Did the full butterfly transect at High Elms LNR on Sunday , but things still poor . 8 species recorded , with Dingy Skipper still well out in front . I watched a female on the Orchid Bank , and
when she moved on , found her egg on Birdsfoot Trefoil . On the Conservation Field , found the first
Mother Shipton , day flying moth of the year . Orchids are doing better though , with Fly up to 17 , Birdsnest up to 10 and Man up to 8 .
As we had sunshine all day today , I shouldn't really complain about the weather , but , that wind was a pain , especially as I was photographing Odonata .
I started off at Sevenoaks Reserve , and was really pleased with the five species found .
Azure Damselfly , this being the green form female , which makes up 90% of the females . The blue form female and males were also seen .
Common Blue Damselfly , male , just the odd female seen .
Large Red Damselfly , male , several pairs seen in tandem .
Blue-tailed Damselfly , male , no females seen .
Red-eyed Damselfly , female , just 2 seen , both females . I moved on from Sevenoaks Reserve to the River Eden , not far from Bough Beech Reservoir . The wind was even stronger on this site and with steep banks , it was a case of 'in the lap of the Gods' .
Good numbers of male Banded Demoiselle ,
fewer females ,
but when they got together ,
it was then down to the female to try and lay her eggs , before being clasped by another male and re-mated .
Just two White-legged Damselflies seen , both immatures .
My final stop was at the small 'tree laying reserve' , 3 Four-spotted Chasers , including a female egg laying .
A male Broad-bodied Chaser , only the one seen , could well be the immature that I saw last visit when his abdomen was yellow/gold rather than powder blue . A total of 9 species seen , the only other possibility would be Downy Emerald , given the sites visited .
Two nest found on the way around ,
Great Spotted Woodpecker , about 10 metres up the trunk , and only had the 100mm. macro lens .
A Blue Tit family in the tree the GSW used last year .
And finally , a couple of plants ,
Bogbean / Menyanthes trifoliate , at Sevenoaks Reserve ,
a wonderful show of Ragged Robin /Lychnis flos-cuculi , a member of the Pink family at the small reserve .
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6 comments:
It was a good day for Odonata Greenie, but as you say, that wind was a right pain to try and photograph them in !
Nice array of damsels Greenie.
I know what you mean about the wind, but at least it's dry! Less windy tomorrow so might try to get some dragons/damsels myself.
A great session Greenie. Nice shots as ever of the Dragons.
Great picture of the Dingy Egg, Ive had over 75 This year on the Hutchinsons Bank Transect, so may beat the record of 99 this year.
Hi, I've just found your site from Ragged Robin's blog. Lovely photos. We've just built a pond so I'm v interested in all the dragonflies etc. Loved the pic of the GSW nest too.
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