Tuesday 9th. July 2013

Playing catch up again after two very hot days .

After spending Monday helping a friend again , I returned to the little stream with the old camera for another go at the Beautiful Demoiselles . These were a courting pair , female above .

With several males in the area , there was a lot of aggressive wing flicking .

Eventually , the male clasped the female , and encouraged her to complete the 'ring' .

After a short time , she was ovipositing , with the male patrolling over the area .

Once home , and closing the car port gates , this insect , a female Gasteruption jaculator , what a great name ,was searching all the woodwork for any other insect's nests . If she had found an occupied nest , she would have laid her eggs onto , or into the host , where once hatched , the larvae would eat outside in or inside out  . The larvae feed on the non-essential organs of the host first , but when they are almost ready to pupate , they turn their attention to the essential organs of the host and kill it . I was unable to photograph it as it was constantly on the move , so I caught it in a plastic container and popped it in the fridge for a short time . When I took it out , just for a few seconds , it lay motionless , but managed a few shots , before as if coming out of an anaesthetic , the insect returned to full

movement and flew off , none the worse for the cooling experience .
With less than two weeks to the Kent BC visit to High Elms , I headed back to Cuckoo Wood and Burnt Gorse in the hope that the recent warm weather has encouraged the hoped for species to have emerged . Three hours concentrating on the glades favoured by the species , found not a single sign of one , now I'm worried if they are going to emerge at all . Only interest found were four specimens

of White Mullein / Verbascum lychnitis , a member of the Figwort family , of which a couple have

come into flower , and one of my favourite woodland plants , Enchanter's Nightshade / Circaea lutetiana , a member of the Willowherb family . A stop at Keston Ponds found plenty of Odonata interest , including Downy Emerald , Four-spotted Chaser , several female Emperor Dragonfies

ovipositing , one pictured , but none within 15 metres , lots of male Black-tailed Skimmers , all intent

on aerial battles , before dropping down to recover before the next one . In the top pond , a large Pike was lying in one of the few weed free areas , but it's presence didn't seem to worry the small fry , who

took no notice at all of the predator . I also had a quick glimpse of a terrapin that was the size of a dinner plate , and that's not a fisherman's tale . A pair of Coots are busy renovating their nest on the

middle pond , that could produce their third brood . Here the male was arriving with some additional vegetation . Just as I was about to leave , the female left the nest top feed and the two birds gave an

opportunity to compare the white frontal shields of the pair , with the shield of the female on the left , narrower and less prominent than that of the male .