The weather yesterday was beautiful - sunny enough that the dragonflies and butterflies were out in abundance but not so hot that everything else was just hiding in the shade. This meant we had an amazing day of sightings, so many in fact that we had to start another sheet to stick in the sightings book!
If you haven't already been along the new Riverside Walk, then it's a must because there's been so much seen and heard along there. Yesterday a pair of turtle doves was spotted as well as a very friendly cuckoo who sat on the fence as a couple of visitors walked right up to it before it flew away. The butterflies are out in force along here because there are so many wildflowers about. Some of the species spotted along here yesterday were small heath, small copper, common blue, brimstone, ringlet, small skipper, large skipper, meadow brown, and also a hummingbird hawk moth.
Pickup hide didn't let us down with the range of sightings such as two little egret, two yellow wagtail, a common sandpiper, five jays on the middle island, a green woodpecker, and a family of willow warblers. Just beyond Pickup hide towards the feeding screen, gatekeeper and painted lady butterflies were spotted.
The Discovery Trail is a great place to see dragonflies at the moment because they're all hatching from their Nymph bodies in the ponds. Yesterday we had sightings of a mating pair of emperors, two brown hawkers, and eight ruddy darters.
Down towards Lin Dyke there were great crested grebe, herons, and a black tailed godwit, and finally over the stacks there were cuckoos and a marsh harrier seen. As always, if you see something interesting during your time at Fairburn, come and tell us in the visitor centre so we can add it to the recent sightings list!