Insects on the rise

Mainly sunny, 17°, light SE.

River: no apparent change bird wise but 2 new Dragonflies and a Butterfly for the year.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Beautiful Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly and Large Red Damselfly.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Green Hairstreak and Peacock.

AD.

photos courtesy Alan  

Demoiselles

 Both Banded and Beautiful Demoiselle found by Alan today.

Banded above and Beautiful below

More Rain

Sunshine and showers again, 16°, breezy WSW.

The Little Ringed Plover still present on the floods out at Lollingdon but not relocated on 2nd visit later.

3 Lapwing, 4 Black-headed Gull and the Mandarin Duck also present.

Nearby 2 Swift, a Hobby, several Swallow, Common Whitethroat and Blackcap, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting.

No change along the river this afternoon apart from a Banded Demoiselle on the wing. Per Alan.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood.

Reed Bunting

Black-headed Gulls with Lapwing in the background

Mandarin Duck

Dragons

Sunny intervals, 17°, light NW.

Generally, rather quiet birdwise today but made up by several insects appearing.

Alan managed to find our first Club-tailed Dragonfly of the year and a few Banded Demoiselle along the river. The birdy side was a Lesser Whitethroat present in the area also.

The Bunk line/Gravel pit area was very samey, a few more Swallow and Common Whitethroat around and a Sedge Warbler singing in CSW.

This is the first year for many that I have not seen Swifts over the village on this date. Hopefully still to arrive.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Large Red Damselfly & Club-tailed Dragonfly.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Small White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Peacock & Speckled Wood.

Club-tail and Demoiselle courtesy Alan

April Showers?

Sunshine and showers and the odd Thunderstorm, 14°, light W.

A walk out to Lollingdon via the Lees.

3 pair of Yellow Wagtail between the Church and the Lees plus a Corn Bunting and a couple of Yellowhammer.

The “Long ditch” held approx. 6 Reed Bunting and the “Reedy ditch” 2+ singing Sedge Warbler and a Reed Warbler.

Lollingdon Hill was quiet with just a few Swallow around, 3 singing Corn Bunting, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff.

A singing Lesser Whitethroat nearby and another near the West End railway bridge.

Alan between Cholsey Marsh and Bow: Lesser Whitethroat, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, Kingfisher and Reed Bunting.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Peacock, Marsh Fritillary, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Moths: Small Yellow Underwing.

Photos courtesy Alan

Beautiful or Banded?

Demoiselles are a group of fluttery dragonflies of which there are 2 British species.

The one you are most likely to see in Cholsey is the Banded Demoiselle which is found in habitats of slow moving rivers and streams with muddy bottoms.

The Beautiful Demoiselle is quite rare in Cholsey and its preferred habitat is rivers and streams with gravelly bottoms.

This year both Alan and I have found female Demoiselles that resemble Beautiful.

Some females appear to be difficult to identify to species and I have little experience of Beautiful Demoiselles. 

Fortunately we have some photos. See below.

Beautiful Demoiselle (f) ↕ top photo by Richard Lewington of one near Appleford and the bottom photo by Alan Dawson in Cholsey.

Banded or Beautiful Demoiselle ? Cholsey

Marsh Fritillary & Clubtails

Sunny, 15°, light W.

More about the Insects today with 3 Clubtail Dragonfly and a few Banded Demoiselle found in Cholsey today.

Clubtails are a much localised species and are found on slow moving rivers but are prone to disturbance, pollution and habitat loss. We are quite lucky to have them here.

And 2 Marsh Fritillary butterfly found. This butterfly is very rare in this part of Britain and more confined to western parts and Ireland.

Its caterpillar food plant is Devil’s bit Scabious but will feed on other Scabious species.

One was found last year by Alan and we thought it was either an escape or a deliberate release but we found some of the food plant nearby, so who knows?

Marsh Fritillaries are fully protected under the Wildlife and Countryside act.

My Daughter reported several Swift over her garden in Crowmarsh.

Thank you to Alan Dawson and Geoff Wyatt for their observations and photos.

Cholsey Marsh

A couple of photos at Cholsey Marsh from Alan Dawson.

Some Banded Demoiselle from last week during the cooler weather when they were very inactive a just resting amongst riverside vegetation.

And a Cetti’s Warbler from today.

Our Great Tit family has fledged with at least 2 young present and the Blue Tit family still in the nest box, should be leaving any day now.

Cholsey Marsh

Overcast with a few rain showers, 13°, light NW.

Alan Dawson down at Cholsey Marsh today with the Cuckoo and a flyover Oystercatcher.

A Common Tern seen a few days back flying along the river.

Also our first dragonfly of the season: a Banded Demoiselle.