The first area we visited was the so called "Bittern bus stop", an area overlooking the large reedbed. As the name suggests, this is a great area to spot the Bitterns (3 breeding pairs this year apparently), and we got very lucky, seeing our first bird within 10 minutes of arriving. We also recorded Common Tern here. On the walk here we also got excellent views of both male and female Dingy Skipper.
Dingy Skipper (female top, male below)
We next walked down to Wath Ings hide where we were very surprised to find 2 Pink-footed Geese in amongst the Greylags and Canada Geese.
Walking back to the Visitors' Centre we popped into Wader Scrape and Family Hide adding a very nice breeding plumaged Mediterranean Gull to the list.
The best part of the day, however, was still to come, as we managed to record some super new insects, namely Mother Shipton (a day-flying moth), Common Blue, Azure and Blue-tailed Damselflies, Orange Tip, Brimstone butterfly and 3 beautiful Four-spotted Chasers, including one very obliging individual.
Mother Shipton
Four-spotted Chaser
Year List update:
152 - Common Tern
153 - Bittern
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