Dragonflies

The start of July saw the emergence of Emerald Damselflies  only one at one site then a few more at another till by  the end of the day there where many resting in the tall grass as it became overcast , Common Blue also out in good numbers , Four Spot Chaser 's now a common sight at  most suitable ponds first Emperors seen at East Cramlington but only briefly as it flew off high , have seen numerous sightings of them since and got some photos of them resting , Banded Demoiselle still not common I have seen them as early as the startof June  but wanted to try and get some video of the male dancing over the water, Butterflies in the form of Meadow Brown's & Ringlets seem to just appear with clouds of them in suitable long grass areas , typical the council decides to cut the grass at East Cramlington just as they emerge , you would think they would have someone that advises them just on the basics , the pond is visited on a regular basis by dog walkers who insist there dog takes a swim one day a guy with 5 dogs had them all in, one or two he threw in as they declined to volunteer , this is my cue to leave and go somewhere else . The weather is a bit hit and miss I leave in sunshine to arrive at a site and it's overcast, this is to some extent an advantage if you are there when the larger Dragonflies decide to hang up if it's just cloud they may settled on a Rush or Reed stem but if its overcast and cool they fly off  usually into tree cover . There is something about looking for Dragonflies and Butterflies you get right into it totally absorbed by the quest to find them going about there daily life , trying to learn something about their behaviour or  capture that elusive shot .

 Large Red Damselfly

 The Emergence of Emerald Damselfly

 Drinker Moth

 Common Blue Damselfly

 Banded Demoiselle  a male alights on the water to impress a female

 It's gone overcast and cool this Banded Demoiselle rests to await the suns return

 I had this as Common Darter but thinking now its perhaps Ruddy Darter  I should have looked closer at the time , I can't see any yellow on the legs and there seems a  black stripe down the abdomen which also looks slightly waisted

I put this down as a female  Common Blue ? will have to check my books for this colour form

Dragonfly Season Ends

Well a few more Dragonfly photos as the season comes to an end these taken from a couple of locations  and some of the recent visitors to Cresswell pond 

 Ruddy Darter

 Common Darter

 Common Blue Damselfly

 Emerald Damselfly

 This Emperor flew around back and forth in front of me for most of my visit but would not land , imagine my surprise to find it just along the hedgerow as I left.

 One of the three Spotted Redshanks at Cresswell Pond this rather distant  shot is at the north end

 Greenshank from the hide via the cut through the reeds

Also Snipe feeding in front of the hide, Ruff, Dunlin , Avocet (1) and also a single Curlew Sandpiper present

Black Darters

Can't believe it's September already I'm still sorting through the images I took last month when I had my first Black Darter of the year a common enough species at the right habitat  but they can also be found just about anywhere. The only large dragonfly of note was a male Emperor but it just constantly patrolled the pond edge taking energy from the very warm sunshine . Lots and lots of Common Darters in the teneral stage of having just emerged and taken there first flight their wings always look as though they are made of cellophane, some very nice male Ruddy Darters around also they are a much deeper red with all black legs and a pinched in waist look, try as I could there was no sign of female Black Darter nor could I find any Female Ruddy Darters they would probably be around but I couldn't find any to photograph, 40-50 Common Darter flying in tandem the male clasping on to the female as she dipped into the pool to disperse her eggs and sometimes dipping in the long grass. What more could you ask of a year than sunny days looking for Dragonflies ,trying to just get that bit closer .

 Common Darters as the name suggests probably the most likely Darter you will come across

 Ruddy Darters have that nice deep red colouration

 Black Darter only a couple of males encountered so far

Cowpen Bewley,Saltholme,Shibdon

I had to go down to Middlesborough so I took the opportunity to call in at Cowpen Bewley Country Park it is a site that has recorded Brown Hawker in the Summer months  but I just thought I would get a look around .

Common Blue , Meadow Brown  and Red Admioral on the wing as where some Hawkers I did not have time to check them out properly plus it was a day of very strong winds and heavy showers, its a good area inhabited mainly by dog walkers with an area designated as  off the lead run , but most seemed to just let them run anywhere as well as the ponds of which there are several and a small lake .

Drove on to Saltholme it was stotting down (that is very heavy rain for non Northeners) so i dashed across to the Phil stead hide but only Little Egret and Ruff here, next stop Greatham Creak but the wind so strong I had to sit and keep the scope very low.

So I thought I would go home via Shibdon  at least I would have some shelter and a Spotted redshank and this is where I stayed till just before dark the water levels are controlled here and it shows with many Redshank, Snipe, Spotted Redshank & Green Sandpiper , two family groups of Lesser Black -backs amongst the gulls unfortunately they where just to far for some shots. There is a nice edge to this pond and I was sure of seeing Water Rail as the day ended but no !!!!

 Southern Hawkers at one of the small pools at Cowpen Bewley , if I remember cowpen is something to do with where salt we also have a Cowpen near Blyth .

 Red Eared Terrapin ? which I think has been here for some years it seems to being OK that must be about 15 " long

 Ruddy Darter settled beside me but it was the only I saw and actually my first of the year.

 This Juvenile Carrion Crow was odd  being very tame sat on the car roof looking down at me as I sat in the car , having nothing to feed it I asked a couple in a Motorhome and they gave me a bun !!, I wonder if someone has had it in captivity then just let it go ????

 Saltholme after the rain comes the sun briefly , Little Egret from the Phil Stead hide. This hide is outside the visitor centre so you don't have to wait for it to open at 10 (yes thats right 10 ' o clock before you can get in )

 Ruff on the pool edge

 Vignetting effect always a problem with digiscoping

 Common Seal near the creak

 Shibdon the rain has stopped and a little  bit of sun to brighten the day

The ever present Lapwing a feature of just about every pond such as this.

Lesser Black -backed Juvenile ,I would have like some closer photos but they kept there distance

Thornley, Kibblesworth ,Big Waters & banks

Friday the 23rd I called back at Thornley Woods area to get some close ups of the White letter Hairstreaks if showing, it was a bright and at times sunny early morning 8-10 Small Tortoiseshell and 3 Comma all taking advantage of the sun as was the Hairstreaks with 5 on show so I had the shots replaced that I had lost with the CF card packing in.

I went over to Kibblesworth Brickworks site now a reclaimed landfill site ,but by the time I found it I was losing the sun a bit ,checked out the Purple Hairstreak area 3-4 where showing but only at the tree tops, so as the sun went in again I headed down to the pond an open area getting probably full sun all day , Emperor on the wing and settled briefly, Four Spot Chaser lots of Common Darter and a few Ruddy Darter I was expecting much more but the day did not produce.

Not wanting to get stuck in heavy traffic I headed for Big Waters but also little here, next stop banks Pond 2 Emperor, 2 Four Spot Chaser one a female laying, several Ruddy Darter, last stop Belasis Bridge 3-4 Male Banded Demoiselle but only hidden in the vegetation, I gave it an hour as it looked as if the sun was going to break out ,it did but only when I got home ,still a few beers in the garden to end the day.........Dragonfly & Butterfly watching are so reliant on the weather it's hard work here in the North-east

Common Darter hardening it's wings
Ruddy darter
Emperor alights but at some distance
For Spot Chaser on patrol
Banded Demoiselle like me waiting for the sun

Dragons again 22-7-09

Wednesday was a brighter day so I headed again for jimmy's Pond but I checked out the pond from Tuesday pulling in a layby and walking back a bit there it was just yards from a path, but at the side that has no access , still its worth a look now and then , the land looks earmarked for building but there was someone cropping the hay.
The sun came and went plenty of Common Blue Damselflies and Blue -tailed, masses of Butterflies, with the odd Painted Lady, and a few Small Tortoiseshell, but the actual pond had very little it took about an hour before anything showed being a single Red-veined Darter, then Black-tailed Skimmer followed by another this time they alighted on the rushes but only very briefly and would fly off and disappear for ages I was going to leave a couple of times but it brightened up but still nothing more showed.
Cresswell, 30+ Lapwing and a couple of Dunlin,Druridge Pools only had a single Common Sandpiper and the Mute Swans with cygnets which still seem very small, so I thought to try East Chev, at least I could check out the Terns south end of the north pool, but I forgot about the amount of rain we have had so the pool had no dry area several terns plunge bathing including a single Roseate, Common Sandpiper also here.
I think this a Ruddy darter

Red-veined Darter, only this one which showed briefly

Black-tailed Skimmer, at least resting on the stems, albeit very briefly

This caught my eye at first I thought it was just something caught up

but looking closer could see this spider inside, there is something else but can't make it out. I have increased the shadow to make it stand out better

It seems to mantling something, the nearest I can get is Comb Spider??? with egg sac??

Common Sandpiper