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.