Today I visited Slack 47 on Ainsdale dunes, Lunt Meadows and Alt Bridge, famed Odonata locations all, but there were some birds as well.

First, Ainsdale. At Sands Lake I could only spot a couple of damselflies. At the fenced Scrape to the North there were a couple of Four-spotted Chasers. Moving on from there, I saw that a small hill had been burned; I had heard that kids playing with matches had caused some damage and was relieved at the small scale of the damage.

Until, that is, I passed through the slack and up the next rise and saw that a long stretch of the dunes had burned. A horrible sight. Arriving at Slack 47 I saw that one of the adjacent hills had also been badly damaged by fire, but most of the location seemed to have survived. Indeed, plenty of damselflies were present: Blue-tailed, Common Blue and Azures in abundance, and closer inspection revealed a few newly-eclosed Emerald Damselflies, so that’s my year tick for them. About 7 Four-spotted Chasers were buzzing around, mostly males defending territories but also shadowing a female as she deposited eggs. A few teneral Common Darters provided another tick for the year, and then: coastal dunes MEGA! A male Banded Demoiselle fluttered into view and posed for photos until men with dogs arrived to disturb the tranquillity.

Horse leeches and newts wriggled in the water, and the water boatmen were out in numbers. I’d spotted a couple of Small Skippers and photographed one - this butterfly is, I believe, a new immigrant to the area.

On the ornithological front, a male Reed Bunting and a Whitethroat were all for staying put despite the presence of three men peering into the pond, and a kestrel hovered overhead. On the way back, the gentleman I was with started swearing and running along the Sands Lake boardwalk grabbing for his camera. he’s seen a 1st winter Caspian Gull, and while I did see the beast as it flapped off towards the beach, I wouldn’t know one from a Herring Gull if it was wearing a name badge so no tick for me.

On to Lunt Meadows, where word had it that Hobbies were eating all the Black-tailed Skimmers so I had to get there smartly to get my ticks for both. I was wondering if I would easily be able to tell these immature Hobbies from other falcons, but upon seeing one twisting and diving, it was clear that no mistake could be made. Only brief views, but gorgeous. A hovering kestrel was present fot comparison. Finches and water birds were present too, but the other star of the evening was a Barn Owl.

On the entomological front, damselflies included Blue-tails and Banded demoiselles of both sexes. Dragonflies were scarce until I was leaving the reserve, when all of a sudden the path was covered in Blue-tailed Skimmers sunning themselves on the stones. A scorpion fly made a nice photographic subject too.

(Returning the next day, the Hobbies were not in evidence but the Barn Owl was, along with half a dozen Mistle Thrushes. On the dragonfly front: better views than the day before of both male and female Blue-tailed Skimmers, and an Emperor.)

The final destination for this post is Alt Bridge, a spot known for Banded Demoiselles, but visiting late in the day maybe fewer were visible. Anyway, who cares about them when there’s also a kingfisher!