I Love it When a Plan Comes Together

More updates from the county dragonfly recorder on the Willow Emerald situation at Finedon Pocket Park was enough to have me on the lift scrounge once again. Luckily for me another local naturalist was as keen to see them as I was and so once the boring business of work had been concluded we set off on our quest.

Life and county first, a Willow Emerald.

Within a couple of minutes of arriving we managed to pick one out on a bare branch belonging to one of the small willows growing out of the water. It hung around long enough for some photographs before promptly disappearing. Although we searched rather intently we could not find it or any others for that matter during the rest of our stay. A new species and in the county too so not a bad way of passing an hour or two.

Another view of the main attraction.

A sighting of a male Emerald meant a first double emerald day in Northants and other damsels included five Blue-tailed and a Common Blue. Dragons were represented by the darter duo and a trio of hawkers. Once again a female Southern teased but always flew off before any piccies could be taken. An ovipositing Migrant on the other hand was most obliging and posed nicely.

Yet another picture of Emerald.

Not much else of note though Peacock, Red Admiral, Large and Small White were seen while a Buzzard mewled overhead.

Migrant Hawker.

Bank Holiday Wanderings

A return visit to Priors Hall as it has once again become one of my favoured nature spotting spots. I thought that the continuing housing development would have put paid to any wildlife of note but am more than happy to have been proved wrong. With the promised sun blazing down I hoped for some insect activity and while numbers of both species and individuals are dropping it was still a good day.

Small Whites are very common at the moment.

The flooded quarry did not hold much of interest apart from the commoner water birds and a Kestrel and I soon left it behind to explore the other areas. Small Whites are getting very common now and far outnumber most other species. Only Speckled Woods are providing any competition and on the edge of woodland many could be seen scrapping with each other or sunbathing. They were joined in the latter activity by many Common Darters which are certainly living up to their name at the mo.

Brimstone.

A walk across the huge field covered in sow thistles produced a sighting of a Clouded Yellow which was sent packing by an argumentative Small Heath. Several tired looking Common Blues frequented the same area and at least three Brimstones, two males and a female, were seen. Up to three Brown Hares showed during my visit though they were hard to see amongst the tall thistles. A few Small Torts were feeding on the yellow flowers, Red Admirals seem to prefer the brambles.

Emerald Damsel.

Around the ponds there were a few Migrant Hawkers while male Southern Hawkers had staked out territories over several of them. Darter numbers are very high and many pairs were ovipositing though a solo female Common egg laying was unusual, they normally lay while still coupled. Many Emeralds were seen today and some provided some excellent views, I did look for Willows but couldn't find any. Only a single Common Blue Damsel was found, they may be coming to the end of their season.

The cryptically coloured underside of a Comma.

Returning to the two largest ponds I was delighted to flush a Grass Snake, it's been a while since I saw one and it joined two Common Lizards that had been seen earlier. Two species of reptile in a day is not something I see often in the county, wish that I could have photographed the snake though!

The first pond at Priors.

As I was leaving I stopped to confirm Green-veined White for the day list where it joined a single Comma. While looking at the butterfly a moth feeding on ragwort which I took to be a Silver-Y was photographed. A quick look at the pictures revealed something different, the good people of Birdforum thankfully when I asked for help with the I.D identified that it was in fact a Scarce Bordered Straw. This is a rather uncommon migrant species and it may well have arrived with the recent influx of Clouded Yellows. That was the last interesting sighting and after that it was time for the rather hot trek home.

A couple of shots of the Scarce Bordered Straw.

More Darter Diversions.

Given that it was the August Bank Holiday and that the weather had turned out to be lovely I took advantage of the fine conditions by heading out to Harringworth Lodge Lake. Taking my now normal route via Willowbrook Industrial, Brookfield Plantation, Gretton and the Jurassic Way I enjoyed a reasonable if not spectacular day.

A Small Heath catching the morning sun.

Not too much to enjoy at the site of the old Sunday market where a few Small Heaths trying to catch the morning sun and a worn out looking female Common Blue were the only things of note. A little further on a Peregrine flew over and that was perhaps the most interesting bird of the day though another was seen later.

One of three Fallow Deer feeding in Brookfield Plantation.

The first thing of note in Brookfield was a trio of Fallow Deer which included a nice gingery example as well as two of the more normal chocolate brown coloured ones. A few Speckled Woods were twisting and turning amongst the sunlit branches of hawthorn bushes and a single Common Darter hunted around the upper branches of the pines. There were surprisingly few birds about here given how many tit flocks are moving through the countryside at the moment but they could have been anywhere in this vast wood.

On the way out? Meadow Brown.

A dead heron near the flooded quarry at Gretton was a sad sight, I'm not sure that I've seen one before but I'll be happy if I don't see another. Nothing much else to report until I reached the Jurassic Way where a large flock of Meadow Pipits were found and they seemed to be accompanied by at least one Yellow Wagtail. The large butterfly field was jam packed with Small Heaths. The bad tempered little blighters seemed to spend all their time in a constant squabble. While pairs could be seen turning around each other all over the place there were times when larger groups of up to six or seven individuals could be seen having a bit of a dogfight. It wasn't all blue on blue either, Common Blues, a Small White and even a few tiny moths attracted some aggression. A Meadow Brown, one of two seen today may well prove to be amongst the last of the year.

Migrant Hawker...again!

Harringworth Lodge Lake.

Closer to the lake a few more butterflies including Small Torty and Red Admiral were found and there was a growing number of darters and Migrant Hawkers on view. The lake itself had the usual high numbers of Coots (at least 35) as well as the more usual selection of waterfowl. A few Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damsels were present and it was good to see reasonable numbers of Small Red-eyed Damsels too. What looked like a newly emerged male was a nice find , I don't think I've seen this before. The calm on the lake was briefly interrupted by a loud voiced lady walking a couple of mutts that both decided to take a bit of a paddle despite her shouted prohibition. She left swearing at the two now bad tempered hounds and I can't pretend that I missed her or them one jot. Several Ruddy Darters were discovered after the dogs had gone though they were outnumbered by Commons. A male Tawny Owl hooted rather incongruously in the bright sunshine but was still nice to hear.

Peregrine.

A large patch of flowering ivy near the lodge itself was attracting a good sized swarm of hoverflies, flies and bees and this insect buffet attracted in turn a few predators. Both Migrant Hawkers and Common Darters were picking off prey while up to four or five Hornets were menacing the bees in particular but unfortunately did not land long enough for a picky.

Newly emerged Small Red-eyed Damselfly.

One of many Common Darters.

The return journey did not produce much else of note though a few extra butterflies in the shape of Peacock and Green-veined White were added to the list. Brookfield's now sunlit rides did have a veritable swarm of Common Darters flitting around and their monopoly was broken by a single Southern Hawker.

Southern Hawker,

A rare sight on a bank holiday, no not the kite, the blue. cloudless skies!

Damsel Dipping in Finedon

A post on the Northants Dragonfly Group Facebook page from the county recorder revealing that the Willow Emeralds had emerged at their only Northants site, Finedon Pocket Park prompted a little twitch. Two friends and I set off once I'd finished work hoping to connect with this recent arrival in the county. Blue skies and sunshine added to our sense of optimism even if actual events did not follow the script.

Female Brown Hawker

As it was our first visit to the site we walked rather slowly towards where we hoped the pond would be. On the way we noted a few butterflies with Speckled Woods in the shadier areas and Large and Small White, Common Blue and a couple of Gatekeepers in the sunnier parts. Several dragonflies were found in the more open areas, Migrant Hawkers and Common Darters giving us a taste of the coming Autumn.

Migrant Hawkers doing their bit for the species.

We found a pond with some muddy footprints around the edge so figured this was the likely spot and so had a very thorough look around. Lots of Common Darters and some Ruddies were the most numerous species and there were a few Migrants too. A female Brown Hawker posed nicely as she moved around the pond egg laying. A Southern Hawker female was moving around the pond too but sadly did not pose anywhere where I could get a piccy. Happily a pair of Migrants were more obliging even landing next to me at one point.

Common Hawker.

An emerald was found after a while but sadly from a twitchy point of view turned out to be an Emerald and not our target species. A single Common Blue also showed while two mating Blue -tailed in the short willows growing out of the water briefly raised hopes until a view through the bins dashed all hopes.

Emerald, good but not quite what we were looking for.

Having given the site a good hour and a half we had to leave, a little disappointed perhaps, but with a view to return. On getting home a quick peak on the net revealed that the county recorder had had much better luck than us as he saw yet more examples of Willows on his visit today and that means that another visit will definitely be in the offing.

Blue-taileds briefly raising our hopes until reality intruded.

There's Something Weird and Wonderful in the Willowherb

Well to be fair I thought that it was weird and wonderful, my wife's reaction was slightly less complimentary. To set the scene, a few years ago a small patch of Rosebay Willowherb started growing in my garden. When it comes to gardening I'm fairly weed tolerant if they have any wildlife value or are beautiful so I decided to let it carry on doing its thing. This year my live and let live attitude was rewarded with the discovery of the much hoped for Elephant Hawk-moth caterpillar munching its way through the leaves of my willowherb patch.

An Elephant Hawk-moth caterpillar.

Their trunklike neck lets them reach dinner.

Its been quite a while since I last saw one and I was struck by how big it was, the moth itself is one of the smaller hawk-moths but the caterpillar is al least three inches long. While its not attractive in the traditional sense it certainly is a striking creature. I would imagine that any small bird coming across one might be put of by the false eye spots and a slight resemblance to a Grass Snake's head. The little head is carried on a trunk like neck which coupled with the grey colouring probably gives this species its name. There appears to be face like markings on the rear end and also a spike like projection too which makes for a fairly complete collection of threatening markings which probably save it from all but the hungriest birds.

It probably won't win any beauty contests...

...but I bet it doesn't care a jot as long as there's plenty to eat.

After taking a few photographs I left it munching its way through the patch, I'm hoping it might eat most of the remaining willowherb plants so that I don't have to deal with them myself. Overly optimistic? You bet but there's no harm in hoping is there?

Darter Days

A characteristic sight of the Northamptonshire countryside during the days of late Summer and Autumn are the two species of darter dragonflies. Although the first individuals can emerge as early as June they do not appear to reach their peak numbers until August. I often struggle to separate the two, particularly at the beginning of the season and thought I would share my meagre store of knowledge just in case you find one and wonder what it is.

Male Ruddy

Male Common. Most of the difference between the species can be seen in the two photographs. The paler red colour of the Common in contrast to the darker red of the Ruddy, the bi-coloured eyes and the paler thorax sides showing stripes. Also note the all black legs on the Ruddy.

Both darters are smaller than the other species of dragonfly, some Ruddy Darters can appear very small indeed while the largest Commons can approach the chasers in size. From my experience there seems to be quite a lot of overlap so although size can be useful, particularly in direct comparison, it is by no means a clincher.

Young male Ruddy, more of a challenge but the black legs are diagnostic.

A young male Common.

Rather fortunately for the would be darter diviner these two species seem very partial to a spot of sun bathing and even the ones that zoom off often return to the same favoured spots. A pair of binoculars can be useful, especially with the females and a digital camera can be a boon. Ruddy males when seen well are quite distinctive, they're a lovely deep shade of red and appear to be rather wasp waisted. Male Commons are a paler red and are only slightly waspish in the waist department. The eyes of male Ruddies are all over red whereas male Commons have two-coloured eyes. Another feature shown by Commons is the stripes on the sides of the thorax which don't appear to show on fully adult Ruddies.

Female Ruddy

Female Common

Females and immature males are even more of a challenge but happily there is one silver bullet that should clinch an I.D. While in normal circumstances it might be considered rude to peer too intently at a lady's legs with the darters it can be essential. Ruddy Darters show all black legs while Commons show some yellow, on younger specimens they can appear very pale. One thing I've noticed though I can't be sure at this stage whether it amounts to much is that mature female can become a dull olive colour with a bluish underside. I have not seen female Ruddies showing this colouration but that doesn't mean that they don't, I'll let you know if the situation changes.

A more mature female Common Darter.

While both species are amongst the last of the dragonflies to disappear it is Commons that linger longest, I've seen them in November while there are December records in more southern counties. If you're out on a sunny day over the next couple of months it's worth sparing a few minutes to look out for them, a last taste of Summer before the winter chills take over!

Of course if you're confident at separating the males then the females can be more straightforward in some circumstances!

Over the Border

The weather was pretty ropey around here today which ruled out any insect watching so I decided to do a spot of birding. An offer of a lift to Eyebrook reservoir was too good to turn down so I found myself heading over the border into neighbouring Rutland and Leicestershire. Some of the photographs are somewhat duff but birds don't seem to like you getting as close as bugs do.

Nice bird but shame about the picture, Garganey.

Another poor picky of the Garganey.

I began at the bottom of the hill on the Leics side and soon connected with the two eclipse Red Crested Pochards which had been reported. A couple of Greenshanks flew noisily from the shoreline where a Little Egret seemed even whiter than usual in the gloomy conditions. Heading over towards the island (which is not actually an island, ask the locals) I found a Garganey feeding  in the bay. These are active feeders constantly dabbling and they also seem to have to scratch their ears far more than other species. This one emerged on to the island for a brief spell before swimming off towards the southern shore. The two RCP's also showed better from the viewing area.

Red Crested Pochards enjoying some down time.

The bay north of the island held a third Greenshank while a Dunlin called as it flew overhead. Amongst the flotillas of Mallards and Gadwalls I picked out a couple of Wigeons and a few Shovellers but despite my early success I didn't really bother with the quackers. A little further on I met the chairman of the Eyebrook Wildlife Group who picked out both a Wood and a Green Sandpiper though the former appeared to disappear fairly sharpish.

Greenshank.

From the bridge a Kingfisher perched distantly before zooming off along the brook while a scan of the mud at the inflow revealed three Dunlins, a Snipe and a small flock of Lapwings. Two Green Sandpipers called as they landed and were joined by another Greenshank.

Little Egret.

That was that as far as interesting stuff went though I did manage to find a Small Copper and several Small Whites despite the rather grotty weather.

Lapwings and Dunlin.

It's Not Always About the Silver Lining, the Cloud Can be Interesting Too

I went to Birdfair once, it was OK if you like that sort of thing, unfortunately I wasn't that grabbed by the whole shindig and have yet to return. So it was that once again I shunned the big event and chose to hit Priors Hall instead where I hoped to catch up with some interesting wildlife.

Young Dabchick at the A43 pond.

On my way there I stopped at the A43 pond in Weldon where the family of Tufted Ducks appear to be doing rather well. The Mute Swan is still present and I also found a young Dabchick. Lots of yucky eclipse Mallards around too, a more dedicated soul may have looked through them for a Gadwall but not me. First butterfly of the day was seen here, a Speckled Wood, while a sheltered and sunny spot held several Common Darters.

Speckled Wood revealing that striking underwing pattern.

At Priors Hall the lake was all but devoid of birds beyond the mundane stuff apart that is from a Common Sandpiper. A Sparrowhawk flew low across the quarry hoping to ambush some unfortunate bird but was not in view long enough to check on any success. A Common Blue butterfly, the first of many, was flushed as I headed towards the ponds. Other species soon followed, Small Heath and Brown Argus the most interesting perhaps but Small Whites were present too.

Male Migrant Hawker.

Around the first two ponds both species of darters were found and there were small numbers of both Blue-tailed and Common Blue damsels. Reed Warblers continue to chack from within the cover of the vegetation while parties of hirundines hunted overhead. A male Migrant Hawker posed beautifully here, I must have taken over thirty pictures of him.

Common Darters.

Walking up alongside the alders on my way to the other ponds I had the first of seven sightings of Clouded Yellow. They are drawn to a huge area of open ground covered in thistles and sow thistles and one was good enough to pose for a piccy. It was in this area that I flushed a Brown Hare which was my first here for quite a while.

Better late than never, a Clouded Yellow.

Another Emerald Damselfly, what can I say, I like them.

Another Common Lizard following on from last week's sightings showed briefly and there were several sightings of froglets too. The ponds set in the alders held several patrolling male Migrant Hawkers and there were Emerald Damsels on three ponds. Lots of mating activity amongst the Common Darters whereas the Ruddies seemed more interested in making war. Butterflies were in fairly short supply with a few Gatekeepers and a single Meadow Brown being recorded. I was able to add Green-veined and Large White to the day list and they joined Peacock, Comma, Small Tort and Red Admiral on the list. One feature of today was the number of Speckled Woods, I can't recall seeing them in such numbers before.

Redstart.

While walking along a hedge line I heard a familiar call and a quick scan with the bins revealed a Redstart. This is only my second Autumn record of what remains a very scarce passage migrant around here and was a welcome find. A Yellow Wagtail close to one of the other ponds was also appreciated. Passing the two largest ponds added Emperor, Brown and Southern Hawker to the day's tally. After that it was off home with no sense that I had missed out by giving a certain birdy gathering the old heave ho.

A very lucky Gatekeeper by the looks of it.