The temperature started to rocket but despite this I decided to pop over to Iping for the HIWWT walk which was, perhaps unsurprisingly, only attended by me!!
John and I did an anticlockwise walk with little other than Yellowhammer and Stonechat singing and calling respectively. A few Silver-studded Blue, all pretty shot, and a few Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers. Lots of bees and parasitic wasps/ichneumons aĺthough just too hot to do much with them.
On my own on the Stedham side two visitors had photographed Heath Tiger Beetle on the south side and a Silver-washed Fritilliary flew by but best of all a Mottled Beefly perched up although not interested in posing much. Some Ruby-tailed Wasp species were similarly uncooperative.
Giving up in the heat, QECP seemed a fair bet on the way home for a cuppa and cake. Whilst sitting outside, shaded by trees, a White Admiral and a Silver-washed Frit were buzzing around and later, considerably more Red Admirals in total than any other day this year. Small/Essex Skippers probably outnumbered all other butterflies and a couple more SWFs flew by. Marbled Whites were numerous in the grassy area and finally a female Sparrohawk soared overhead
