During the first two weeks of July high pressure stretching up from the Azores continued to dominate the weather in southern counties of the UK, with temperatures hovering around 30 degrees Celsius.

Stoke Lake.

I mostly visited my local patches at the Riverside Nature Reserve near Burpham and Whitmoor Common.

Due to the unexpected break in service of the Guildford Dragon, my usual fortnightly reports were sadly postponed.

A few rearrangements has brought forth a more condensed report of the most important sightings in July.

Grayling butterfly, Hankley Common.

On July 4, in the company of Dougal, we visited Hankley Common allowing us our first sightings of at least two grayling butterflies. These being my second earliest date recorded by just one day.

Common redstart (female). Hankley Common.

Also close to the car park the contact calls of common redstarts could be heard. However, only a photo of a female could be accomplished.

At the Riverside Nature Reserve during the first weeks of the month there were further sightings of a few of those white storks mentioned previously.

White stork on drying up scrape, viewed from towpath by Soke Lock.

On the first day of July, I photographed one on the last remaining puddle of the scrape viewed from the towpath near Stoke Lock.

Grey heron in now dried-up scrape, viewed from Stoke Lock.

Just a few days later one lone grey heron was all that could viewed in the now dried-up scrape.

White storks roosting in a dead tree at Burpham Court Farm.

Further sightings and reports continued of 11 or more storks in the area around Slyfield Green / Jacobs Well. While on July 31, ten could still be viewed going to roost in the dead tree at Burpham Court Farm.

The continuing dry sunny conditions remained during proceeding weeks as grassy areas began to turn light brown, dried and scorched by the heat.

As at most places visited many of the song birds had now fallen silent.

Blackbird in song, Britten’s Pond.

Although the fluty song of the blackbird could occasionally still be heard early in the month, it too, as every year, would soon be losing its delightful tune by the latter days of July and not to be heard again until the new year.

Robin, now silent, Whitmoor Common.

Even our iconic robins had already temporarily fallen silent while awaiting their plumage of feathers to replenish after their arduous breeding seasons. Although a few had already re-discovered their song by the last week of July.

Greenfinch, Riverside Nature Reserve.

The sound and sightings of greenfinches continued to remain a delightful addition in times of their national decline in recent decades. Getting several close-to-view photos of an adult male feeding by the towpath near Stoke Lock.

Blackcap, female.

The ticking sound of a blackcap just across the river also alerted my attention, allowing me to pick out a the brown-capped female of the species.

Common whitethroat, Riverside Nature Reserve.

While a family of common whitethroats and a juvenile stonechat flitted back and forth between the sections of brambles now loaded with ripening blackberries.

Stonechat (juvenile), Riverside Nature Reserve.

Long-tailed tit, Riverside Nature Reserve.

Other birds photographed in the area by the lock included several families of long-tailed tits.

Reed bunting.

And a reed bunting.

Mallard with ducklings on Stoke Lake, Riverside Nature Reserve.

At Stoke Lake another new brood of mallards ducklings could be seen, guided by their mum.

Great crested grebe with juveniles at Stoke Lake.

While an adult great crested continued to be harassed by its two, still demanding, juveniles.

Cormorant on utility pylon, Riverside Nature Reserve.

And a cormorant could be viewed perched up on one of the nearby utility pylons.

Elsewhere around the lake various dragonflies and damselflies could be observed.

Many beyond my pitiful pay-grade to identify for sure, but I would be happy to be corrected by leaving a comment.

Red-eyed damselflies mating at Stoke Lake.

What I believe to be a pair of red-eyed damselflies could be seen mating.

Emperor dragonfly.

While an emperor dragonfly was also found.

Black-tailed skimmer dragonfly (female), Riverside Nature Reserve.

And several black-tailed skimmers along the boardwalk.

Banded demoiselle along the River Wey.

As well as numerous banded demoiselles along the towpath by the River Wey.

Red kites at the Slyfield recycling depot.

Across the river a dozen or more red kites could be viewed and heard calling within the area of the recycling centre.

Peacock butterfly on the boardwalk at the Riverside Nature Reserve.

A few peacock butterflies seen earlier in the year were re-emerging.

Gatekeeper butterflies, Riverside Nature Reserve.

While gatekeeper butterflies were reaching their peak in abundance.

Large white butterfly on buddleia.

And a large white butterfly could be viewed nectaring on some buddleia.

Marbled white butterfly, Riverside Nature Reserve.

A few marbled white butterflies could still be found as their season had already begun to draw to its close.

Holly blue, Riverside Nature Reserve.

And a second brood of holly blue butterflies still on the wing.

Painted lady butterfly, Riverside Nature Reserve.

Meanwhile, several migrant painted lady butterflies, pushed up on the warm southerly air from the continent, continued to be a common sight during my visits to the reserve.

Clouded yellow butterfly with upper wings slightly showing, by the boardwalk, Riverside Nature Reserve.

The visit culminated in my second sighting this year of a clouded yellow butterfly on July 18.

This was my first ever sighting of one at the Riverside Nature Reserve. And it was confident enough to allow me several photos of it nectaring on the purple loosestrife in flower by the boardwalk.

During the first days of July another small fire had broken out on Whitmoor Common, this thought to have been caused by a discarded broken bottle acting like a magnified glass under the heat of the sunlight.

Another small fire on Whitmoor Common.

Fortunately fire crews were alerted and were soon on hand stop its spread across the heathland.

Silver-studded blue, Whitmoor Common.

A few silver-studded blue butterflies could still be viewed about the heather coming into bloom.

Green-eyed flower bee, Whitmoor Common.

And a small group of green-eyed flower bees could now found starting to emerge on the heathland.

Green woodpecker, Whitmoor Common.

The ‘yaffling’ sounds of both young and adult green woodpeckers could be regularly heard, while on one visit I photographed one feeding by one of sandy tracks that dissect the common.

Linnet in a water trough, Whitmoor Common.

Small families of linnets continued to be present with one seen drinking from the water trough provided for the small group of roaming cattle there.

Stonechat, Whitmoor Common.

Families of stonechats, as always, perched up in open spaces making them easy to photo.

Dartford warbler feeding young, Whitmoor Common.

Although more elusive, Dartford warblers were also present and not so easy to spot. I was fortunate enough to photograph one feeding one of its young.

Young jay feeding on blackberries, Whitmoor Common.

Within the understory of the woodland area a juvenile jay, now independent of its parents, could be seen feeding on the already ripening blackberries.

Purple hairstreak (female), Whitmoor Common.

Among the oak trees that lined the old horse field, a good numbers of purple hairstreak butterflies could be found.

These are restricted to numerous oak species in the UK. They were buzzing about the leaves on the lower boughs of the trees, feeding on honeydew.

The females showing the bright purple patch on their upper-wings when open. While males are almost entirely purple above, in some lights with a black border.

Ragwort in the field was now beginning to flower. Although poisonous to most mammals, it was attracting numerous insects.

Gatekeeper butterfly in the old horse field, Whitmoor Common.

Many gatekeeper butterflies were enjoying the nectar from its blossom.

Cinnabar moth caterpillar feeding on ragwort.

As well as cinnabar moth caterpillars.

Burnet moth, old horse field, Whitmoor Common.

And burnet moths.

Ringlet butterfly nectaring on ragwort.

There were a few ringlet butterflies, now rapidly coming to the end of their reign.

Small copper butterfly, Whitmoor Common.

Small copper butterflies could also be seen.

And numerous others capable of ingesting its nectar, in turn helping to ward off predators from consuming them.

Painted lady butterfly in the old horse field, Whitmoor Common.

As at other places visited, a few painted lady butterflies continued to be present.

Brown argus butterfly. Whitmoor Common.

Also present were several brown argus butterflies.

Common blue butterfly in the old horse field, Whitmoor Common.

As well numerous common blue butterflies.

Common buzzard, Whitmoor Common.

Across the field a common buzzard could be viewed, while a probable juvenile could be heard calling from within the treeline.

Mating pair of robber flies. Whitmoor Common.

A first for me, as I traversed the field, was taking a photo of a pair of robber flies mating.

Various geese visiting Britten’s Pond.

Several visits to Britten’s Pond adjacent to Whitmoor Common during the first weeks of the month saw the usual accumulation of various geese at this time of the year.

Brimstone butterfly, Britten’s Pond.

A few brimstone butterflies could be seen about the brambles by the car park.

White admiral butterfly looking very tatty.

Also photographing a very tatty white admiral butterfly on one of my visits. This species already coming to the end of its short season.

Purple hairstreak on nectaring bramble flower.

As the month progressed purple hairstreaks continued to be seen there too, but now mostly coming down from the oaks and dispersing about the brambles around the pond.

Purple hairstreak, floating on the water, at Britten’s Pond.

Many females having already completed their egg-laying, with one sadly seen floating on the water of the pond.

Great crested grebe, Britten’s Pond.

A long staying and lone great crested grebe could to be seen out on the water.

Tufted duck (female) with chicks, Britten’s Pond.

While a surprise sighting for me was a female tufted duck with three ducklings on July 7. Although in the days that followed neither parent, or young could be found.

Jersey tiger moth in my garden.

Another surprise sighting, having seen one the evening before in my own back garden, was a Jersey tiger moth.

Jersey tiger moth, Britten’s Pond.

One of many of these daytime flying moths recently reported in southern counties of the UK.

Nuthatch, Britten’s Pond.

Along my walk around the pond I also added to my day list a nuthatch feeding along the path.

Clouded yellow butterfly, in old horse field, Whitmoor Common.

My return to Whitmoor Common on July 21 gave me the opportunity to photograph my third clouded yellow butterfly, and the second this year seen in the old horse field, this one nectaring on a thistle.

On July 23, once again back in the company of Bob and Dougal, I decided to take up on an invite on a trip to the Gloucestershire-Oxfordshire border in hope of seeing the long-tailed shrike that had been present there and showing well in recent days.

It had apparently been first found on July 8, but the shrike’s presence was kept quiet until the morning of July 18.

Birdwatchers viewing the long-tailed shrike.

With harvesting in full swing by the sleepy village of Eastleach, and tractors constantly using its narrow lanes, arrangements had to be made with local farmers to open one of their fields for cars to park for the thousands of birdwatchers that visited during the shrike’s stay.

Long-tailed shrike.

It represented the second appearance of a long-tailed Shrike in Britain in 2026 and only the third ever! Extraordinarily, the bird has been confirmed as different to the individual also seen in Fife, Scotland. This being only on the grounds of plumage deviation and overlapping dates.

Being situated right on the border of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, patient birdwatchers have been able to add the bird to two different county lists as it moved around its adopted territory.

Long-tailed shrike.

If accepted by The BOU Records Committee (responsible for recording the list of birds seen in Britain) this individual will represent only the third British record of a lLong-tailed Shrike. The first sighting involved one in the Outer Hebrides that Dougal had travelled and seen in November 2000.

Long-tailed shrike.

Long-tailed shrikes are native to Asia, from Kazakhstan to New Guinea, and are found mainly in scrub and open habitats. Many of the temperate zone populations are migratory, moving south in winter while those in the tropics tend to be sedentary.

Brown hairstreak butterfly, Bookham Common.

With hot, sunny and dry days continuing into the latter days of July, our visit to Bookham Common on July 25 added our first sightings this year of two brown hairstreak butterflies.

Chalkhill blue, Denbies Hillside.

The following day we visited Denbies Hillside near Dorking and saw reasonable numbers of chalkhill blue butterflies as we traversed the south-facing chalk downland.

Adonis blue, Denbies Hillside.

A second brood of Adonis blues were starting to emerge, counting a good handful of males present.

Dingy skipper, Denbies Hillside.

Also finding one of a second generation of dingy skippers of several that had been reported emerging in the southern counties of the UK.

Painted lady butterfly, wings closed, Denbies Hillside.

Several painted lady butterflies continued to be viewed there.

Clouded yellow butterfly nectaring on scabious flowers at Denbies Hillside.

As well as adding at least another two clouded yellow butterflies – and likely to have been more there.

Silver-spotted skipper (male) viewed from above, Denbies Hillside.

The first few silver-spotted skippers were also starting to emerge along the hillside. However, only managing by chance to photograph just one male and viewed from above. Therefore I was unable to achieve any side-view shots that show its spotted underwing.

It did bring my butterfly species tally for the year to 43, with more than 40 seen within Surrey.

A report for the first two weeks of August to follow soon.