On Wednesday I popped up to Fingringhoe Wick and got some nice photos of willow emerald damselflies Lestes viridis. There were a few mating pairs around too. I also finally got a photo of a brown hawker, my odonata nemesis! A ruddy darter male posed. And a pair just about posed on some bramble.
I was walking through Wat Tyler Country Park yesterday, when I flushed a yellow butterfly from the path. I saw the darker flashes on the wings and new it was a clouded yellow butterfly, which are usually a migrant from Europe. Eventually it landed and I managed one good shot in the sun before it…
A few shots of a pond olive mayfly nymph. This species is the one most commonly found in ponds. I managed some shots of the underside too.
A post to update on the southern migrant hawkers in Wat Tyler CP. They have been seen most days , generally with sightings occurring in the afternoon, peaking between 2 and 4pm but I observed them on evening at 6.20pm Reports of up to 4 males on Sunday 4/8/13 were sent to me, from the…
Last week I came across a thistle bed covered in butterflies, including Essex skippers. I tried some shots with the wide angle too. And again on some ragwort.
A quick 1 photo post of a small red damselfly on Thursley Common.
While at Thirsley common I came across a number of bog bush crickets Metrioptera brachyptera, but this male was the most cooperative, as it sat and posed on the boardwalk. I got a close up too.
Regular blog readers will know I am lucky enough to frequent a place that last year had daily sightings of the recently colonising Southern migrant hawker Aeshna affinis, in fact its possible I spent more time than anyone else observing them last year. A month or 2 ago I was emailed about them by James…
Yesterday I had my annual trip to Thursley Common, the most species rich site for dragonflies and damselflies in the country. I managed some nice photos, including these black darters (my first of the year) which posed for some shots. The black mature males were flighty and I only managed this shot of one. Some…
Here is a video of a emerald damselfly (Lestes sponsa) doing ‘the worm!’ It is really using its abdomen to clean its wings, which was interesting to watch. You can tell from the video there was a bit of breeze yesterday!