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Wednesday 7 September 2022

The Second Week of August, 2022

I had a quite rewarding second week in August, with four trips out to local nature hot-spots, and a few garden observations. 

Tuesday, 9th August             Croxall Lakes Nature Reserve ; Garden

Croxall Lakes NR, managed by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, is only about fifteen minutes from my home by car. In the past, I have had some good sightings here, but I had not been for a while and did not know what to expect.

I arrived to find that the dragonfly ponds near the entrance were completely dried up.

A Grey Heron was relaxing on the small island at the south end of the main lake.

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) - Croxall Lakes NR
A little further on, I stopped to try and photograph a Common Tern that was flying around. I hoped that it would attempt to fish, but it didn't.
 
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) - Croxall Lakes NR
I got to the far end of the site, close to where the River Tame joins the River Trent, before I saw my first odonate - just a Common Blue Damselfly.

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (male) - Croxall Lakes NR
I crossed under the railway and took the path along the east edge of the railway to get to the hide that looks over the second, smaller, lake. From this path I photographed a Small Copper butterfly.

 
Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) - Croxall Lakes NR

Close to the hide on the second lake, I saw a Common Darter. This was the first, and only, dragonfly I photographed that day.

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (female) - Croxall Lakes NR

The water level at the second lake was very low, so the birds were quite a long way away. Little of interest was seen but I was pleased to get some shots of a Green Sandpiper - a species that I only ever seem to see at a great distance!

Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) - Croxall Lakes NR
It had been a bit of a disappointing visit and I do not feel the need to return any time soon.

That afternoon, in our garden, I was pleased to see a Painted Lady butterfly - my first for the year. We do occasionally see this species in our garden, but not every year. This one was showing signs of wear and I guess it had probably arrived from the continent.

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) - garden on 9th August, 2022
Wednesday, 10th August                Garden

Keeping my eyes open for the potential return of the previous day's Painted Lady, I was surprised when a pristine individual arrived. Perhaps she'd been to the paint shop for a touch-up coat overnight !!!

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) - garden on 10th August, 2022

Butterflies seem to have been the order of the day, as we were visited by a Comma - not rare, but one of our not so frequent visitors to the garden.

Comma (Polygonia c-album) - garden on 10th August, 2022
An even less frequent visitor than the Comma is the Brimstone, and we had one of these too. I cannot make my mind up as to whether this was a dark female or a pale male - but I think probably the latter.

Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) - garden on 10th August, 2022

I was also pleased to get a record shot of the Brimstone and Painted Lady on the same buddleia flower cluster. I would be greatly surprised if I ever witnessed this again!

Brimstone + Painted Lady - garden on 10th August, 2022
Thursday, 11th August                     Drakelow Nature Reserve

Drakelow NR is managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. It takes me about 15 minutes to get there by car, and a further 15 minutes to open the gate and close it behind me, and then to drive down the rough track to the car parking area over a mile (1.5 km) away.

Having parked my car, I walked the short distance to the River Trent, where a Migrant Hawker was patrolling the river. This gave me some opportunities for flight photography, although it was difficult to see what I was managing with regard to freezing the wing movement, due to the dark background of the river water.

Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) (male) - Drakelow NR
At one point, it settled briefly.

Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) (male) - Drakelow NR
Further on, from the viewing platform on one of the lakes, I spotted a red-eyed damselfly (lack of capitalisation intentional). At the time, I took it to be a Red-eyed Damselfly, as I rarely see Small Red-eyed Damselfly, but having found Small Red-eyed Damselfly on my subsequent visit to this location, I suspect it was this species, as the eyes are a bright red. Sadly, I cannot make out the markings on the tail-end of the abdomen, which would clinch the ID. I will, therefore, just call it a red-eyed damselfly sp.!

red-eyed damselfly sp. - Drakelow NR
Also from the platform, I photographed an obliging Common Darter.

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (male) - Drakelow NR
Further into the reserve, I found a female Common Blue Damselfly in a photographable position.

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (female) - Drakelow NR
I only had limited time available to me, but did take some shots of the Cormorants that were resting on their favourite island.

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) (with Grey Heron) - Drakelow NR
Saturday, 13th August                 Saltersford Valley Country Park

A return to one of my favourite local locations came up with a pleasant surprise. The boardwalk yielded nothing of interest but, by the first 'stockaded' platform, I saw a damselfly land. I attempted to photograph it but it was behind a leaf. It was, however, definitely a damselfly of the 'red-eyed' persuasion.

red-eyed damselfly sp. - Saltersford Valley CP
Saltersford Valley is one of the few locations where I have found Red-eyed Damselfly, usually round at the platform that gives views over the second lake. I was, therefore, surprised to see that there were now Small Red-eyed Damselfly here. This being only the third location that I have found them at, and my first locally, I took rather a lot of shots. There were eight of them!



Small Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma viridulum) (male) - Saltersford Valley CP
I can't make my mind up about this next female specimen, which was close by the area with the Small Red-eyes. The short antehumeral stripe suggests Red-eyed, but the wing length seems more in keeping with Small Red-eyed. It's another one that I'll leave as just 'red-eyed sp.'

red-eyed damselfly sp. - Saltersford Valley CP
Back on the boardwalk I found both Ruddy and Common Darter.

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) (male) - Saltersford Vally CP
Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (male) - Saltersford Vally CP

Finding a new site, close to home, for Small Red-eyed Damselfly had made this a very worthwhile visit.

Sunday, 14th August           Thortit Lake ; Garden

My third trip out in four days took me just down the road to Thortit Lake for a very brief visit.

The first photos I took were of an ichneumon wasp. That fearsome-looking ovipositor is used to lay eggs in butterfly and moth larvae.

ichneumon (Pimpla rufipes) (female) - Thortit Lake
The rest of my sightings were of common fare, a few of which are shown below.

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) (over-mature female) -Thortit Lake
Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) - Thortit Lake
Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (male) - Thortit Lake

That afternoon we had another visit to the garden by Brimstone butterfly.

Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) - garden on 14th August, 2022
Thus ended my second week of August

 

It will probably not surprise you to learn that my next blog post is likely to feature the third week of August, and will probably be published in just a few days time. It will almost certainly be significantly shorter than this blog post!

In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature. Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard


16 comments:

  1. Nice post Richard. I totally agree with the comment to Blogger.
    Take care
    Mike.

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    1. Thank you, Mike. I get the impression that Blogger is starting to sort things out, but there are still plenty of people having trouble with comments on posts. Stay safe - - - Richard

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  2. Good morning, Richard: As always, your shots are crisp and clear, showing so much detail. Your garden obviously continues to produce treats, with the odd rarity making the discovery even more exciting. Pictures of dragonflies in flight must be extremely difficult to achieve it seems to me. Birds are bad enough but at least they fly in a straight line most of the time, whereas odenates are zig-zagging all over the place. Those red-eyed damselflies were new to me and are very distinctive. I'll look forward to seeing what the rest of August delivered. Best wishes to you both - David

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    Replies
    1. Hi David. Good afternoon from a very sombre UK.

      Some species of dragonfly, particularly the Migrant Hawker, tend to spend time in a relatively small area and are a little predictable in their trajectory. They also are inquisitive and will approach you and hover momentarily. This helps photography opportunities immensely, as you can well imagine!

      At last we are getting some good, and very welcome, levels of rainfall, and much cooler temperatures. The grey weather seems very appropriate at this time.

      My best wishes to you and Miriam - - - Richard

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  3. Hello Richard, this is a beautiful post. I have also never seen or heard of a Red-eyed damselfly. The photo you took of the leaf, where one can see the shadow, and just one large red eye is amusing, and a wonderful shot. You were lucky to find so many damselflies and see lots of lovely butterflies. I also enjoyed all the bird photographs. Thank you for sharing this most enjoyable post, and I look forward to seeing the next.
    All the best.

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    Replies
    1. Greetings Sonjia! I'm very pleased to know that it was not just me that was amused by that shot of that silhouetted damselfly with just one red eye showing. We have a few lakes fairly close to our home so dragonflies and damselflies are not usually hard to find, but I do worry that things may be difficult next year with so many of their breeding waters drying out due to the hot dry summer.

      Best wishes - stay safe - - - Richard

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  4. An exquisite "two-cuppa" post!

    The collection of butterflies and odes transported my imagination outdoors as I wandered virtually from one perch to another with you. Outstanding photography, Richard!

    My instinct was to reach for the field guide more than once before reality returned and stopped me. The "shadow damselfly with the red eye" on the opposite side of the leaf is pretty close to "art"! Very nice that you spotted the opportunity.

    Thunderstorms are on a morning schedule this week so here I am stuck indoors. Then, I discovered your latest post and the day has been salvaged!

    Gini and I are doing great and we certainly hope the same may be said for you and Lindsay.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Wally. It's a rather sad time in UK today, with the death of our beloved Queen. We too have been having thunderstorms and a welcome amount of rain and, as I mentioned to David above, the dull weather seems fitting to the situation.

      Only two medical related visits for me this week. However, already four for next week. I'm hoping things settle down soon. Still nothing serious, however, as far as I'm aware - just annoyingly time-consuming.

      Best wishes to you both - - - Richard

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  5. Enjoyed another wander through your 'Second Week of August' Richard. For your interest, there are only two known sites for Red-eyed Damselfly in Lancashire at St. Helens, neither of which is local, and certainly not in southern and south-eastern England where they are most common. The species also doesn't occur north in our next door neighbour of Cumbria....I'm afraid you're getting to far ahead on points for my liking Richard!

    Nevertheless, My Kind Regards....Pete.

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    Replies
    1. There is no way, Pete, that I will ever get ahead of you on points even if it were a competition. With your dedication, knowledge, and environment you would always be miles ahead!

      Best wishes to you both - - - Richard

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  6. What a great post and I love the dragonfly shadow, amazing shot, well done. The butterflies are excellent as well, I have seen very few this year, could it be it was too hot for them?
    I have sent you a link to my Little Owl, hope it works for you.
    Keep well best wishes to you both, cheers Diane

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    Replies
    1. Hi Diane. I'm glad you like the damselfly silhouette shot. I hadn't considered the extreme heat having a negative effect on the butterflies, but now you mention it I think that you're probably right - I was not seeing many during the very hot spell, but numbers do seem to have built up again since it cooled off.

      Never received the link to your Little Owl video. How did you send it?

      Best wishes to you both - stay safe - - - Richard

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  7. Richard, My condolences for the loss of your beloved Queen.

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    1. Thank you for those very kind words, Sonjia - I am close to tears.

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