Mostly Insects

Just catching up with some of the photos I took over the past couple of weeks mostly insects and heading for a Seawatch recently my first Wheatear of the Autumn on the headland of Seaton Sluice . Insects do catch my eye more so as I look for Dragonflies that are perhaps resting on trees or bushes ,this was the case of the black and yellow one which I noticed flitting around low through the vegetation I immediately thought it was some form of Wasp and spend about 20 minutes trying to get a shot to no avail, but I then picked one out elsewhere doing the same motion and finally one resting in the open , it was quickly I.D.but not as wasp but a true fly ,most of the insects I seem to find remain un identified but I still enjoy the challenge of trying to photograph them   

 Picromerus Bidens one of the Shield Bugs apparently easily identified by those so 80's shoulder Pads , there where actually two as you can just see the other at the top but it was very difficult just focusing on one

 Chrysotoxum  Bicinctum . This is what I thought was a very small wasp but it turned out to be one of the true flies

 A pair of Common Blue mating they where coupled like this for sometime and still coupled after I photographed them

 First Wheatear of the Autumn heading south at Seaton Sluice which seems to get few of them

 It was the colour of this that caught my eye plus the fact it just sat there as I stuck the camera closer and closer, not till I got the shots on the screen could I see it seems to be  sucking the life out of a small Caterpillar , as yet unnamed ?
Edit Thanks to NZ1982 for the I.D. of this smart little beast as a Shield Bug  Troilus luridus  which seems to be in the final Instar stage of three before reaching adult . Check out the blog NZ1982 he seems to constantly find something of interest, and probably a lot of birds you have seen over the years at East Chevington etc are down to him .

 Wall Brown on Knapweed and an interesting fly comes into the shot

Migrant Hawker oddly not seen as many as I would have thought given the good weather this one allowed very close inspection

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

Great Crested Grebes-Killingworth

Could not resist the temptation to go to Killingworth Lake to have a look at the Great Crested Grebes , a lot closer than I expected being just by the road most I have seen in the past have been at least 100yds away  especially with young ,so it was a pleasant hour or so just watching their antics , despite being so close two photographers one sitting actually down on the shore line with what looked like  a 500mm lens  so he must have been only getting head shots but he still rattled off the shots like a machine gun , but the real interest was just being able to watch these stunning birds go about their daily lives by far the best views of GCG I have ever had . Interesting to see the Colour ringed Coot is still around and has  been for a few years now . A few Tufted also on the water  

 First bird encountered had the west end was this Goosander again it had come reasonably close to the shore but all the photos revealed possibly why as it was dozing in the sun had had it's eye closed the whole time . The Lake is a good place to see Goosanders in the winter

 Great Crested Grebes are a stunning bird  to see ,this juvenile enjoying the ride

No wonder they are growing fast if that's the fish diet

Big Waters

A visit to Big Waters to see if I could catch up with the Water Rails which had been showing well in front of the hide I did see a Juvenile but it was way off  to the side as the water levels had risen . Southern Hawker at the small dipping pool ,and several Wall Browns on the wing also a Small Copper the first for the year two Buzzards over the A1 section and several Speckled Woods on the wing .

 Southern Hawker

 Small Copper on Tansy

 Wall Brown a very active Butterfly always on the move

 Numerous Common Darters but away from the pools

 Two Buzzards soaring over the A1

Numerous Speckled Woods  at least they like sitting in sunny spots ,now I just give them a passing glance how fickle we are !!!