Leicestershire Wildlife Sessions - 27th July to 9th August, 2020

I have got rather behind with my blog posts. I must try and catch up. In the meantime, here is an account of several visits 'into the wild' to seek nature and some photo opportunities.

Thursday, 30th July

It had been many months since I had visited the eastern part of the county and so this was my destination this day.

I set off late morning, stopping for lunch at a gateway that I favour as picnic site. I was delighted to see that it looked as if I would have company - albeit at rather more 'social distance' than was necessary. My companion was a Little Owl which was sitting in a tree at a distance of around 200 metres.

As I parked, I saw a small bird on a post opposite, a little too far away to positively identify through my binoculars. Having reviewed my photos, I can confirm that my suspicions were correct - a Redstart (probably a juvenile)!

Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) - near my Little Owl site No.34

A gentle amble down the road before lunch took me to a place only 70 metres from the Little Owl. I took a few photos, and it was only when I got home and looked at the photos on the screen that I realised that, as well as the adult that I'd been photographing, a juvenile was present. It only featured in my shots as the adult had been so far away. Both these tightly cropped shots feature both owls - you might struggle to see the adult owl in the second shot?

Little Owl (Athene noctua) (juvenile and adult) - my LO Site No.34

These next two very heavily cropped images show just the adult.

Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my LO Site No.34

After a quick lunch I took a stroll down the road again and took some more shots of the adult owl which was now out on a branch, and I still didn't notice the juvenile which had also moved and can be seen in the second less cropped shot.

Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my LO Site No.34

My next destination was Eyebrook reservoir. I was hoping to see some birds, but I also wanted to check and see if the Willow Emerald Damselflies - a species new to the county in 2019 - were in evidence.  En route I made a brief stop to visit a small pond in the hope of seeing some dragonflies. I only had a brief view of a male Emperor which I couldn't re-locate, but I did spot a couple of day-flying moths.

Brown China-mark (Elophila nymphaeata) - near Stockerston

Common Carpet (Epirrhoe alternata) - near Stockerston

I spent some time looking for the Willow Emerald Damselflies at Eyebrook, and was briefly fooled by a female Banded Demoiselle behaving like a Willow Emerald and landing in the willow tree on the south side of the bridge. In the event, nothing axciting was seen or photographed in the way of birds, and I spent my time with dragonflies and damselflies.

Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) (male) - Eyebrook

Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) (female) - Eyebrook

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (male) - Eyebrook

It was a warm day, and a Ruddy Darter started obelisking - a raising of the abdomen to point skywards to reduce the amount of heat absorbed. I fluffed the final shot, but include it here as I have never seen the underside of a Ruddy Darter's abdomen before, and was quite surprised by the markings!

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) (male) - Eyebrook

It was time to head homeward as I wanted to call in to see our daughter on my way home. I made a quick stop at Launde Abbey to look at the pool there but found, to my dismay, that the pool had dried up to the extent that I could walk across it without getting wet/muddy feet. I took a shot of a Small Skipper while there.

Small Skipper (hymelicus sylvestris) (male) - Launde Abbey

I had a very pleasant hour chatting on the drive of our daughter's house while social-distancing (I'd taken a folding chair with me) before I need to depart for personal comfort reasons!

Stopping at a convenient point on my way home, I diverted to look at a pond that I'd not previously found to be overly productive, and took a few more shots of dragonflies and damselflies. Sadly, at this time of the afternoon, I was shooting into the sun. I managed a poor shot of a rather tatty Emperor, and some slightly better shots of an Emerald Damselfly - my first of the year. 

Emperor (Anax imperator) (male) - near Cropston

Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa) (male) - near Cropston

It was only when I got home that I found that a distant Red-eyed Damselfly, that I'd grabbed a couple of frames of before giving up because of the poor situation and lighting conditions, was in fact a Small Red-eyed Damselfly - a 'lifer' for me - and so will appear here in spite of being 'just a record shot'.

Small Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma viridulum) (male) - near Cropston

Friday, 31st July

I made a late morning visit to a local dragonfly location. It was breezy and nothing unusual was seen but I did get a few photo opportunities. 

The only birds photographed that morning were Mute Swans. It was good to see the pair with cygnets looking comfortable.

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) - Saltersford Valley

Common Darters were the mainstay of the dragonflies showing that day.

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (male) - Saltersford Valley

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (male + female) - Saltersford Valley

Ruddy Darters were also present.

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) (male) - Saltersford Valley

Not long before I left, a female Brown Hawker, came alongside the boardwalk and decided to oviposit on the boardwalk support, in deep shade. I took several shots in the few seconds before she disappeared under the boardwalk, but most of the shots were totally unusable - which is not surprising as the lens was at its full 500 mm and the shutter speed came in at 1/60s! This one just about makes it.

Brown Hawker (Aeshna grandis) (female) - Saltersford Valley

Wednesday, 5th August

It's not often in these Covid times that I manage to get out with Lindsay as she doesn't have the ability to walk far without sitting down for a rest, and neither of us are going anywhere where we will find ourselves unable to social-distance from the rest of the population. This day, however, was very windy and Lindsay felt she needed to get out into the fresh air. We did a bit of a drive around, looking for places where we might be able to park and take a short stroll in the countryside. In this, we were not very successful. We found ourselves parking on the dam of Cropston reservoir and taking a short walk (I went on a rather longer walk), and afterwards heading for Swithland reservoir where, again, we parked on the dam in order to have a brief walk about. I did take the camera' just in case', but little was seen. Here are a few very common items.

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) - Cropston Reservoir

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - Cropston Reservoir

Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) - Cropston Reservoir

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - Swithland Reservoir

Friday, 7th August

I had another day out, departing late morning, and taking a picnic lunch with me. My main objective was to try and find Small Red-eyed Damselfly again near Cropston. This turned out to be a somewhat unproductive visit, with little seen or photographed, and no sign of the hoped-for damselfly.

Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) (male + female in cop) - near Cropston

Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa) (male) - near Cropston

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (male) -near Cropston

I then moved on to Cossingtom Meadows in the hope of finding some birds to photograph. On arrival I waited for two gentlemen with cameras to exit through the gate, who kindly informed me of what they'd seen, which included common fare, and "lots of dragonflies which refused to settle". 

On entering, I was soon delighted to find my first Brimstone of the summer.

Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) (male) - Cossington Meadows

I soon saw what the gentlemen had mentioned - there were numerous Brown Hawkers around, none of which were obliging. 

I didn't get clear views of any birds until I got to Tern Pool, and here I only found common camera fodder.

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) (female) - Cossington Meadows

Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) - Cossington Meadows

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) + Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) - Cossington Meadows

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) - Cossington Meadows

Having reached the northern end of Cossington Meadows I cut over westward to the River Soar and made my way southward. I was seeing many more Brown Hawkers now. At one point I stopped at a point where I had a reasonable view of the river - it had been hidden from view by tall vegetation for much of the way. I noticed a couple of damselflies, and couldn't believe what I was seeing at first - two Small Red-eyed Damselflies! I'd had a self-found 'lifer' just eight days before, and here I was with two more of the same species at anothewr self-found location. 

I watched these two males for some time from the high river bank. They had several altercations with each other, but they never came near for decent photography, but at least my shots are good enough to confirm the species!

Small Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma viridulum) (male) - River Soar, Cossington Meadows

After this, on the hottest day of the year, it seemed a long walk back to my car, where I had a break for my lunch before heading to my next destination. 

My last stop of the day was at Sence Valley Park, where I thought I'd have another check of the area that I'd been invited to monitor. I have to admit that I was flagging somewhat by now, and my survey was far from thorough. 

Soon after entering the area barred from public access, I was delighted to spot a Common Blue butterfly, and then another as I reached the first pond. I have seen worryingly few of these this year.

Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) (male) - Sence Valley

Although in smaller numbers, there was a similar mix of Odonata to that on my previous visit. However, I didn't see Broad-bodied Chaser, but there were now Common Darter present, which there hadn't been on my previous visit. The other thing of note was the absence of females.

There was an obliging Black-tailed Skimmer which decided to perch on a stem, rather than on the ground.

Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) - Sence Valley

One of the Common Darters was also fairly cooperative.

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (male) - Sence Valley

As I was about to leave the pond area, I found a large aquatic beetle had climbed out onto a stem. I do not know what species this was, but suspect that it might have been Colymbetes fuscus.

aquatic beetle - Sence Valley

By now, I was feeling the results of being on my feet and out in the heat for several hours, and it was time to go home and cool off.

This brings to a close my account of my forays for the fortnight.

Thank you for dropping by. I'm not sure what my next blog post will feature, but suspect that it will either be my garden observations or more excursions away from home. In the meantime, take great care and stay safe.