a day at the Olympics

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On Sunday afternoon I drove to Woking where Keith (my brother) and Janet were staying with friends Chris and Helena. On Monday morning we caught the train to Waterloo, then Jubilee line to West Ham and walked to Olympic Park. Olympic Park was beautifully laid out and we wandered round and saw the various stadia. I ended up on the grass by the west Park View screen and watched the Olympic events which were on a BBC feed. British medalists were introduced to the crowd during the afternoon. At 5pm I made my way to the Olympic Stadium and found my seat where I met up with Keith, Janet and Chris. At 7pm the programme started and  between events there were medal ceremonies, including the 100 meters with Usain Bolt,Yohan Blake and Justin Gatlin. The view of the stadium was great, as was the whole programme with good announcements and information on various screens and event modules. A big WELL DONE to LOCOG for creating the whole thing.

The programme of events with Team GB athletes named were:

Women's Pole Vaul Final with Holly Bleasdale
Women's Shot Put Final
Women's 200m Round 1 with Margaret Adeoye, Anyika Onuora and Abiodun Oyepitan
Women's 400m Hurdles Semi-finals with Perri Shakes-Drayton and Eilidh Child
Men's   400m Hurdles Final with Dai Greene
Women's 3000m Steeplechase Final 
Men's   400m Final
We then travelled by District line to Embankment then walked over the downstream Golden Jubilee footbridge to Waterloo Station, reaching Woking around midnight. The view from the bridge at night is wonderful.

Janet and Keith

Moi

Janet and Keith

Chris, Janet and Keith

Essex and Small Skippers at Pagham Harbour

Pagham Harbour nature reserve

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Yesterday afternoon Sue and I visited Pagham Harbour nature reserve, which is now run by the RSPB. In the area by the pond neae the car park I found both Essex and Small Skippers, Gatekeepers, a Meadow Brown and a Red Admiral.

Common Blue Damselfly, Enallagma cyathigerum

Essex Skipper, female, Thymelicus lineola

The underside of the tip of the antennae is black which distinguishes it from the Small Skipper which has an orange under-tip.

Essex Skipper, male, Thymelicus lineola

The sex brand of the male is short and parallel to the wing edge (red circle above) whereas the Small Skipper male has a longer sex brand which is at an angle to the wing edge.

female Meadow Brown, Maniola jurtina

Great pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis

Hoverfly, Eristalis interruptus

female Meadow Brown, Maniola jurtina

Teasels and thistles

Buddleia

Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta

Small Skipper, female, Thymelicus sylvestris

Small Skipper, female, Thymelicus sylvestris

The underside of the antennae tip is orange, whereas the Essex Skipper has a black under-tip.