1 SEPTEMBER 2026 – TEDNAMBURY and THORLEY WASH

I hadn’t been down to the River Stort (Tednambury and Thorley Wash) for a good part of this long hot summer - the intolerable heat did me no favours whatsoever, playing havoc with my diabetes related issues; so, I spent a lot of the time concentrating on the garden and my wildlife pond. But the heat had subsided considerably, so I thought I’d pay Thorley Wash a long overdue visit.

I started out around 0850 hrs, with plenty of water and some light food, and after a 20-minute wait, took a bus down to Spellbrook, arriving shortly after 0940 hrs.

I thought I’d try Tednambury first, being near to the date I had a family of Ravens last year; but no joy there - the digital mast was occupied by a Lesser Black-backed Gull. But walking along the towpath, it was obvious that there was little if any bird activity, with no signs of any warblers such as Sedge or Reed, and Chiffchaffs, and no Reed Buntings. A Buzzard and two sightings of a Sparrowhawk lifted my spirits slightly, but otherwise it was empty of birds. Migrant Hawker dragonflies were seemingly everywhere, and I was getting some success in photographing them in flight, but I couldn’t turn any of them into Blue Eyed Hawkers (previously known as Southern Migrant Hawkers) despite some having very blue eyes! I had intended to walk up to Tednambury Lock, but the absence of birds generally - although there was a good movement of Swallows - convinced me to turn back to concentrate my efforts on Thorley Wash.

There was a bit of human activity at Spellbrook Lock, with a group of women taking canoeing lessons, which in my eyes meant that there was unlikely to be much seen along the towpath up to Thorley Wash Reserve, and that proved to be the case. Over the bridge onto the reserve, I was surprised just how overgrown everything looked - especially hops that have invaded the bridge itself, and along the towpath up to it - but there was very little insect activity, although I did find a lone Western Willow Emerald Damselfly, which would have been my first for the year were it not for the three I’d had on my wildlife pond at home! There was no sign of any Water Vole activity in the stream, so I ventured into the open, and in the southern sector of the reserve immediately noticed a couple of birds flying up and catching insects from a dead tree and put the binoculars to my eyes; but I certainly didn’t expect what transpired.

One of the birds alighted on a bare branch, so I trained the binoculars on that, and immediately saw a familiar bird, one that I hadn’t seen at Thorley Wash since September 2011 - on the Essex side of the Stort on the Walbury Estate side; it was a Spotted Flycatcher! But there were two. Both birds were heavily streaked on the crown and breast, so I expected they were juveniles, but neither had streaking on the mantle, so were more likely to be adult birds. There was quite a distance between me and the birds and using the 100-400mm telephoto on the camera, wasn’t going to produce a decent image, so I added the 2x Converter to help in this regard. Luckily, the light was excellent, with variable cloud, so I was able to use a reasonable exposure and speed with the lens; although both birds were extremely active, which made it difficult to focus. But I persisted and eventually managed some decent shots. I also noticed a small warbler, with bright yellow breast and underparts, and which I’ve taken to be a juvenile Willow Warbler, as opposed to a Chiffchaff, which would normally be much duller; the first Willow Warbler I’d seen here for a couple of years.

I hadn’t initially intended to walk around the entire reserve, but I wanted to try for more Willow Emerald Damselflies, so I went ahead. There were quite a few grasshoppers along the path, but they were always too quick for me to photograph, so that was a tad disappointing. Within a short space of time, along a very overgrown pathway, I found my second Willow Emerald, which again took off before I could train the camera on it, but it did at least indicate that they were probably quite abundant on the reserve. I took some refreshment on a seat at the northern end of the reserve, noticing one of several Water Buffalo that had been placed on the reserve for the summer. I also saw two more Buzzards here; but nothing more of any interest.

As soon as I got back at the bridge, and took the towpath north, I began to find more Willow Emeralds, some in tandem, although their numbers seemed a little down on previous years. And then increasingly more appeared along the Essex side of the towpath, which meant that they were always going to be difficult to photograph well, due to the riverine environment……………… I didn’t want to fall into the river!

There were several Azure Damselflies, and a couple of Common Blue Damselflies, but other than the Willow Emeralds, a sizeable number of Migrant Hawkers, and one male Emperor Dragonfly, no other species were seen. I did see a few Small White butterflies; a lone Peacock butterfly; a singleton Speckled Wood; a lovely male Common Blue butterfly; and a Latticed Heath Moth, which was only the second I’d ever seen (and the first for Thorley Wash) so that was pleasing. I also saw a few more of the Water Buffalo, emerging from the overgrown Willow trees - sad to see the reserve in that condition, but it has been an exceptionally dry summer, so maybe that was to be expected.

MIGRANT HAWKER CAUGHT IN FLIGHT

MIGRANT HAWKER AT REST

ADULT MOORHEN

JUVENILE MOORHEN

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER

COMMON LIZARD

WATER BUFFALO

LATTICED HEATH MOTH

WESTERN WILLOW EMERALD DAMSELFLY

WESTERN WILLOW EMERALD DAMSELFLIES IN TANDEM

 

 

31 AUGUST 2026 – WESTERN WILLOW EMERALD DAMSELFLY

I’d been photographing a male Western Willow Emerald Damselfly for the second time this month (although of course I have no way of telling if it was in fact the same individual) but when processing the images on my computer, there were two things I hadn’t initially noticed when I was taking the photographs: (a) it had a damaged left lower wing, and (b) a close-up of the head showed that it had two protuberances between the eyes which initially suggested that the insect possessed two pairs of eyes.

I consulted a local expert, Rory Dimond, who advised that these were ocelli – simple light sensitive organs, which detect light and dark, and not eyes in the accepted sense; they are common to many invertebrates, including bees, flies and dragonflies etc. Absolutely fascinating. Here are some of the images taken.

The Western Willow Emerald Damselfly was first recorded in the UK in 2007 and has since flourished in East Anglia in particular. I was the first person to record the species at Thorley Wash, Hertfordshire in August 2017, and is now seen regularly along the River Stort from late July to late October, and occasionally into November. I did have a ‘fly-by’ individual in my garden in September 2021, but this August I’ve seen three - a single male on 8 August and two males on 30 August - one which settled on the Rough Horsetail, and another which only came to the pond to ‘buzz’ the other when it flew up from its perch. I never did manage to find out where this second insect came from (or where it went to) each time it ‘buzzed’ the first one, but it must have been very nearby.

 

20^th AUGUST 2026 - ABBERTON RESERVOIR

John picked me up at 08.45 hrs (Mike had family commitments) and we arrived at the Layer Breton Causeway under an hour later, after a short diversion.

Info’ received prior to our arrival said that a Pectoral Sandpiper had relocated from Wigborough Bay     to the Layer Breton, so all we needed to do was to locate the birdwatchers, which wasn’t at all hard to do; and within a few minutes we’d enjoyed exceptionally close views of the bird, which was in company with several Ruff. My camera was busy too, and with a 2x Converter lens fitted to the 100-400mm telephoto, some wonderful photos were obtained - though in reality, the converter wasn’t needed because the bird was so close anyway. The Ruff photos (these birds are always photogenic) were good too. We also had a brief view of a Spotted Redshank, both in flight and at rest (though the latter views were distant).

I was surprised at the number of Spoonbills present - fifteen at the Layer Breton, but we eventually saw twenty-four in total, adding those seen from the hides later. Strange to think that a few years back Spoonbills were rare here, but now they’ve even bred, and general numbers are increasing. The same could be said for Great Egrets - one of which was with the Spoonbills (the size difference was amazing; the Egret towering over them). So, round to the Layer De La Haye Causeway, although there was little of note to see here, other than a few Little Egrets and Great Egrets, one of which came remarkably close to enable better photography. There was also a Black-necked Grebe which also gave excellent views, and a distant Garganey which John picked up through his telescope, although it was in ‘rest mode’ most of the time.

Following a welcome coffee at the Visitors’ Centre, we traipsed straight round to the Hide Bay bird hide, to await the arrival of an Osprey, which had apparently been present for six weeks on and off. But, through our two hours vigil, we were to be disappointed in that regard. But we did gain views of possibly three Western Marsh Harriers - two juveniles and a possible adult female (though it was hard to distinguish them) which were known to have breed in the reeds opposite the hide. We also saw a distant Red Kite; a couple of distant Common Buzzards; a Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk, but no Hobby, which was seen earlier.

As mentioned previously, there were an additional nine Spoonbills at rest on the opposite bank, and at least eleven more Great Egrets scattered around the bay. A couple of Common Terns were catching fish, not always successfully, and there were several distant Black-tailed Godwits, which were seen in flight when the Lapwings got up!

On the way back through the Centre, I saw a couple of Small Heath butterflies; at least 2 Common Blues; a Wall Brown; a Meadow Brown; at least two Azure Damselflies; a few Common Darters; a singleton Ruddy Darter; and several Migrant Hawkers.

PECTORAL SANDPIPER

PECTORAL SANDPIPER

PECTORAL SANDPIPER WITH RUFF

RUFF WITH PECTORAL SANDPIPER (at rear)

BLACK-NECKED GREBE 

BLACK-NECKED GREBE

BLACK-NECKED GREBE

GREAT EGRET

GREAT EGRET WITH SPOONBILLS

GREAT EGRET WITH SPOONBILLS

SPOONBILLS IN 'SLEEP MODE'

NORTHERN LAPWING

WESTERN MARSH HARRIER (ADULT FEMALE?)

 

LATE JULY and EARLY AUGUST 2026 - GARDEN DELIGHTS

The hot weather of late has prevented me from going out into the wide local world, except to Southern Country Park to try for Emerald Damselfly, which was successful with regards to getting the target species, but which didn’t do me any favours I terms of health matters. Consequently, my garden and the wildlife pond within it, has to all intents and purposes, been my saviour, in terms of the Natural World.

Of course, the garden certainly couldn’t possibly compete, species wise, with the catchment area around Bishop’s Stortford, and I could do nothing about what other parties were finding and reporting, but at least I was seeing and observing some wildlife - mainly butterflies, moths, dragonflies, etc. - which were some kind of consolation.

I haven’t been able to capitalise on the recent staggering numbers of Painted Lady butterflies, although I’ve had a trickle of PL’s through the garden, culminating in one which - rather than storm through as most of them seen to have done - stayed in the garden for over two hours, occasionally leaving for a few minutes, then returning to gorge on the nectar provided by my Verbenas. And it was very co-operative in terms of being photographed.

Over the same period, I’ve recorded at least eight Jersey Tiger Moths, and one Garden Tiger Moth (at night) which was only my second record - the first being in my garden in Romford, Essex in the early 1960’s.

In addition, I’ve seen two Gypsy Moths (my second and third records), one of which rested on the outside wall of my kitchen and was photographed.

Carpenter Bees have been using my Bee Hotel for the first time since it was installed two years ago, and observing and photographing them has been totally fascinating.

In terms of visiting dragonfly species, well it hasn’t been an especially good year with regard to the number of species, but I’ve had two new species for the garden - a Common Blue Damselfly back on 18 May (which was at the wildlife pond along with a male Large Red Damselfly) and a Western Willow Emerald Damselfly, which was seen on 8 August, in the presence of a male Common Darter; this was especially pleasing since it was also my first Willow Emerald for the year - but to get one actually settled in my garden was totally unexpected; the species is still relatively rare, but is extending its range, especially in the South and East of England. Luckily, apart from the odd altercation between the two, the Darter left the Emerald well alone.

Common Darters have been seen quite regularly since the end of July, including a female which was observed ovipositing, and a pair in tandem. On 10 August there were two males, although a brief attack by one soon pushed the other off. But on 11 August I was successful in obtaining photographs of a pair in tandem on the branch of a Silver Birch near my pond, following which the pair - still in tandem - returned to the pond for more egg laying.

Birds have largely been absent in the summer months - apart from the usual culprits i.e. Sparrows; Starlings; Magpies; Woodpigeons; the occasional Carrion Crow, and of course, Red Kites, always overhead. But I did record three juvenile Greenfinches on 26 July that flew in briefly - only the second record since I came to Bishop’s Stortford in 2002; and a superb adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was seen briefly on the roof of my next door neighbour's house, overlooking my garden, one morning recently.

GYPSY MOTH

JERSEY TIGER MOTH

CARPENTER BEE 

COMMON FROG

COMMON DARTER

COMMON DARTER

COMMON DARTERS IN TANDEM

WESTERN WILLOW EMERALD DAMSELFLY

PAINTED LADY ON MY VERBENAS

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL ON THE ROOF

GERMAN WASP ?

WATER FLY - Lispe tentaculata

 

1 AUGUST 2026 - SOUTHERN COUNTRY PARK (SCP)

Due to the recent hot weather - which  almost always plays havoc with my Diabetes - I hadn’t been out of the house, with the garden my only refuge as far as seeing nature and photographing it is concerned. But Mike Harris (one of my birding friends) had reported seeing Emerald Damselflies at SCP, and I truly wanted to go over to see them as I hadn’t seen any local ones since those in 2019 at Stansted Airport Lagoons (SAL). But had to wait until the heat began to wane - and today was the day, with the temperature dropping to a more reasonable level, though still remaining hot again later in day according to the forecast.

I was careful not to go too early,  because the last time was at SCP the butterflies and dragonflies didn’t seem to appear until around 1045 hrs, so I had a longish wait before I could begin any photography.

I arrived at 11.00 hrs and made my way directly to the ‘Old Pond’ where Mike had seen the Emerald Damselflies, with just a casual look on the way for any sign of other dragonfly species, without seeing any, which I thought was a bit strange. At the pond there was a little bit of dragonfly activity, mainly down to the territorial behaviour of male Common Darters - which appeared to be aggressive to other males of the same species, as well as male Ruddy Darters - but there was no sign of any Emeralds.

I waited a good while - probably about 30 minutes - then decided to return later in the day and made my way up to the ‘Maze’ area - which is a designated area for wildflowers, and where Mike reported many Painted Ladies and a few Clouded Yellows the week before. But there was hardly a butterfly in sight, with just three Painted Ladies (two were still in good condition); four Small Heaths; one Brown Argus, and a superb Hummingbird Hawk Moth, which resolutely refused to settle and allow even one photograph! So, I made my way back to the ‘Old Pond’.

There was still no sign of any Emeralds, and I was getting a bit despondent and about to call it a day here, when I caught sight of a damselfly that wasn’t a Blue-Tailed, and which alighted on a branch of bramble about ten feet away from me; but of course, I’d forgotten to bring my binoculars, so I couldn’t get a closer view, other than through the telephoto on my camera. But the views I could get were inconclusive, before the insect was dislodged by a Common Darter, and I lost it. Then I think I picked up what I assumed to be a pair in tandem further away, but again the Common Darters pushed them off. Fortunately, the single Emerald returned to the same bramble branch, so I fired off a single shot before, the Common Darter dislodged it, and I couldn’t pick it up again. How frustrating!

I then turned to the Chalky Bank hoping to see more butterflies, but there was no repeat of the tremendous numbers I’d witnessed a couple of weeks back, with only two more Painted Ladies, and a few Brown Argus, although Common Blues were still in good numbers - mostly seemingly quite large males, but even they were not settling long enough to photograph them. Back at the lake, only Common and Ruddy Darters were seen, and although I searched hard for a Willow Emerald, I was disappointed in that regard. Round by the ‘feeding station’ all I saw were a few Mallards; a couple of Moorhens, and a juvenile rat which was very camera shy! At the northern exit to the park, as I rested on a seat to take some refreshment, a Brown Hawker flew close by, but that was the only ‘large’ species of Odonata I saw.

Back home, I processed my photographs, concentrating on the photo of the Emerald Damselfly. Through enlarging the image - and thankfully the telephoto gave a lovely sharp image - I was reasonably sure it was indeed a Common Emerald, but sent it to Mike for confirmation, which he kindly did.

 

EMERALD DAMSELFLY (a young male)

BLUE-TAILED DAMSELFLIES - MATING RITUAL

BLUE-TAILED DAMSELFLY ( a female in mating mode).

RUDDY DARTER (M)

COMMON DARTER 

PAINTED LADY

PAINTED LADY (paler underwing)

MOORHEN

24 JULY 2026 - BS CEMETERY

On 24 July 2026, Andy Saunders (a friend from the Bishop’s Stortford Natural History Society (now Stort Valley Nature Group) told me that he’d seen a possible Dark-Green Fritillary at the Bishop’s Stortford Cemetery on 23 July; so, I went over to check it out, eventually finding a fritillary-type butterfly very near to the location he’d seen his; so, I assumed it was the same butterfly.

I have to confess, I really wasn’t sure, but from my limited experience of Dark-Green Fritillaries - given that I’ve only seen a handful in Therfield Heath, Herts; Trosley Country Park, Kent, and Heddon Valley, Devon (the last being in Devon in 2019) - I thought it was in fact a female Silver-Washed Fritillary. I took several photographs before the butterfly was disturbed by a member of the public, but using these, together with two guides (one of them photographic) I came down on the side of Silver-Washed, but not before I’d consulted other friends, who confirmed my initial identification.

But it was still a good record, and a first for me for the site - indeed, it was the fifth new butterfly species I’d recorded at the site this year - the others being Painted Lady; Marbled White; Brown Argus and Small Heath; arguably an indication the unusually hot and dry conditions since the end of May 2026, not only in the UK but the whole of Europe, with some species of butterfly (and dragonfly too) occurring  much further north of their normal ranges, for example although Painted Lady and Clouded Yellow usually occur every year in the UK, their numbers this year have been truly exceptional. 

The same morning I must have seen well over 12 Painted Ladies; over 15 Common Blues; 5 Brown Argus (new for me for the site) and 3 Small Heaths (also new for the site). In addition a Red Kite was seen circling over the cemetery in full moult.

SILVER-WASHED FRITILLARY (probable female)

SILVER-WASHED FRITILLARY

SILVER-WASHED FRITILLARY

PAINTED LADY

PAINTED LADY

COMMON BLUE (M)

RED KITE - IN FULL MOULT