Messingham Sand Quarries....01.06.2014.

As Trace would be sleeping this morning after her night shift,i decided to have a few hours at my second summer home at the Sand Quarries.The weather was fairly nice today,with some good spells of warm sun,albeit a tad breezy.Some very welcome bird sightings were logged today and included 2 of our lovely summer visitors,Cuckoo and Spotted Flycatcher,which sadly are both declining in numbers and becoming a scarcer summer sight and sound.There was 2 singing male Spotted Flycatchers seen today,both singing males,1 in the usual location of the pine plantation,the other in the small wood next to the heathy area and both gave great views as they searched for arboreal food and sang their rather non descript songs,lets hope they can attract some females and successfully nest.The Cuckoo sightings on the other hand were a little more promising with a male and female observed together,the male incessantly chasing her all over the reserve,a nice sight to see and hopefully they again will be successful in their breeding attempts.Insect sightings were widespread around the reserve and the highlights went to two species of odonata,Black-tailed Skimmer and Hairy Dragonfly.The former was a single immature male observed adjacent to the pine plantation and gave some nice photo opportunities and the latter included at least 7 individuals scattered in several locations about the reserve.The only other notable insect sighting went to my 'First' local Red Admiral of the year.A few interesting wildflowers are starting to make an appearance around the many pathways and these included Tormentil,Silver Weed,Southern-marsh Orchid and the rather non descript Common Twayblade,the Orchids being later than last years showing.Too soon it was time to travel home after another great visit to this lovely little gem of a reserve.

Reed Warbler.

Willow Warbler.

Immature male Black-tailed Skimmer.

Male Hairy Dragonfly.