Today was to be a bit of a WAB meet day as I had been invited to join Fourwings to do a bit of Dragonfly / Damselfly watching on his local Patch. Another nice surprise was that glsammy (Graham) and his Mrs were joining us also.
Surprisingly it only took me 45 minutes to reach our meeting point, 40 minutes earlier than planned) but soon Steve turned up then Graham and his Mrs about 30 minutes later. Also joining us was a mate of Steve’s (matt).
It wasn’t too conducive for good Dragonfly watching as it was grey and overcast with a fair breeze blowing. The temperature was a bit on the cold side to so I decided to put my fleece jacket and also my waterproof jacket on top of it. I was undecided whether to take my scope or not but in the end decided that it was best to do so just in case something turned up. About an hour or so later I was regretting that decision as there were parts of the reserve that were protected from the breeze and was quite a bit warmer, plus the scope was getting in the way as all I was doing was taking photos of anything that moved within the undergrowth and bushes that lined the paths.
Before we left Steve showed this immense beetle type insect (which apparently are common, although I had never seen one). It was a Cockchafer.
Along one of the paths Steve decided to get the insect out so some photos could be taken by us (one attached). After a while the Cockchafer took off and as we watched it a bird shot out of a nearby tree and grabbed the insect then flew off at speed, still with the Cockchafer in its mouth. A sad end for a magnificent insect.
In the first couple of hours we managed to see a variety of insects, much of them new to me, and some I had seen but never knew the name of but between Steve and Graham they put me right on most of them. Those that we did ID included Azure, Blue tailed, rufescens form female Blue Tailed, teneral male Common Blue Damselfly, Red Eyed, & large Red Eyed Damselfly but the bonus damselfly was apparently a relatively rare one for the reserve a Variable Damselfly. It took a while before we managed to lock onto one of the larger insects of the day but thankfully a Four Spotted Chase came our way and some good photos were duly taken. Also seen were various flies, beetles, moths and spiders. Some of them we gained images of others just kept their distance from us.
It was beginning to turn into quite a pleasant day but toward the top end of the patch Steve had put quite a bit of faith into finding us some Green Hairstreak butterflies but try as we did we never found one. I did come across a nice Common Blue Butterfly which was a bit of a bonus.
It came to the time when Matt had to leave us and not long after it was decided that we make our way back to the cars for something to eat.
The four of us sat and ate our food whilst having a nice relaxing chat for about an hour. As we sat there we were treated to the aerial skills of the Swallows as they careered all around us, some seemingly only an inch or so off the ground. House martins were very evident as was Swifts as they wheeled around the sky. The odd Reed Bunting could be heard and a lone Blackcap on an island in front of us belted out its lovely song. A Sedge Warbler scratched its song out to the left of us but I never got to see it.
After our meal and a chat it was decided to carry on around the reserve but before we did that it was decided to have a look at a small pool by the car park. That was a good decision because almost straight away a newly emerged Broad-bodied Chaser was spotted. I managed three good shots of it but when I tried to get out of the way so Graham could get a shot it flew off. Steve tracked it down in some bushes and he slowly pushed his way through the branches and managed a series of good photos. (I think Graham had managed a good shot also).
It was time to move on around the reserve but unfortunately Graham’s back was playing him up so he decided sit down for a while and just try to photograph a Little Ringed Plover that had been reported on the site. Steve and I continued along the reserve on our own. We came to an area where a river cuts through and Steve was hopeful of seeing a Banded Demoiselle here but after scanning the bankside vegetation for a while Steve thought it best that we left this area and to proceed back into the reserve.
By now the wind was getting up quite a bit and the temperature had dropped again so the chances of seeing anything in this area was not looking good but as we cut across the field a real surprise came our way when a Painted Lady butterfly was spotted by Steve. Now that to me is a really early one but Steve reckoned it was probably a migrant not one that had hatched in England. It was in good condition but the colours were a bit washed out (photo attached, with closed wings).
Soon we were back at the Green Hairstreak site but again after a further search the elusive butterfly could not be found. I did come across a very small, iridescent green, pair of beetles that looked to be mating (photo attached). More insects came our way as we walked along the path, one of which was a new one to me, a White legged Damselfly. I managed a few shots of the insect before it disappeared. As we moved further along the pathway we came across a family party of Long Tailed Tits, with a few Juveniles amongst them. They were both very vocal and active and were a treat to watch.
Further along the path another surprise came our way when a Banded Demoiselle suddenly appeared. Unfortunately for both of us it was very flighty and never allowed us to get anywhere near to it so a photo opportunity didn’t present itself.
Another shocker moment was soon to follow. We spotted another White Legged Damselfly and thinking I might get a better shot of this one I moved in for a close photo when it took off, flew past me to the other side of the path and straight into a spiders web. Within seconds the spider was on it and soon a series of photos were taken of the event. Who says watching insects isn’t exciting.
Moving further on we came to an area that Steve thought might be productive but the only thing of difference was an Orange Tip butterfly. We were now almost at the car park when Steve shouted over to me that he had found a Green Hairstreak (sorry Graham) and after a while I managed at least one half decent shot of it. As we watched this butterfly Steve’s friend, Matt) arrived back on site just in time to see the butterfly. His timing was perfect because this was one of the target species he wanted to see.
Steve also spotted a Burnett Companion Moth which was new to me, again a not too good photo attached. It was too flighty to get a good image of it.
When we got back to the car park Graham’s car had gone so it was obvious his back had really played him enough for him to have gone home early.
It was now the end of an excellent day out. No birding by me whatsoever, which was a first for me, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the day. My thanks go to Steve for inviting me and also my thanks to Graham and his wife for coming along and helping to make the day a good one.
These are the photos attached below.
1. Four-spotted Chaser
2. Broad-bodied Chaser
3. Green hairstreak
4. Azure Damselfly
5. Red-eyed Damselfly
6. Variable Damselfly
7. White-legged Damselfly
I will do a reply to this thread with some more photos of some ID'd and not ID'd insects. Feel free any of you to identify any of them please.
John
John
Linear Mode
