LakeToday's trip was a return visit to Thorpe Marsh YWT reserve near Doncaster but with a different slant. We would in particular be looking out for dragonflies, damselflies and butterflies on the reserve a mixture of grassland, wetland and woodland. The group met our leader for the day and warden Mike Townsend at the Norwood Gate entrance at 11am. What would the weather be like? We had set off from home in light drizzle but a brighter afternoon was forecast. Mike led the hunt for damselflies and dragonflies at the first pond. The sky was overcast and they were resting in the reeds and trees however we saw bluetailed damselfly and a female immature common darter dragonfly. We made our way in convoy, well equiped with identification charts and maps to the centre of the reserve. Several species: common darter, speckled wood and gatekeeper butterflies were seen in an area of scrub clearance. Lunch was taken on a bench overlooking the scrub or in either of the two nearby hides. I considered myself especially fortunate in seeing a buzzard in full view approaching the Applehurst pond hide where I was sitting. On my right I caught a very clear sighting of a tree creeper ascending an oak tree. At the North mere hide the party saw greater spotted wood pecker, willow and great tits on the feeders and a broad leaved helleborine was seen on the path. Our afternoon was spent exploring the dragonfly hotspots of the reserve and taking in some of the varied floral and bird life. 
CommaOf particular interest were our observations of the migratory hawker dragonfly. It is a social dragonfly. Several dragonflies were observed flying above our heads as well as resting in a nearby tree. On our walk we were able to observe common blue, comma, small copper, green veined and large white butterfiles as well as several peacock butterflies feeding on water mint (no Scotch argus -Smardale or Ringlet - Bramham butterflies this week). We saw a good sized fox disappear into woodland. 
Robin& Pincushion GallOur buzzard was seen in flight being mobbed by a kestrel and a couple of heron were in the sky. 21 bird species were observed. Alice recorded 124 flower species, 103 in flower. Notable species were sneezewort, scullcap, pepper saxifarage, devils bit scabious, salad burnet, common fleabane as well as lots of wild carrot. We looked for adders tongue fern but without success. Mike's considerable enthusiam and knowledge made this a most enjoyable day out. We proposed a return trip in the autumn 2012 to look for and record the fungi of the reserve, as well as birds. A good day out smoothly and successfully orchestrated. Well done and thanks. See the Gallery for further images.Margaret