Shy heron

I had been sitting in the hide at Gosforth Park for half an hour when the heron suddenly popped up in front of me.  It caught a few small fish but always just out of view.  I had to use manual focus so couldn't get a shot when it eventually flew off.

Common hawker

A trip to Cragside, to Nelly's Moss Lakes and the Slipper Lake.  Plenty of black darters and common darters and emerald damselflies about and still a few common blue and large red damselflies.  The highlight though was seeing the common hawkers.  The males spend most of their time patrolling the water's edge which makes photography difficult but they do rest occasionally.  This one first landed on my camera strap which afforded a great close-up view but didn't help with the photos.  Fortunately he then landed nearby so I was able to get this view.

The only view of a female was this one ovipositing.

Then I found a pair in a mating wheel about 3m from the ground in a pine tree.  They were there for about an hour.

The male then got his breath back while the female immediately started to lay eggs until harassed by other males.

Bank robber!

This guy has featured here before and normally makes his living from the feed that the birds drop from the feeder.  When I went to refill the feeder today he was inside it!

He was difficult to photograph through the feeder so I put him in a garden trug for a quick photoshoot before releasing him.

Birds of the week - In the kitchen garden

All in the kitchen garden this past week.  Including chiffchaff and blackcap.  Mostly youngsters.

Darters

Dozens of male ruddy and black darters at the pond yesterday but only one common darter (bottom photo).

The only females I saw were ruddy darters but I expect the others were around somewhere.

Emerald damselfly

There were hundreds of male emerald damselflies by Banks' Pond this afternoon but very few unattached females ('twas ever thus!).  I expect the females stay away from the water, and the hassle, until it is time to mate.  This damselfly, unlike most others, usually rests with its wings outspread.  The male sports a powder blue and emerald outfit and has blue eyes.

The female, when she turns up, is in emerald and brown with brown eyes.  This one is immature.

Some of the males eventually strike lucky.

More tree sparrows

Two more nest boxes fledged today.  I think they were the third broods from each.  Given that there were none here three years ago the increase in the sparrow population has been amazing.