Out and about in September

I saw this handsome male migrant hawker sunning himself a couple of weeks ago and took his photo.

When I returned about 10 minutes later I found a female migrant hawker on the very same branch about 3cm lower.  It is obviously a popular spot.

Here's another view of the male.

And another female, this one with blue male-type (andromorph) colouring.

I also tried some flight shots.

This rather shy female migrant hawker was ovipositing in Weetslade Country Park.

Southern hawkers are just about at the end of their season so I was pleased to see a male in Gosforth Nature Reserve. The only camera I had was in the phone which usually gives good quality photos but this pinched zoom was disappointing.  Just a record shot.

Common darters will be around for a few weeks yet if the weather is OK.  There were still newly emerged immatures.

This is a male.

And a rather mature female, almost grey.

These two, ♀ and ♂, were hoping to soak up a few rays of sun.

This was probably my last ruddy darter of the season.

Butterflies I saw included common blue,

green-veined white,

and speckled wood.

This was the only bumblebee I saw in the whole 1km transect on my monthly BBCT Bumblebee Walk.  It is obviously a cuckoo of some kind and is a bit faded but I wasn't sure which species.  After seeking expert advice it can only be narrowed down to Bombus bohemicus/vestalis so I don't feel too bad.

I also saw this ichneumon out hunting.

It is not easy to identify.  There are 2500 species in this country, many of which are very similar.  This page from the wonderful Natural History Museum Beginner's guide to identifying British ichneumonids illustrates the problem.

There seems to be more Robin's pincushion around than usual.  It is a gall on wild rose caused by a tiny wasp, Diplolepsis rosae, so that is one species that is doing well.

Two more swans have arrived at Banks' Pond and are throwing their weight around, trying to intimidate the surviving resident female and her two remaining cygnets.

The youngsters are several weeks away from being able to fly so at the moment they have no escape.  I hope it turns out well for them after all they have been through.

This young great spotted woodpecker in the garden is losing the juvenile red colour on top of its head in a very attractive chequered pattern.

And a wood pigeon on the "sparrowhawk" perch while the sparrowhawk was away.

Averaged out, the weather for September was fairly average, but it was a mixture of warm sunny days and wet stormy days.  October is starting off very wet.

Out and about in June

As the restrictions eased a bit last month I was able to get out to a few local nature reserves, just in time to see a few more dragonflies.  I already posted some photos of a pair of emperors, the most satisfying dragonfly photos I have taken in quite a while.  This was the best of them.

Here is the male on his own, except for an azure damselfly.

Other dragonflies from last month were male broad-bodied chasers,

and four-spotted chasers from Gosforth Nature reserve,

and at Weetslade Country Park the first common darter of the year, this one an immature female.

A few large red damselflies were still about but I expect their season is over by now.

This common blue damselfly's season is over as well.

The emerald damselfly's season is just beginning.  This female is the first I have seen this year.

A couple of interesting day-flying moths, a cinnabar

and a five-spot burnet moth.

At Banks' Pond this year a pair of swans are raising four cygnets, the first successful breeding for a few years.

Canada geese are also there with three goslings but they are harassed a fair bit by the male swan.  It is the first time I had seen both species breed in the same year.

I expect the moorhens have young as well but I haven't seen them yet.

I sometimes see a brown hare near the pond but I rarely get a chance of a photo.

Apart from bees and woodpeckers and foxes I haven't taken many photos at home but here are a few.  I have seen several sets of fledgling wrens in the garden in the past two weeks so they must be having a good year.

Another bee, this one a female Willughby's leafcutter bee.

And a flyover from a buzzard being harassed by a crow.  I have also had swifts, swallows and house martins hunting over the garden.

With the easing of lockdown I shall probably post a bit less frequently here, perhaps twice a week rather than every two days as it has been.  We'll see.