A lovely afternoon at Bickershaw produced just two species of dragonflies
around New Water, maybe 15 migrant hawkers and 20 common darters. No doubt I
could have added willow emerald and one or two other species had I gone to the
northern section but it really feels like the season is coming to an end now.
Not sure how many more visits I'll manage this year, but it's been a great
year with 23 species recorded on site.
I was delighted though to end the year with another four clouded yellows,
bringing my total to at least 18 individuals in 2026, in a season that
stretched from the first sighting on 15th July to today.
I'm pretty sure that this is the hoverfly Dasysyrphus tricinctus
which I have seen at Pennington Flash previously.
New Water looks like a fabulous habitat for waders at the moment, yet once
again there wasn't a bird on it. I don't think that the problem is
disturbance, I rarely see another person here and the water is large enough
for a bird such as a sandpiper to fly a short distance to safety. There's not
even ducks, gulls, moorhens or coots. I've now visited Bickershaw on 46
occasions and the sum total of waders comes to lapwing 10, little ringed
plover 1 and most bizarrely, white-tailed plover 1.
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