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Flowers
Red bartsia - is partly parasitic, gaining extra nutrients from the roots of its nearby host grasses.
Ribbed melliot - Widespread biennial of grassy places, locally common and native in England and Wales but scarce and introduced elsewhere.
Creeping thistles and Spear thistles - a splash of purple
Great Willowherb - the tall willowherb with purple-pink flowers and a 4-lobed stigma, down by the river
Butterflies & other insects
Insects are busy in August.
Look out for the large Brown Hawker dragonfly patrolling the reserve. Hoverflies should be plentiful; you may see the striped ‘Marmalade Hoverfly’ at flowers. During the summer, numbers of this species are swelled by migrants from the continent. Harder to spot, not big, but beautiful, you could be lucky enough to see a Blue Shieldbug, with metallic blue-green sheen.
A variety of butterflies will be on the wing. Meadow Browns and Ringlets will be around, and, a bit later in the month, the orange and brown Gatekeeper. Look for Small Skippers, appropriately just a bit smaller than Large Skippers, and just as bright tawny-orange. A Painted Lady butterfly could turn up at any time. Day-flying moths include the subdued brown Shaded Broad-bar, and the vividly coloured Six-spot and Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet moths.
Birds
In addition to the warblers and hirondines and swifts, look out for Peregrines which have been seen hunting over the reserve. The Derby Cathedral pair have successfully reared a pair of chicks which fledged in late June 2019.
The Lesser Whitethroat As the name suggests, this warbler is smaller than its cousin the whitethroat. It sports dark cheek feathers which contrast with the pale throat and can give it a 'masked' look. When its flits from cover you might see the white outer feathers of its tail. Lesser whitethroats are hard to see and often only noticed when they give their harsh, rattling song, or 'tacking' call.
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