Our group birded from the Lodge to Top End hide and back from late morning to mid-afternoon. The passerines were certainly keeping their heads down, and there were very few birds on the water, although significant numbers of Mallards with some Gadwalls were loafing along the North Shore as they do during their moult. I kept a list of the sightings we made, the most surprising of which was 16 Egyptian Geese. There were very few waterfowl at Top End, but five or more Greenshanks were spotted feeding at various points along the shoreline, but the problem was it was very difficult to scope them due to the heat haze. Raptors included Sparrowhawk, Red Kite, and Buzzard. I made it 41 bird species in total, without even recording e.g. Song Thrush or Wren, so we didn’t do too badly. We counted Clouded Yellow butterflies for a while, I got up to 14 before giving up, as they seemed to be on nearly all the meadows and patches of Water Mint. However, of particular interest was a Clouded Yellow f. helice at Bell’s Bush, only the second I’ve seen at the lake – the first being on 6th August 2006. We recorded eight species of butterflies and three dragonfly species, and we looked at several plant galls along the way as well. Thanks to the participants, it was an enjoyable walk in good company. (Thanks to Nigel for leading) Nige Milbourne