Wednesday, 24 June 2020

Rare Butterflies and Damselflies

Rare Butterflies and Damselflies in Lincolnshire

I had planned to visit Saltfleetby nature reserve today to look for dragonflies, but when I saw white admiral images postd on Facebook, I contacted Roger and we arranged to meet up at 10.00 am. Shortly afterwards Roger got back in touch; a mutal contact had told him that by 10.00 am they had disappeared up into the trees where they roost and also presumably to escape the heat. White admirals spend much of their time in the tree canopy but come down to nectar on bramble but we needed to be there early. We met up at Southrey Wood at 8.00 am and they were already on the wing. We had an excellent couple of hours with upi to 20 individuals, but temperature rapidly increased and by 10.00 there were none to be found. We did see other insects as well including a couple of black-tailed skimmers, a female broad bodied chaser, a couple of large whites, good numbers of meadow browns 3 commas, 2 red admirals, a few large skippers and a humming bird hawkmoth.

To view large, please click on an image.

Black-tailed Skimmer

Broad Bodied Chaser

Comma

Hummingbird Hawk-moth

Red Admiral

White Admiral

Once our quarry disappeared up into the tree canopy, it was time to head off to the upper reaches of the River Ancholme for our second target: banded demoiselle damselflies. In ever increasing temperatures we drove down a dusty narrow single track road along Snitterby Carr to the river. And what a beautiful and remote spot. The river here, although canalised and straight is narrow, reed fringed and clear enough to see the sandy bottom. We could hear the sound of fallining water and made our way upriver to a spot where the River Rase flose into the Ancholme over a weir. A little further upstream is the beautiful Harlam Hill Lock. At the junction with the Rase we could, with care, get down to the water side. It was not only beautiful but the air was dancing with the fluttering, moth-like shapes of the demoiselles, especially the males who seem to spend most of the time chasing each other while the females wait in the reeds to mate with the eventual victor. The males are a brilliant blue colour with dark bands on their wings, while the females are an iridescent bottle green with no wing bands. Again we had a wonderful time watching these beautiful insects, filling our memory cards with images and trying not to fall into the river, camera and all!!

Tuesday, 23 June 2020

A Super Morning on my Local Patch with a New Piece of Kit.

An Excellent Morning with Butterflies on the Patch

It being my birthday today, I was very keen to open a 'mystery' parcel that had been delivered a few days previously. It was an exciting new piece of kit; not a camera, or a lens but a cotton carrier. A cotton carrier is a harness for carrying a camera on the chest a little like a front-loading baby carrier. All the weight is taken on the shoulders and the camera is held securely. I was keen to try it out so a walk around the Horsefield and Woodland Burial Ground seemed the obvious choice. I have to say I am delighted with it; what a fantastic piece of kit.

I was also keen to see if an small skippers had emerged yet. I see and photograph them there most years but sadly they had still not appeared on the patch. This didn't detract from a super walk, however. There is always a good deal to see and photograph. Ringlets are now more plentiful and I saw a few six spot burnet moths as well as a pair of meadow browns mating.

As I was leaving the cemetery I checked the helleboring area for more orchids. Last year I found a bee orchid and a pyramidal orchid. No bee orchid, but I did find four pryramidal.

To view large, please click on an image.

Meadow Browns mating

Ringlet

Six spot Burnet Moth

Speckled Wood

Pyramidal Orchid

Monday, 22 June 2020

A Search for Banded Demoiselles

A Vain Search for Banded Demoiselles

The idea today was to search for banded demoiselles along the River Bain from Biscathorpe, near to its source in the Lincolnshire Wolds. The habitat is perfect for them: flowing water with plenty of reeds and undergrowth. It was not to be, however. Although it was beautifully warm it was very breezy and perhaps that was the reason. It was a lovely afternoon, however and there were plenty of butterflies and damselflies about.

Large Skipper
Large White
Small Tortoiseshell
Meadow Brown
Ringlet

I was pleased to see my first common blue damselflies of the year as well as a few blue-tailed. A buzzard briefly showed well and over the lake there were swifts, swallows, housemartins and my first sand martins of the year.