed Fritillaries. The larger dragonflies were also very evident, with Brown and Southern Hawkers very active.
Danemad was very dry, and as a result flowering plants were hard to come by, with only a few bramble patches providing nectar and the odd meadow plant still surviving in the more shady spots. No sign of any orchids. I had recently learnt that the rather scarce for Herts Fragrant Agrimony is present here, but the only plant I could locate was the more common variety.
Broxbourne seems to be getting better now following the work in recent years with signs of the heath returning-Brooms in particular being more prominent. However it is still hard to find Purple Emperors and White Admirals, though one of each was seen while I was there (the Emperor was seen flying over my car a few minutes before I got back to it). The pond was a nice place to stop, being very shaded. Azure, Common Blue, Blue Tailed and Large Red damselflies were present, along with a family of Moorhens. A Purple Hairstreak kept dropping down to drink-it was a bit too far away for a decent image though.

Last Saturday I went out with Colin to Derbyshire. We had intended to go to Sheffield for an Audoin's Gull, but unfortunately it departed shortly after sunrise. However I had anticipated this and had a couple of alternative sites in mind. A few miles west of Chesterfield we searched an an area of moor hoping to find a spot to stop off and explore for dragonflies. Everything seemed to be fenced off though, with no-where to stop and no apparent access points so we carried on to Padley Gorge.
We had visited some years back and enjoyed the scenery immensely. Being a rather nice day (humid though as they had had rain here the day before, lucky b..gers) it was very busy but still enjoyable. Didn't encounter any of the birds I had hoped to see-Wood Warbler Redstart and Pied Flycatcher. Instead it seemed to be full of Nuthatches, tits and Song Thrushes. Up on the moor we found a couple of Common Hawkers, and the butterflies included Small heath, Speckled Wood, lots of Whites and a Dark Green Fritillary.
We then headed up the Hope Valley a bit to a place called LeadMill. We used to stop off here in the days when we visited the upper Derwent and Ladybower every year as it was a reliable spot for Dippers. Not this year, though there are only a few small sections of the river that we could access.
Nice day out, but it would have been nice to see at least one of the target birds.

I forgot these Images Yesterday

Insects around Aston End

The heat has been rather unpleasant over the last week and the garden is starting to suffer, but thanks to judicious recycling, we have been keeping things going. Had to top the pond up though, as it had dropped considerably and the birds were no longer able to get to the water to drink. I have had several damselflies this year, and currently there are a few Azure Damsels around.

While there have been a few interesting things reported I didn't really want to do anything too taxing, and have largely stayed in during the day. However, this morning I left an hour or so earlier and took a stroll around Aston End-I haven't done this for a while and was hoping that it would produce a few butterflies. With hindsight, I think I should have saved a bit of weight, and kept the 100-400 zoom behind as everything could be done with the very nice Olympus 60mm macro.
Initially, just after 8am, birds were active, as it was still reasonably cool but as the morning progressed they tended to get a bit more elusive. Lots of Coal Tits singing in the Lanterns Lane plantation, usually I hear one or two birds but there were at least eight. Blackbirds, a couple of Song Thrushes and a few Robins were also singing around here. Blackcaps were vocal as well, and they seemed to be present in most stretches of wood and scrub. I would have expected singing to have stopped now, but perhaps the late spring has something to do with it.
The first butterflies were found along the lane as I approached Aston End-Large and small Whites and a few Meadow Browns. Heading down to the ford, Ringlets and Gatekeepers started to appear and I saw my first Marbled White. The river at the ford was bone dry of course (though one or two pools survived in the shady areas upstream) and a lovely red band of poppies could be seen on the other side along the Walkern Road  (a designated roadside habitat).

I was surprised at how damp it was in the shade up here-the cool nights have led to heavy dew in the mornings. Most of the Marbled Whites I saw were along this stretch, perhaps a dozen along a 100m stretch. Many roosting Ringlets were here in the shady bits with lots of Meadow Browns as well. Had a few Skippers as well-Large and Small, and a few bees, bugs and flies.

 Eventually the poppies fizzled out and so did the insects, though I was starting to see  Small Tortoiseshells on the footpath, and Meadow Browns were still flitting around. I stopped for a bit by the wooden bridge over the river as it was nice and cool in the shade. Watched a young Whitethroat feed in the lush vegetation in the river bed for a while. Scanning the skies was productive, with several distant Kites and Buzzards in the thermals. One Swallow was seen (there are usually several active nests in the stables near here so obviously not a good year for them) and a small flock of Swifts over Aston far to the south.
The path near the stables was nice and shady, and there was still some water in the river bed. No sign of any dragon or damselflies unfortunately, but I did find several Speckled Woods and Commas along this stretch. It was getting close to 11am now, the heat was really getting up and birds had pretty much disappeared. I had hoped to see a few more butterflies and insects on the stretch up to Chells Manor but the usual areas were very overgrown and rank, and apart from a few whites and browns I didn't see anything of note.
Couple of things. No blue butterflies anywhere, or Small Heaths, and while there were lots of Small Tortoiseshells, and a couple of Commas, where were the Red Admirals and Peacocks? There weren't all that many beetles or bugs on the Knapweeds thistles and umbellifers either, and what I did see were limited to a few species.