I visited Wilstone Reservoir and the nearby Grand Union canal on the 4th. There was no sign of the golden oriole that had been recorded at the reservoir the previous afternoon but I had, as usual, good views of the uncommon white-legged damselflies that live along a stretch of the canal near Wilstone village. Black-tailed skimmers, an emperor dragonfly, banded demoiselles and a variety of (mainly blue-tailed) damselflies were also seen along the canal.
Mating Blue-tailed Damselflies, near Wilstone, 4 July
Male White-legged Damselfly, near Wilstone, 4 July
A positive Covid-19 test the following day resulted in a week of isolation. Fortunately, my symptoms were mild but it was frustrating to have to have to stay at home for a week. I was back on the road again on the 11th, spending a couple of hours on a hot, sunny day at the Swanton Novers (Norfolk) watchpoint, waiting for a sighting of one of the summering (and, presumably, nesting) honey buzzards which never came. I moved on to Kelling Heath, where frustrations grew as I searched for silver-studded blue butterflies. Surely their season couldn't be over already? It appeared that this was, indeed, the case, but I did manage to find and photograph a single female on a part of the heath that I don't normally visit. Finally, I made my way to RSPB Titchwell Marsh, where I had an enjoyable time photographing sanderlings in their breeding finery, running along the beach. July is the only month when adults of my favourite bird species can be seen in full summer plumage in the UK, as they start to return from their nesting sites further north.
Female Silver-studded Blue, Kelling Heath, 11 July
Running Sanderling, RSPB Titchwell Marsh, 11 July
The appearance of a family of six black-winged stilts at WWT Welney on the 14th encouraged me to visit. I guess that the birds had nested nearby but news had, understandably, been suppressed. I was lucky to see the birds because they had disappeared by the following day. These gangly waders are quite cute!
Adult Black-winged Stilt in Flight, WWT Welney, 14 July
Juvenile Black-winged Stilt, WWT Welney, 14 July
With the hot weather continuing, I took the opportunity to visit Thursley Common (Surrey) again, this time looking for dragonflies. The Moat Pond, adjacent to the car park, is an excellent spot to see two rare dragonflies, downy emerald and brilliant emerald. However, these are extremely difficult to photograph as they fly low along shady edges of the pond and then rest in the conifers that fringe the pond. Both species are on the wing in July. On this occasion I probably saw both species in flight and I also managed to photograph one individual, resting above my head in a conifer. Close examination of the images (one shown below) suggests that this was a downy emerald based, amongst other things, on the very hairy thorax (not visible on this image). Other 'regular' Thursley dragonflies seen included small red damselfly, keeled skimmer and black darter.
Male Downy (?) Emerald Dragonfly, Thursley Common, 15 July
Male Black Darter, Thursley Common, 15 July
I went back to Titchwell on the 22nd. An elusive wood sandpiper was eventually found on the freshmarsh and I took the opportunity to photograph avocets here, as well as sanderlings on the beach on a rather overcast day. This was my last field trip of the month, as I was abroad (for the first time in nearly three years), enjoying more hot weather in the South of France with my partner. Since this is a 'UK Sightings' blog I won't go into detail about what we saw there. However, the towns of Nimes and Arles were notable only for their lack of bird species variety (feral pigeons and more feral pigeons...), whilst the Pont de Gard held nesting crag martins - Alpine and common swifts were also seen here. The dominant butterfly species was the (not so) scarce swallowtail and the dominant dragonfly species was black-tailed skimmer. One other notable sighting was of a juvenile black redstart, hawking insects from the tables and chairs of a cafe where we were having our evening meal! I may add a couple of images if I ever get round to editing them!
No comments:
Post a Comment