Dragons, Damsels & Butterflies

Mainly cloudy, 19°, light SSW.

A day of insects with Dragonflies & Damselflies dominating.  

Bunk line/Green lane today, little change. Lesser Whitethroat still in song but less frequently than of late.

Frequent Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Common Whitethroat and Blackcap still in song and a couple of Yellow Wagtail overhead along with a few Swallow and Swift. A flock of c50 Starling CSW.

Alan along the river over the last 2 days: Both Sedge and Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Reed Bunting, Nuthatch and Kingfisher.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly and Four-spot Chaser (both sites).

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Common Blue, Brown Argus, Red Admiral, Peacock, Comma & Small Heath.

Moths: Mother Shipton.

All pics courtesy Alan

Blue-tailed Damselfly

Four-spot Chaser

Azure Damselfly

Red-eyed Damselfly

Brown Argus

Common Blue ↕

Mother Shipton

Audio Clip

Lesser Whitethroat ( Robin & Wren)

Bunk Line & River Thames

Sunny periods with rain showers later, 15°, light WNW.

The Bunk line and river covered today with Alan finding some “first for the year” Dragonflies including Club-tailed and a good selection of Butterflies around today.

Firstly, Grundon’s in their wisdom (or not) are building an earth rampart around the gravel pit that blocks the pit from view! Why is this being done? And is there something they do not want us to see?

Bunk line: Relatively quiet, although a Lesser Whitethroat singing quite consistently along Green Lane and several Swift (6-8) overhead ranging over the village. Still negative for House Martin around Church road!

Several Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, 6 Yellowhammer, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 6-8 Swallow,

Cholsey Marsh and The Thames: All the usual present including Lesser Whitethroat, Cetti’s Warbler and Tawny Owl to name a few.

Mammals: Red Fox and Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly and Club-tailed Dragonfly.

Butterflies: Dingy Skipper, Brimstone, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Marsh Fritillary, Small Heath and Speckled Wood.

Whilst out walking this morning I was thinking I have not seen a Fox for a while. I had this feeling to turn around and when I did I saw this handsome creature looking right back at me. Law of Attraction at work?

Painted Lady

Goldfinch

Club-tailed Dragonfly

Field full of Buttercup

The Rampart

Dragons

Sunny, 31°, light ESE.

A warm day out there and in some parts the hottest day of the year so far.

The Lees:

Both Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler still giving a brief song every now and again. Also Several Reed Bunting, a couple of Yellowhammer, a single Corn Bunting, 2-3 Yellow Wagtail and a Chiffchaff and Blackcap.

Most of the birds were keeping to shaded areas today and even a lot of insects were keeping out of the full sun.

Interesting to watch 2 species of dragonfly in the same territory with little or no interaction. A length of ditch had 4 Emperors and 4+ Chasers hunting/holding territory and they seemed to tolerate each other’s presence. Maybe they have different feeding strategies?

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Emperor Dragonfly, Four-spot Chaser and freshly emerged Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Small Heath.

 Freshly emerged Common Darter

 Four-spot Chaser ↕

Azure Damselfly

Some insects from the week end.

Some insects from the week end. Stag Beetle & Southern Hawker courtesy Andrew McBirnie and the White-legged Damsel, Blue-tailed Damsel, Comma and Ringlet courtesy Alan Dawson.