Saturday 26th.June 2010

As I mentioned yesterday , it was the Biggin Hill Air Fair today , and apart from the traffic , the likes of the above and below , any thoughts of recording birdlife was out of the window .
I spent the first hour or so up on the Common , wandering if the run of warm days might have encouraged the Purple Hairstreaks out . It hadn't , so I went to try again for the Brimstone chrysalis , and after much searching , found nothing , not even at the small shrub standing alone , although there was no sign of the caterpillar either . on one of the Buckthorn bushes , I did find a pair of Clown Bugs-Amorbus robustus . Whilst identifying them , I wish they had been juveniles , as it is from them that the species gets it's common name , the juveniles being multi coloured . Just 2 Ringlet , 4 Meadow Brown and a single large Skipper were recorded .
I headed then for the Farm lake , closer to the Air Show , but out of the traffic . With display aircraft directly overhead now , even the Coots and Moorhens were staying in the reedbeds , heads down . So I concentrated on the Odonata , which , I must admit was poor in numbers considering the weather . Not the large numbers that I had expected to find ovipositing , but many pairs found in the 'ring' or 'wheel' position , like these Blue-tailed Damselflies , the female
below being of the form rufescens,
a pair of Azure Damselflies ,
and this pair of Black-tailed Skimmers . Almost immediately after this shot , she started ovipositing , and was immediately clasped by another male and carried off .As things were slow , I spent a bit of time attempting to photograph a Common Blue Damselfly in flight . This was one of the resulting shots . There were at least 4 female Emperor Dragonflies ovipositing around the Lake , and standing quietly in the vegetation , this one came and laid her eggs directly infront of me .
Around the Lake , the Ladies Bedstraw is taking it's time to come into flower , but the Musk Mallow-Malva moschata has , and is adding some colour to the banks .
Also around the banks , I spotted at least two Swallows collecting mud and flying off towards the stables . Running repairs for a second brood ? Also , coming in for a drink , the white rump identified a couple of House Martins . A quieter spell , just as I was heading home for lunch , seemed to encourage what could have been a family group , from all the chattering , of Swallows down for a drink and I snatched a shot of one of them .
And finally , another ID for Dean please . A moth that I found on the Buckthorn whilst looking for Brimstone chrysalis . From it's markings , I think it should be called 'Spider's Web' . Once again , a big thank you to Dean / DDD , who identified the moth as a Large Fruit Tree Tortrix , female .