Insects – Stephen's Wildlife

Dancing damselflies

The UK is enjoying a bit of a heatwave this week. The reed banks of the river Stour are full of Demoiselle damselflies.

This hornet provided an opportunity to practice some macro photography with my boys. He was a bit dozy and slow so quite a good sitter. The image is actually from late September when the season was changing from summer to autumn.

Tomorrow I’ll move on to images of the changing season as we move from autumn to winter. Most of the leaves have fallen from deciduous trees and what is left is brown and orange.

Due to lockdown many more people are taking an interest in the natural world. Last weekend I visited our local reservoir, Longham lakes. We were joined by walkers, photographers and fishermen. This fisherman was particularly proud of his afternoon catch and attracted the interest of quite a few people – all maintaining the appropriate social distance. After the photo op the carp was returned to the lake.

Common Darter Dragonfly

“When pairing, males hold females by the neck with claspers on the end of the abdomen. The female dips the tip of her abdomen into the water to lay eggs, or else inserts them into plant stems.”

^{RSPB Handbook of Garden Wildlife, Peter Holden and Geoffrey Abbott, page 111}

We have a pond fairly close to home. As we struggle with covid restrictions, lockdowns and R numbers, these two dragonflies are preparing for next spring.

Dragonflies are colourful insects. They are similar to damselflies, but their wings stick out to the side when at rest, whereas the damselfly wings rest above the body.

Garden visitors – September 2019

Rare visitors this month include peregrines overhead as well as willow warblers hiding deep in the foliage. Dragonflies, bees and butterflies maintain their seasonal visit. September has also seen the ongoing presence of resident birds such as sparrows, robins and blue-tits.

Colourful flowers

Colour continues into September. The purple Clematis particularly provided a beautiful backdrop. The roses revival is nothing short of resurrection, considering the dry, brown state of the whole bush in August. A trip to the local garden centre injected some additional colour. No idea what we got – the sole criteria was that anything we bought had to be in flower.

Dragonflies

The dragonflies continued presence was as welcome as the warm, late summer temperatures. My photography skills limit my ability to catch these bugs in flight. I have to wait until they land before approaching with the camera.

Sparrows

There are long stretches of time when there are very few birds present in the garden. Sparrows arrive one or two at a time, but these gregarious birds are not on their own for long.

Our sparrow population has risen this year. There is now a group of about a dozen birds. When they are in the garden they chat to each other as they move around. However, they can be very quiet once settled.

Peregrine

We are used to seeing Common Buzzards circling overhead. This Peregrine Falcon was a pleasant surprise and represents a first sighting from the garden. It was instantly recognisable, as we had seen some close up at Bird of Prey centres earlier in the summer.

Long-tailed tits

The long-tailed tits are similar to sparrows; they come in groups. After a summer break they are returning to the garden.

Finches

Greenfinches are difficult to spot. They blend in so well to the background; its only when they move that one’s eye is drawn to them. Goldfinches are regular visitors, but tend to stay high in the trees. Some of the juveniles are tempted down onto the feeders occasionally.

Blue tits and Great tits

Warbler

A first sighting of a willow warbler in the garden.

Robin

Garden visitors – August 2019

I have restricted myself to only five images from the garden in August. These are in no particular order, and have been chosen to illustrate the simple, diverse beauty of wildlife on my own door step for which I am grateful.

The Speckled Wood Butterfly stood out for me, because of its more muted appearance compared to the more colourful red admiral, peacock and painted lady.

The dragonfly is a fascinating creature with detailed inspection made possible to anyone with a mobile phone. This one sat in the sun, allowing me to get close whilst it soaked up the warmth.

These cute little fluff-balls returned to the garden in August after an absence of a few weeks. These three descended on the peanut feeder, which was a little unusual; they normally head for the mealworms.

After a month or two of the parent blue-tits looking a bit dishevelled as they moult and the juveniles appearing in muted grey and pastel yellow, it is good to see the beautiful, fresh blue and yellow of the mature bird.

These juvenile sparrows are the product of the amorous parents pictured in previous month’s blogs. We have a healthy, growing population despite the attention of local cats, including our own, or the odd, infrequent sparrowhawk strike.

Garden visitors – July 2019

Temperatures have exceeded 30 degrees Celsius. Not since 1976 has Dorset been this hot. There have been great opportunities to photograph widely differing species, some like the dragon flies and butterflies quite exquisitely beautiful. The sparrow population in particular has increased significantly since spring.

Bugs and butterflies

The garden has well and truly come alive with all sorts of creepy crawlies: peacock butterfly, red admiral, greenbottle flies, hoverflies, dragonflies, bumble-bees, honey bees.

Dragonflies

Buzzards overhead

Record temperatures have encouraged buzzards to soar on thermals in search of prey. As they pass over the garden, smaller birds call out warnings to each other, as they scurry around seeking cover.