Common blue butterfly

A bright sunny morning, almost summery! Pete and I were back at King's Dyke NR again, helping to lead a walk for the local group of the Wildlife Trust. There was a pretty good turnout, and lots of interest - so much so that the walk lasted until 2.30pm, rather than ending at 1pm as scheduled. Amongst the more exciting observations were:

3 marsh harriers soaring overhead
a hobby catching dragonflies
a water-rail calling
turtle doves purring
lots of four-spotted chasers battling for territiries
variable damselflies egg laying
a wall-brown butterfly sunning itself on the path
a freshly emerged common blue sitting on bird's-foot-trefoil
lots of early marsh-orchids
and a colony of loricate peritrichs (which superficially looks like a blob of greenish jelly!)

By the time we returned home the clouds were gathering again. After such an exhausting weekend I capitulated to the boys request for a Chinese take-away, and have to admit that it was really nice not to have to cook for once!