Common Blue #15

Last night we decided to go to RSPB Burton Mere today - somewhere we’ve not been to since it reopened. We arrived soon after 9.30 and it was already very hot. After completing the “track and trace” details we were told that a Spotted Crake was about. I’ve never even heard of a spotted crake and apparently they are quite rare in the UK. So we headed for the only hide that was open, but it was already occupied by the maximum of 5 persons. They looked like serious birders who were there for the duration, so we continued along the path to the newly created lookout point where there were just two people. One of the guys described where he had seen it only 10 minutes ago from the bunker hide - and it was miles away - well, far too far away for a photo and even too far for our binoculars, so after 15 minutes of nothing, we moved on. On the way back to the reception area we found a couple of common blues, and a fleeting view of a wall butterfly. This is not something I have ever seen before so I have put the only shot I managed in extras for my own records. 
We walked out to Burton Point in the heat, and crikey it was hot in the sun, but other than a few common darters there was not much about. Walking back via the ponds we found what I think is a Brown hawker oviposting in the large pond. This is not something I’ve seen before so again I have added it to extras - again, not really a great shot. 

The afternoon was spent mainly in the garden and it seemed a lot cooler at home with a nice little breeze. Hubby was back on stump duty with only two left to remove, but they were the biggest ones. After all the rain last night the ground was a bit softer than normal and the first one came out in just under an hour. The last one was a LOT bigger and we both thought there was no chance of it coming out today. However, almost 3 hours later it was finally removed (and it was still light - just!) 
Our next task is to replace all the soil, level it off and add a raised bed so we can start growing some produce next year. The garden is certainly evolving this year. 

Once again I will not get time to comment this evening, but I will get to it eventually I’m sure.