More Crossbills

I returned to the disused reservoir at St Ives again this morning and once again patience was rewarded. Generally bird life was much quieter than yesterday however what I assume was the same party of four Crossbills put in an appearance and after an initial bit of hide and seek one landed in the bush I was sitting under. There was also a party of at least 40 that flew over but didn't drop in (including a few brick-red males).

Not sure what has happened to the dragons and damsels, there seems to be hardly any at all this year. I have seen only very small numbers of Common Blue, Azure and Blue-tailed Damselflies and just one Broad-bodied Chaser. I saw only one damsel yesterday and none at all today even though yesterday it was quite warm enough when I left at around 11 a.m. This time last year I would see dozens of blues on every visit.

The reservoir seems to have suffered very badly by the harsh winter followed by the very low water levels, there is very little plant life in the water and usually the edge of the water is black with tadpoles although there are none at all this year (although there seems to be many more newts than I recall in the past). There was some spawn earlier in the year but much of it got stranded as the water level dropped, the herons also seemed to take a heavy toll on the frogs when they were spawning, presumably helped by lower than usual water level.