The good news this week is that there are two swans. The first one has brought its mate and they seem very settled. With luck they will stay until next spring and make a nest. Whether they will stay all the time to stake a claim remains to be seen (I fear the Canada geese may also fancy returning). While I was watching the swans spent most of their time preening.
There was also lots of wing flapping going on to get the feathers back in the right position.
Twice I saw a male migrant hawker in flight but I couldn't get a photo. There were still plenty of common darters with several mating pairs making hay while the sun shone.
The only butterflies were small coppers
and large whites. This one is a female. It is quite late in the season to find it.
I saw a couple of bumblebees, a common carder and this one, probably a cuckoo as it has very dark wings and no pollen baskets on its legs - possibly Bombus barbutellus.
While I was photographing the bumblebee a common darter landed on my wrist.
I twice saw a hare, possibly the same one, but each time it was off too quickly for me to get a photo. Birds I saw this week included goldcrests and a redwing, probably both winter visitors. All the summer visitors (swallows, martins, warblers, etc) have gone.
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