We had another good day out on August 7th, with a bit of a cliff-hanger in as much as thinking that we were not going to see any Cranes at Willow Tree Fen, but the encounter with one of the off-duty volunteers enabled us to see 3, if not all 4 of the resident Cranes, albeit in the distance. Goes to show how a bit of local knowledge helps! We also managed a good number of raptors, with Red Kite, Buzzards, Marsh Harriers, Hobby and Kestrel all showing up.

One surprise was to find a new car park and a public trail around one of the Baston Lakes. We took advantage of that and saw lots of butterflies and demoiselles, but decided that we didn’t have time for a full exploration – maybe next time!

And more surprises came at Deeping Lakes, with a view of a juvenile Green Woodpecker, then a family of Goosanders (unusual for Lincolnshire at this time of year), and a fly-by Peregrine Falcon.

We came away with a total of 46 bird species, plus a number of butterflies and dragonflies;

Butterflies:- Small white, Clouded yellow, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Holly Blue, Common Blue.

Dragon/damselflies:- Common blue damselfly, Emerald damselfly, Migrant Hawker, Brown Hawker, Ruddy Darter.

 (With thanks to Steve - and Margaret, I suspect – for those lists.)

I believe that the Clouded Yellow was a first for year for several of us.

Photos are disappointing, I’m afraid, but a few are to be found here.