Soil Hell

Since it was a nice warm day with little breeze I decided to wander up to soil hell again to see if there would be anything. On the way up, via the fields I found 3 small coppers, which I would have thought would have been quite late in the season, though the number suggested not.

-Small Copper

There was more on the bird front today as well. On the way up by after the fields there was a large flock of Goldfinch feeding on thistles by the roadside, and with them there were a pair of linnets, which is a bird that the hill has been lacking recently. Other species included good numbers of Skylark, a few meadow pipits, 3 woodpigeons, a few carrion crows and a kestrel hunting.

-Linnet

Once more the hill excelled on the dragonfly front, so long as there are dragonflies there, it will excell in that department. There were only 2 individuals up there today, but both were different species: Common Darter and Black Darter, both males. The common darter was much more flighty than the black darter but I managed to get a record shot for the hill.

-Common Darter Male

It took me some time to pin down the black darter but once I found where it was staying still then I was able to get some photos of it. At first I went for the stealth approach, but soon it did not seem too fussed about me being there and I could approach it with ease.

-Male Black Darter

So another productive couple of hours on the hill...