Some Recent Images

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.