Not much to say on the bird front today, the first newly fledged CHAFFINCH was seen along Ashes Lane as I walked to work this morning, being fed by the male adult, this is the 19th species so far this spring to have succsessfully bred on my patch. The sheep pasture at Migrant Alley was full of GREYLAG and CANADA GEESE again, and the TURTLE DOVE sang from the wooded headland.
After work, I decided to visit the College Grounds, not somewhere I enjoy going in the afternoon normally, as it's full of people, but it does have some small ponds where the Damsels and Dragonflies can be seen, so I spent an hour photographing what I could find, until the clouds rolled in and the Odenata melted away and disappeared.
When I arrived, in bright sunshine, this GREEN WOODPECKER was feeding on the lawn.
 |
| Green Woodpecker |
When I got to the ponds, I found lots of Azure Damsels, and a few Blue Tailed Damsels, the Female Blue Tailed Damsels came in different colour forms :-
 |
| Female Blue Tailed Damsel - maybe the 'Rufescens' form ? |
 |
| Female Blue Tailed normal form |
 |
| Female Blue Tailed |
The Azure Damsels were mostly males, but I think the second photo below shows an immature female, so I stand to be corrected if I am wrong :-)
 |
| Azure Damsel - male |
 |
| Azure Damsel Female - I think :-) Edit: Well done to Greenie of http://greenieinthewild.blogspot.co.uk/ for spotting this is in fact a female dark form of the Variable Damselfly, an odenata patch tick! |
I spotted my first Emperor Dragonfly hawking over the pond, and after some time waiting, I saw it alight on a dead stem, just about close enough for a few photo's, which unfortunately are spoiled a bit by the ''crap'' that seems to have found it's way into the camera ( that's what the little black marks are on the other photo's too) Looks like i'll have to send the Camera off to be cleaned, that means a week without it, what will I do ! :-)
 |
| Emperor Dragonfly - Male |
 |
| Emperor Dragonfly |
 |
| Emperor Dragonfly |
 |
| Emperor Dragonfly |
Finally as I walked home, I saw this moth in the hedge, anyone want to ID it for me :-)
11 comments:
Your moth is a Green Carpet, Warren. Not very green i know, but they do fade very quickly.
A week without the camera. I bet that hurts a bit.
Sorry about the camera :( does it not have an inbuilt sensor-cleaning function, or has that not worked? I love the damsel pics, agree that is a female Azure (well, it looks just like the female Azures on my patch!). The rufescens Blue-tailed is a little cracker.
Nice shots, was going to try myself for some tonight but got sidelined with trying to hear a Quail......unsuccessfully.
Hi Marianne,
my camera does have a built in sensor cleaner, but it's not gauranteed to always work :-( I dont know weather the dirt is on the sensor or the mirror, have to get it seen to.
Warren ,
Firstly , a cracking set of Odonata shots .
Agree with your form rufescens ,
watch out for violet , green and sandy coloured female BTDs too .
As regards the all dark female Azure , I will have to disagree with yourself and Marianne , but I don't think you'll mind . I'd say you've got a dark form female Variable Damselfly there , a new tick I'm pretty sure , well done .
That Emperor is very fresh , those wings will not stay pristine for long .
My goodness, you are doing well with Odonata Warren :-) Lovely photos throughout but a shame about the problem with the camera. I had a baby ladybird disappear inside my camera on Sunday!! It went in underneath the viewfinder. I was convinced it would cause problems but while I was reviewing the photos about six hours later it trundled out again!
I love that photo of the Green Woodpecker in the Daisies...how pretty is that? :-)
Songbird, maybe it was a ladybird that got into my camera - but with muddy feet :-)
Greenie,
Vey exciting, a Variable damselfly ! I'll do some internet research on them. An odenata patch tick :-)
By the way Warren....yesterdays 'head on'WLD is definitely competition class photography and I insist you get it entered somewhere....and now!
Hi Warren,
This woodpecker picture is wonderful. For some reason I never got any pictures of this bird!!! I'd love to get dragonfly and damselfly over here, but for the moment we do only have bumblebee ;-)
Lovely green woodpecker, my bogey bird... Nice damsels & dragons too Warren. I hope your camera is returned by the camera doctor pdq!
Post a Comment