Green Ouzel & Ring Hairstreak

I had a bit of an impromptu drive around today (19.4.07) after spending an hour or so trying to ignore a steady stream of golfers and dog-walkers at the Goldie Lane end of Ferry Meadows. I was there because a male Redstat was found there this morning and I craved it. There was no sign.

Ring Ouzel, The Plough (digiscope)
So I cut my losses and went out to enjoy views of heat haze with a couple of Ring Ouzels thrown in at the back of a pub called The Plough, out in the Fens, not far from Farcet. Very nice birds and so much more than just Blackbirds with white collars. Ring Ouzels are shy and untamable, they are Scottish Wild Cats to the domestic moggy which is the Blackbird. With long wings of silver and an ultra-wary disposition, they are not only handsome but very desirable, and it has been nice to connect with the wave of oodles of ouzels which has been flowing through the country recently. I've seen three now, locally, this spring, compared with five in the previous six years.
As I got back to my car a Swift flew by, my first of the year.

Green Hairstreak, Orton Brick Pit (Canon PowerShot A95)
On the way home, I called in at Orton Brick Pit and immediately found a male Orange-tip which actually settled and basked with its wings open. And while gorging myself on the song of my first Nightingale of the year, I noticed a small brown butterfly flitting about. When it settled, wings closed it was clearly a Green Hairstreak, one of my favourite butterflies.
Some recompense for missing the Redstart.