A trip down to Holme was the order of the day. 2 adult Yellow-legged Gulls and a 2nd summer Mediterranean Gull were at Thornham Harbour, the former being quite notable for the recording area. 2 Greenshanks and 4 Green Sandpipers were on the NWT pools, while a day-count of 20 Whimbrels was reasonable. A decent passage of hirundines was of note, with 95 Swallows and 80 Sand Martins west during the day. The sea yielded little other than 3 Fulmars and 9 Gannets, a far cry from yesterday. On Redwell Marsh a Green Sandpiper and 11 Black-tailed Godwits were seen, while a Turtle Dove was in the area. The most obvious event of the day was a superb influx of insects, with 9000+ 7-spot Ladybirds counted around the observatory and dunes in front of the pines, although the true total will have been considerably higher, as well as 500+ Syrphus ribesii hoverflies. Many species of butterflies were seen coming in off the sea, with 320 Large Whites, 50 Peacocks, 90 Painted Ladies, 20 Red Admirals, 4 Common Blues and 35 Small Tortishells in off the sea and in the dunes, with 30 Small Whites, 25 Small Heaths, 3 Brown Argus, 30 Meadow Browns, 3 Speckled Woods and 1 Gatekeeper around the reserve, as were 20 Common Darters and 10 Migrant Hawkers. The true scale of the ladybird invasion was just awesome, with swarms of 100s regularly moving through the area - I've never seen anything like it!
7-spot Ladybird
hoverfly sp.
Common Darter action - note remenants of a fly in the mouth on the last shot!
Migrant Hawker
Painted Lady
Common Snipe - one of several on Redwell Marsh
