Catchup Time Pt.6 - 10th to 28th August, 2023

Header image (while this post is current) - Banded Demoiselle (female) - Ashby Canal, Snarestone on 28th August, 2023  

Getting ever-closer to the current date, here is Part 6 of my Catchup series of posts.

Thursday, 10th August          Drakelow Nature Reserve

On this day, I visited Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's nature reserve at Drakelow, beside the River Trent. DWT has a reciprocal arrangement with Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust (of which I am a member) which allows visits to this reserve, entrance to which is protected by a combination-locked gate. It is approximately a mile and a half (2 km) from the gate to the car park!

My main interest here was, you may not be surprised to learn, the Odonata. This has been a useful place to visit in the past.

Near the car park, I found Common Blue Damselflies, two of which were in the process of hooking up to mate. In this first image, the male has used his anal appendages (claspers) to grip the pronotum (behind the head) of the female.

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (male+female in tandem) - Drakelow NR

In this second image, the female has brought her abdomen round so that her rear end connects with the secondary genitalia of the male.

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (male+female in cop) - Drakelow NR

This is a shot of the male of the species, unusually shown with its wings spread.

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (male) - Drakelow NR

I can't be sure, without consulting my records, but I believe these were my first sightings of Ruddy Darter for the year. In the first image, the dragonfly is 'obelisking' - pointing the abdomen directly at the sun to avoid overheating by reducing the area receiving the sun.

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) (male) - Drakelow NR

I called in briefly at the first hide and immediately realised that the pickings from here would be slim at this time of year. I didn't bother with the second hide as it does not have opening windows.

On the trail, there were a few butterflies. This was a female Common Blue, although you wouldn't know it as a female unless you saw it with its wings open.

Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) (female) - Drakelow NR

Towards the northern edge of the reserve, I noticed an Emperor dragonfly flying around. It stopped on the far side of the water but I was able to get a distant shot. It was only when I came to look at my photos that I realised that it was, perhaps, a small miracle that this dragonfly was still mobile.

Emperor (Anax imperator) (male) - Drakelow NR

In  one area, a Cormorant was taking in the sun . . . . 

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) - Drakelow NR

. . . . while the rest of the gang looked on.

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) - Drakelow NR

A Brimstone butterfly looked rather splendid.

Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) (male) - Drakelow NR

On one of the lakes, there is a platform at the edge of the lake, which can be quite useful for watching the Odonata. As I approached this, I managed to disturb an unseen Emperor. It flew away for a short distance and then, to my surprise, came back a bit closer. For the first image, below, I had to wind the lens back to 325mm to get it in. It then came closer still, and I had to come even further back, to 225mm for the second image! 

Emperor (Anax imperator) (male) - Drakelow NR

On the path back to the car park, I encountered Common Darters and a Banded Demoiselle

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (female) - Drakelow NR

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (male) - Drakelow NR

Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) (male) - Drakelow NR

In the car park, before heading home, I photographed a male Common Blue butterfly.

Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) (male) - Drakelow NR

Monday, 14th August          Garden

A male Bullfinch was regularly showing up with three juveniles. I only managed to get two juveniles in frame on this occasion.

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (male + juveniles) - our garden

Wednesday, 16th August          Thortit Lake

Another visit, looking for dragonflies, took me to Thortit Lake, just down the road from our house. 

As I entered the area, there were two Brimstone butterflies near the entrance. I waited until one landed and took some shots.

Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) (male) - near Thortit Lake

There are a couple of areas where it is possible to get close to the water of the lake and I spent some time at both of these.

A Common Blue Damselfly is, as the name suggests, very common, but it is, nevertheless, a very attractive insect.

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (male) -Thortit Lake

There is a spot near the water's edge that regularly attracts Small Copper, Common Blue and Brown Argus butterflies at the right time of year. Here's a Small Copper from this day.

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) - Thortit Lake

I found a Migrant Hawker that was patrolling an area of the shoreline and started trying to get some flight shots. This next shot is of terrible quality but I have to include it as, although I know they can do it, I have never noticed a dragonfly flying upside down before, and I have never seen an image of one doing this either.

Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) (male) - Thortit Lake

Here it is flying the right way up!

Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) (male) - Thortit Lake

Behind me, a Common Blue butterfly had arrived.

Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) (male) - Thortit Lake

As I left the area, a Common Darter posed nicely.

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (female) - Thortit Lake

Saturday, 19th August          Saltersford Valley Country Park  :  Garden

A quick late-morning visit to the boardwalk at Saltersford Valley CP had me finding the usual Common Darters resting on the boardwalk. This was a well-matured male.

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

Most of my time here, however, was spent trying for flight shots of Migrant Hawkers. I didn't do too badly, and one even settled for me.

Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) (male) - Saltersford Valley CP

That afternoon, while we we having our early-evening meal in the conservatory, we had an influx of tits, including six Long-tailed Tits.

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) - our garden

We'd only just finished eating when a warbler arrived. From a photo that wasn't worth publishing, I could identify this as a Willow Warbler by the colour of its legs. Here is a slightly better shot of this bird.

Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) - our garden

Sunday, 20th August          Garden

Warblers in our garden are relatively rare, so I was surprised when we were relaxing in the conservatory after lunch and we had another warbler visit. I think that this was a different bird to the one of the previous day as it seemed much paler and more yellow. I am relatively confident that this was also a Willow Warbler, however.

Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) - our garden

Monday, 28th August          Ashby Canal, Snarestone

 

A fair weather day this day had me returning to the Ashby Canal near Snarestone. This is my my local hotspot for my favourite damselfly - the White-legged Damselfly. It was a bit late in the season for this species so my expectations were not high.

 

Having parked in the canal-side car park, I crossed the bridge and headed along the towpath. I'd only gone a few metres before seeing my first damselfly - a female Banded Demoiselle.

 

Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) (female) - Ashby Canal, Snarestone

As I was watching this damselfly, a White-legged Damselfly arrived.

White-legged Damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes) (male) - Ashby Canal, Snarestone

Further on, I stopped for a hoverfly. This is one of the drone flies.

 

drone fly (Eristalis arbustorum) (female) - Ashby Canal, Snarestone

There were Common Darters  along the way, but I have already shown a few in this post, so I shall not bother you with another image. However, I will show this Migrant Hawker as it appears to have suffered some abdominal damage. It didn't seem to affect it's ability to function, however, as it flew with some agility.

Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) (male) - Ashby Canal, Snarestone

My next photographic encounter was with a male Banded Demoiselle.

Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) (male) - Ashby Canal, Snarestone

A Speckled Wood obligingly landed on the towpath in front of me.

Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) - Ashby Canal, Snarestone

Tachina fera is a rather large bristly fly and quite spectacular in appearance, and I can never resist taking photos when I encounter one.

 

tachinid fly (Tachina fera)  - Ashby Canal, Snarestone

Sadly, I did not find any more White-legged Damselflies, but it had been an entertaining visit.

 

 

I have now reached the end of August with my blog posts. I expect that the next post will feature the first two weeks of September, and I will be nearly up to date - phew! In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature.

Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard

April 'Odds and Sods', Pt.2 - 25th to 29th April, 2023

Pt.2 of my 'mop-up' account of April covers a shorter period than Pt.1 but contains coverage of some events that, for me, were quite exciting. So here we go:-

Tuesday, 25th April                    Sence Valley Forest Park ; Garden

There had, the previous day, been a report of a Whinchat and two Wheatear in the most recently planted area of Sence Valley FP. It was an area of this place that I had not previously visited, so decided that it was time that I took a look.

I parked my car in a spot that was relatively close to the area and set off along the perimeter path. I soon spotted a likely looking bird on the fence, way ahead of me. It was, unfortunately, somewhat into the light, and I was unable to make a positive ID with my binoculars. I continued down the path taking record shots as I approached, and was starting to get within a sensible distance when couple with dogs came from the opposite direction and spooked the bird, which disappeared over the newly planted trees. I can, however, see from my shots that it was a Wheatear that I'd seen. From the white on the belly, it appears to have been a male, but I'm not sure about that!

Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) (male?) - Sence Valley FP

I waited there for quite a while, hoping for the bird to return, and keeping myself occupied by trying to photograph passing gulls.

Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus) - Sence Valley FP

The bird did not return, so I set off to go to Horseshoe Lake, briefly calling in at the hide at Stonebridge Pool on the way. Nothing of interest was seen from the hide, but Orange-tip butterflies and and a hoverfly were photographed from the path that lead round to Horseshoe Lake.

While I was trying to photograph a female Orange-tip, a male arrived and the female demonstrated that she was ready! I got better photos of the female on her own, but thought this less-than-sharp image to be more interesting.

Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) (female+male) - Sence Valleyy FP

hoverfly (Eupeodes luniger) (male) - Sence Valley FP

At Horseshoe Lake, the best that I could find to photograph was a Black-headed Gull.

Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus) - Sence Valley FP

Also, while there, I spotted a pair of small and very colourful flies that were attracted to the trunk of a small tree - I neglected to note the species of tree. The flies were Gymnocheta viridis which, as adults, feed on pollen and nectar, but prefer to rest on trunks of trees..

fly (Gymnocheta viridis) - Sence Valley FP

It was time to return to my original location to see if my luck would change. On the way, I stopped for a fine male Orange-tip.

Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) (male) - Sence Valleyy FP

As I approached the access to my original location, a couple with two dogs arrived from the area that I was heading for, which didn't give me any confidence that I'd fare better on my return. However, as I reached the corner, I spotted the Whinchat on the fence ahead. I made a cautious approach and noticed a Wheatear just behind the Whinchat. The Whinchat was relatively cooperative and I managed some shots that I'm quite pleased with.

Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) (male) - Saltersford Valley CP

Whilst the Whinchat was relatively confiding and stayed put as I walked past on the other side of the 'path' (more like a 'ride' in its width), the Wheatear, a definite female, kept moving ahead of me until I got to a point where the path split and I could approach at a greater distance, and manage some shots.

Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) (female?) - Sence Valley FP

Thus ended a very pleasing visit.

That night the moth trap went out, but only resulted in one moth. It was, however, a beautiful Purple Thorn - a species that I have only once before had the pleasure of finding in my trap.

Purple Thorn (Selenia tetralunaria) (male) - from garden on 25th April, 2023

Wednesday, 26th April                    Garden

During breakfast in our conservatory, I noticed a warbler high up in the Viburnum and managed to get a glimpse of reddish legs, identifying it as a Willow Warbler, rather than a Chiffchaff (which has blackish legs). I did manage a record shot of this species which rarely visits our garden.

Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) - garden on 26th April, 2023

I was in the garden later this day, and noticed something floating on the surface of our mini-pond. It was a very dead Large Red Damselfly, and the first damselfly I had seen this year.

Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) - garden on 26th April, 2023

I had not been expecting to see this species so early, as it was over two weeks earlier than the first emergence from our mini-pond last year, and this year seemed to have got off to an even colder start. However, on checking the pond, I found evidence (by exuviae or emerged damselflies still present), of at least twelve emergences! 

Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) - garden on 26th April, 2023

Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) (exuvia of above damselfly) - garden on 26th April, 2023

Friday, 28th April                    Garden

Corvids are not unusual in our garden, with Magpie being an almost daily visitor during the winter, However, Jackdaw is a much less frequent visitor, and Rook is rarely seen, so to have all three visit the same day, although not at the same time, was extremely unusual.

Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) - garden on 28th April, 2023

Rook (Corvus frugilegus) - garden on 28th April, 2023

Magpie (Pica pica) - garden on 28th April, 2023

Saturday, 29th April                    Garden

I rarely photograph House Sparrow, and am starting to wonder why. They used to be by far the most numerous visitor to the garden, with counts of 20 or more being common, but now it is an unusual day when I count more than two. I fear that the day is coming when they are no more! The male House Sparrow is a handsome bird, and I now feel the need to be more attentive to this species.

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) (male) - garden on 29th April 2023

A female Orange-tip posed nicely for the camera.

Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) (female) - garden on 29th April, 2023

A Pond Skater has found a home in our pond. I am not sure of its specific identity. This photo looks as if it is grainy, but I think that it is pollen from the Rowan that is floating on the surface!

Pond Skater (Geridae sp.) - garden on 29th April, 2023

Our local Robin has been making a nuisance of himself. He's been waiting until the damselflies have emerged from the pond and are almost ready to fly, and then snaffling them up. It seems that he is taking them to his young in a nearby nest. So far, I have witnessed evidence of 65 Large Red Damselflies emerging from our garden mini-pond and I would be surprised if more than ten of them actually escaped being predated. This one's for Gini.

Robin (Erithacus rubecula) - garden on 29th April, 2023

I have spent some time recording the emergence of the Large Red Damselflies, and have been surprised at how many of the nymphs are emerging without any of their caudal lamellae present. I would estimate that half of them have emerged this way.

Here is a larva in such a condition.

Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) (nymph) - garden on 29th April, 2023

In the image below you can see the exuvia, to which the emerged damselfly is still clinging, has caudal lamellae in situ on the end of the abdomen sheath.

Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) (teneral adult+exuvia) - garden on 26th April, 2023

And here is one that escaped the clutches of the Robin, with a little help from me! Its maiden flight took it to a low-growing Hebe.

Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) - garden on 26th April, 2023

 

Thus ends Pt.2 of my April O&S account. My next blog post will probably be in about a week's time and, at this stage of the game, I have no idea as to what the content will be! In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature.

 

Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard