The Sunday morning was overcast and windy but warm and I seriously hoped we would not have history repeat itself with a zero turnout as in 2021.  I couldn’t have been more wrong. We were 12 in number, a great turnout. 

Philip Gibbs identified butterflies and Christina Bessant identified dragonflies.  Nicola Pazdzierska, with her knowledge of dragonflies in particular, also joined us on our walk around Stocker’s Lake.  The other members of the group were:  Janet, Doreen, Christine, Christopher, Marion, Alex, Kate and Michael and myself. 

Within a few minutes we saw a common blue damselfly, however this was the sum total for these beautiful insects on our walk .  We fared much better with butterflies and saw the following:

• 4 Holly Blue

• 6 Speckled Wood – one of which landed and stayed for a while on my clipboard, giving us all a great opportunity to see it up close

• 1 Red Admiral which very kindly showed itself by landing on one of our groups sweatshirt

• 2 Gatekeeper

• 2 Comma

• 2 Meadow Brown

• 7 Green Veined White

• 6 Small White

Thanks to Christopher for providing these photos.  We also saw 2 Mint Moth; 3 Hornet Hoverfly; lots and lots of Pond Skater and a few Water Measurer.  All in all a most enjoyable and successful walk.  

Linda Ascroft, Events Co-ordinator