Sunday 17th.May 2009

We have had some really heavy rain today , almost torrential at times . What with that and other commitments , I only managed an hour out after lunch .

Speaking of which , as I sat eating my sandwich , I happened to glance down the garden , and saw something 'flop' into the minature Lilac beyond the patio . A leaf or some other debris I thought , blown in by the gusty wind , in an otherwise sunny spell , just after one of the torrential showers . I carried on with my lunch , but was sure something was moving in the Lilac . I had to go and have a look . I didn't see anything at first , but then another movement , even though the wings were closed , had me dashing back in again for the camera . Just like yesterday , it wasn't a leaf , but another Painted Lady . Not surprising that it landed here as this Lilac fills the surrounding area with scent , and scent means nectar , and it immediately started feeding , the proboscis deep in the flower in the picture above . The gusty wind made it fly off several times , but each time it was drawn back by the scent of the Lilac . These butterflies are migrants , and these early specimens are probably from North Africa . The sad thing is that each year these butterflies arrive here , mate , and it is thought that the whole British population , which extends all the way up to Orkney and Shetland , dies out each Winter , because they cannot stand the wet and the cold . So each year , we depend on more migrants in the following Spring .

I left it to feed up after it's epic journey , and headed for Spring Park Pond , hoping that the sun would stay out for my visit . It was cool around the pond , as it was not protected from the wind , so I headed for the small meadow again . There , there was some protection , but only found one Large White , nectaring on Greater Stitchwort . The brambly area where I found the Broad Bodied Chaser on my last visit seemed quiet , so went around the back , where it was a bit more sheltered . The first little pocket in the bramble had a pair , queueing up to be photographed , and as can be seen , the one on the left is in the process of getting his adult male colouration . All immature Broad Bodied Chasers emerge a golden/yellow colour , and as they mature , the abdomens of females turn a browny/gold , and the abdomen of males , a powder blue . This is why it can be really tricky at this time of year to identify sex , or even species in some cases . In a short period of time , the male abdomen will be all powder blue , and any problems go away .

With the sun still out , occasionally , I spent the last half hour at the farm lake . The first thing noticed was that the female Mallard now only has four ducklings . The wind was whipping across the water , and only one corner of the lake produced any Damselflies . A few Large Red , the odd Azure (pictured) and the odd teneral Blue Tailed . Another example of difficulty identifying teneral , or freshly emerged Damselflies , was this one ,

with a pinkish hue , it would be easy to say Large Red Damselfly , but looking at the first segment of the abdomen , the 'golf ball on tee' marking , identifies it as a Common Blue , and the all the same colour segments 8 & 9 confirm it . Once again , butterflies were at a premium , as I only found one Common Blue , tucked away in the grass , and a single Green Veined White flew by at a rate of knots on the wind . The wind also disturbed another day flying moth , the Cinnabar Moth , one of the more colourful species , being charcoal and red . It soon tucked itself away again in the waterside vegetation . This species lays it's egg on Ragwort , and the yellow and black ringed caterpillars will be seen later in the year . The clouds were building again , and the sight of 20/25 Swifts , and several Swallows hawking high over the lake , often the sign of impending rain . I made my way home , and within minutes , the heavens opened again , and it is still raining now . Why can't someone train hirondine to do the weather forecast ?