17 Celsius at Whetsted Gravel Pits

An amazingly lovely warm day, with dragonflies, a butterfly and other insects on the wing, with small wasps or bees pollinating the resurgent Bristly Oxtongue.

There were a lot of people around enjoying the countryside. There were local dog walkers and strollers on the land, and there were boaters on the water, together with canoeists involved in some long distance race up the river.

and the lock itself was busy

In a more relaxed view, there was a leisure canoeist on the lower stage

and a quiet fisherman by the rushing spillpool

There were also leisure planes and helicopters using the skies

Despite the unseasonal warmth of the day, the seasons were rolling on and the recent rainfall had stimulated at least some late fungal fruiting bodies, even in the arable field of wheat above the Lock

On the way down to the lock there was an unidentified butterfly by the crossing hedge (its nearly the middle of November!) and there were still good numbers of Common Darters Sympetrum striolatum by the gravel pits.

Most of the Darters had found some warm wood to sun themselves on, but others were on dried leaves and vegetation on the ground, like this one on the bank of the Hammer Dyke

They were mainly males (I think I saw about 5), but there were also a couple of females, like this one by the tall hedge between the pits

There were good numbers of small wasps or bees pollinating the Bristly Oxtongue, Picris echioides,

These two close ups show one of the wasps or bees covered in pollen. If pollination is successful, will the seeds have time to form and ripen from these flowers I wonder?

This Common Ragwort, Senecio jacobaea, was also being pollinated, but this time by opportunistic flies

The birds on the gravel pits were generally peaceful (although some disturbance or other drove the cormorants, Phalacrocorax carbo, and lapwings, Vanellus vanellus, from the East pit to the West pit during the course of the visit). Here is a Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus playing about on the West pit

Total bird list for the day was 1 Canada Goose, Branta canadensis, 90+ Greylag Geeses, Anser anser, 45+ Gadwall, Anas strepera, 18+ Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligula, 16+ Mallard, Anas platyrynchos, 6 Shoveller, Anas clypeata, 5 Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus, 14 Little Grebe, Tachybaptus ruficollis, 60+ Lapwing, Vanellus vanellus, 4 Common Gull, Larus canus, 110+ Black-Headed Gulls, Chroicocephalus ridibundus, 5 Herring Gull, Larus argentatus, 90+ Coot, Fulica atra, 3 Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea, 16 Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo, 30 Starling, Sturnus vulgaris, 3+ Carrion Crows, Corvus corone, 8+ Blackbirds, Turdus merula, 14+ Fieldfares, Turdus pilaris, and 1 Grey Wagtail, Motacilla cinerea, by the East Lock.