Once there, I was surprised to hear the BLACKCAPS still singing, at least 3 of them, as well as a CHIFFCHAFF and a DUNNOCK, a few other birds were calling, WREN, ROBIN, GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER and the mixed sound of a feeding flock of GREAT, BLUE, COAL, and LONG TAILED TITS, plus TREECREEPER and NUTHATCH in amongst them somewhere.
I managed to keep my eye on a Dragonfly, watching it alight on some vegetation. I slowly got to within a couple of yards of it and got some photo's but the ID of it is a bit puzzling - for me :-). Plenty of Purple Hairstreak were about in the Oaks, but they all remained high up, only one came anywhere near photography distance. I also found a smart looking Holly Blue Butterfly and a pair of Gatekeeper Butterflies, my first of the year.
Frequent glances up at the sky revealed a few SWIFTS and SWALLOWS, as well as the usual KESTREL, but nothing out of the ordinary, and while visiting the lake I found a GREY HERON (52) in the shallows, the first one this month. This puts me 11 species behind the average July total, and a massive 17 behind the record July total of 2007!
I took this photo after getting home, a nice Male CHAFFINCH
Below is a photo of my first Gatekeeper of the year
Below is the Holly Blue
This Purple Hairstreak was as near as one came to me. :-)
Above and below is the unidentified Dragonfly. Probably a Female or immature something. maybe a Migrant Hawker? 
Last photo is of this rather worn Black tailed Skimmer
7 comments:
Southern Hawker i think, Warren.
I`m hoping to connect with a 2nd generation Holly Blue, having missed out on the 1st lot.
Warren ,
Re. your unidentified Dragonfly .
The superior anal appendage , the last bit on the abdomen says female . Immature is ruled out by the amount of wing damage , she has been on the wing for some time . Green eyes and thorax rules out Migrant Hawker (brown thorax) and a bit early for this species .
No antehumeral stripes on thorax rules out Southern Hawker ( sorry Dean ) and Migrant Hawker again .
My money is on a matured female Emperor Dragonfly . I have looked for the diagnostic black dorsal stripe , but with the insect in the shade , it cannot be seen .
Did you notice the stripe ? or have you another shot that shows it ? As insects mature , they become drab and their markings much less obvious .
Well done with the butterflies , all you need now is a Ringlet .
Look in the shadier , damper areas , if there are any .
Very nice images of the Dragonfly and butterflies time to get the macro lense out and try a few shots i think.
Greenie: I'll post another close up shot of the Dragon fly on tomorrows post. The abdomen is an all chocolate brown.
Warren ,
Could you also confirm size tomorrow , using Southern Hawker , Black Tailed Skimmer and Broad Bodied Chaser as size comparisons .
...I love the light blue on the Holly Blue--a very pretty little butterfly. Also...your photos in the previous post are spectacular. I love swallows and your shots of them are beautiful.
Well done on the Heron! Lovely to see the Holly Blue and the Purple Hairstreak again, I would love to see those. I did see lots of Gatekeepers yesterday, the first of the year for me too.
Post a Comment