Scorchio

It was a glorious summer's day yesterday and probably the warmest day of the year so far in this part of the country; if we can string enough days like that together it will be a proper summer and possibly one to remember. I had planned to be up early to make the most of the fine weather but despite my best intentions and two alarms I failed miserably. There just isn't the same incentive to get up early now as there is during spring and autumn migration so it was easy to cancel the alarms and enjoy a lie in.

After the late start and with the temperature rising rapidly I grabbed my camera gear and took the dog for a walk. I hadn't gone far when I came across a male Broad-bodied Chaser that tempted me to take more than a few shots. I have loads of good photos of these dragonflies already but I just find them really hard to resist especially when I find one posing. I soon realised there were 3 males on what is a fairly new pond that was built to take surface water from housing estate. They were quite co-operative and kept coming back to perch on favoured rush stems but they were just too fast when it came to trying to get shots in flight.

Male Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa).
Spot the difference; the pictures above are of different individuals

After getting my fill of chasers I turned my attention to the Azure Damselflies that were frequenting the pond margin in some numbers. Many of them were paired up and some were egg laying but there were plenty of unpaired males around and some of these were not averse to trying to interfere with the tandem pairs. I didn't see any of them succeed but as some made repeated attempts it is presumably a strategy that occasionally works or is at least worth trying if you're a single male damselfly.

Single males repeatedly harried this pair.

Three is a crowd. A single male tries to dislodge the hold between this pair.

If you got the right angle there were some good reflections to be had.

Unfortunately this photo isn't in focus but I have included it as it looked like synchronised egg laying. I doubt I will get a photo opportunity like this again.

The balancing pond is only a few years old but it will need managing in the near future to prevent it from getting too overgrown and losing some of its value to wildlife.

I didn't see any other species of damselfly or dragonfly so I continued my walk much to the dog's delight. We didn't get far before I noticed a male Large Skipper that was in pristine condition and had probably only emerged that morning. It was very co-operative as skippers go especially as it was quite hot by that time which also suggested that it was freshly emerged. I have loads of Large Skipper photos too but there was the chance of getting a better background and slightly different angle so the camera shutter was soon clicking away. A little further on I came across a female in similar pristine condition so it was likely a few had emerged that morning, and you've guessed it she got photographed as well.

Male Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus)

Male Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus)

Female Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus)

There wasn't really anything that came into range on the birding front. There were a few Whitethroats singing and Willow Warblers were feeding young but all kept their distance. A Buzzard was being mobbed by a Carrion Crow overhead but too high and into the sun to try and photograph. There was some sign of juvenile dispersal with Nuthatches calling in areas of scrub well away from the nearest breeding haunts. There were plenty of birds about but none that presented a half decent photo opportunity.

I headed back and called in at the pond once more before going home. I had been out for the best part of 4 hours although it hadn't seemed anything like that long. If you are wondering about the post title well it was fairly hot by our standards and the sun was really strong. I always was a bit of a fan of the Fast Show and the weather reminded me of one of their sketches which put scorchio into the urban dictionary. 

Walkies 30/06/13

I have been busy at work over the past couple weeks and haven't had time to blog, not that I have had much to blog about. The dog has been feeling neglected too and hasn't had a long walk for a while. This morning there was the initial tail wagging fuss after I got up but then he gave me his miserable look in the hope of getting me to take him out for a walk.

Bryn with one of his sad looks

I eventually gave in, grabbed my camera gear and took him for a walk. It was very warm with spells of sunshine so I hoped there would be a few butterflies and dragonflies to photograph. We took our usual route towards my ringing site at Longshaw but the ponds we passed didn't have a single damselfly or dragonfly on the wing.



A happier looking dog but no odonata in this pond.

Butterflies were very thin on the ground and one of the few encountered was a Large Skipper. Large swathes of good habitat held no butterflies at all and we only recorded the aforementioned Large Skipper, 1 Meadow Brown and 3 Speckled Wood in 2 hours of searching. Some species are probably in between broods but the low numbers probably reflects the plight of our butterflies.

Large Skipper

If its been a bad year for butterflies, so far at least, it seems to be a very good year for orchids. Marsh Orchids seem to be plentiful and far more common than the Common Spotted Orchid. Marsh Orchid flowering has just about peaked but the Common Spotted Orchid was still in its prime.


Camera gear and patient dog in amongst the orchids

Common Spotted Orchid



Something gets Bryn's attention amongst the grass and orchids.

Bryn has learned to wait while I am taking photographs and will sit for long periods. As long as he is out he seems to be happy. He spotted something moving through the grass and orchids at one point. When I had a look it turned out to be a frog.



Common Frog

One insect that was prolific during our walk was a micro moth known as the Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana). It flies during the day and is often found in large numbers in the vicinity of nettles, the larval food plant.


Nettle-tap on buttercup.

Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana)

On our way back home I tried to get some shots of bumblebees in flight. There were several species present on a patch of flowers but the only sharp shot that I managed to get was of the back end of what I later identified as a Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum). This species was first found in the UK in Wiltshire as recently as 2001 and has rapidly colonised large parts of England and Wales. Much of the rapid colonisation of the UK has been attributed to the abundance of bird boxes which they frequently use for nesting.

Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum).

The same patch of flowers held a Silver Y. This is a migrant moth from southern Europe and one or two have started to turn up in the moth trap in the garden. Hopefully this year will be a better year for migrant moths compared with last year's washout.

Silver Y (Autographa gamma)

A more content Bryn cuddled up to his pink sheep tonight having had his 'walkies'.

A few post back ('Flaming June' posted 6th June) I mentioned that a singing bird that had really got my attention. I can now reveal it was a singing Brambling. Unfortunately it turned out to be a one day wonder and didn't hang around.