Chasing Tigers 19th April

 I spent a few hours at BBOWT'S Sydlings copse nature reserve today mainly to concentrate on getting a few shots of the Green tiger beetle that occurs here. Not the easiest of subjects to photograph in warm sunny weather but with a little patience I managed a few shots. One individual was seen struggling with prey which I think was a young instar Dock bug. While the beetle was tackling it, it had the least bit of interest in me photographing it.

A few Early purple orchids were seen just coming into flower and there were still a few bits of Toothwort around.

New Forest & Barton Cliffs, Hampshire, Sat 26th September.

With the season nearly over, there were still a few grasshoppers and Crickets that I wanted to see for the year so myself and Julie headed south to catch up with them. 

Grasshoppers/Crickets seen:-

Heath Grasshopper

Common Field Grasshopper

Mottled Grasshopper

Large Marsh Grasshopper

Grey Bush Cricket

Long Winged Conehead

Short winged Conehead

Wart-Biter, Wiltshire, Sunday 13th September

I've always wanted to see a Wart-biter and have looked for them on a few occasions in the past with no luck. So today we drove to Wiltshire to try again. From the parking place it was a long trek to the area where they occur. Once we got to the location we started searching. It took a while but with the help of my Bat detector I finally found my first ever Wart-biter, a smart looking male.

Male Wart-Biter

Male Wart-Biter

Male Wart-Biter

Male Wart-Biter

Helping out in a little wart removal

Sign

Crickets/Grasshoppers seen:-

Wart-Biter 1 Male
Roesel's Bush Cricket
Long Winged Conehead
Common Field Grasshopper
Meadow Grasshopper
Stripe-Winged Grasshopper

Butterflies seen:-

Small White
Common Blue
Adonis Blue 15+
Small Copper
Meadow Brown
Small Heath

Red -Veined Darter, Radley Lakes, Friday 4th September

I rode over to Radley today to see if I could find any Willow Emerald Damsels or maybe even a Wryneck but there was no luck there. After walking around for a while I flushed a Dragonfly. It only flew off a short way then landed again.I had a good idea of what i'd seen and when I got close enough I confirmed I'd found my second Red veined darter for Radley. The first being 8 years ago and pretty much in exactly the same place!

Red-Veined Darter

Red-Veined Darter

Red-Veined Darter

Red-Veined Darter

Willow Emerald, Otmoor, Monday 24th August

I headed to Otmoor today as I wanted to see if I could find the Willow Emerald that's been seen along the roman road recently. After walking about three quarters of the way along the roman road from the car park I spotted a female perched on a bit of dead ash tree about 12 feet up. It was a bit cloudy so it stayed where it was for a while. When the sun came out, fortunately it came down lower so I was able to get some shots of it.

Female Willow Emerald Damsel

Female Willow Emerald Damsel

Female Willow Emerald Damsel

Female Willow Emerald Damsel

Female Willow Emerald Damsel

Female Willow Emerald Damsel

Female Willow Emerald Damsel

Male Emerald Damsel

Ruddy Darter

After here I headed to the pill ground Where I found a dead juvenile Grasshopper warbler.

Grasshopper Warbler

Dams/Drags seen today:-

Emerald Damsel
Willow Emerald Damsel 1 female
Common Blue Damsel
Southern Hawker
Brown Hawker
Migrant Hawker
Common Darter
Ruddy Darter

1 Clouded Yellow was seen in Saunders ground.

Garden Damsel Tuesday 18th August

While I was tidying up my wildlife garden area a damselfly caught my eye flying over the pond and then landing on a water Lilly leaf. I noticed straight away it had a red eye and on looking closer I realized it was in fact a Small red-eyed damsel on my garden pond. I quickly ran indoors and grabbed my camera to get a few shots. After about 10 minutes it flew off. This was the first record for my garden and maybe the last and brought my garden odonata list to 17 species and for a pond that is only 27 months old.A migrant Hawker was also seen perched in my blackthorn bush this afternoon.

Small Red-Eyed Damsel

Small Red-Eyed Damsel

Small Red-Eyed Damsel

Small Red-Eyed Damsel

Migrant Hawker

Migrant Hawker

Garden Damsel/Dragonfly list:-

Banded Demoiselle
Beautiful Demoiselle
Large Red Damsel
White-Legged Damsel
Common Blue Damsel
Azure Damsel
Blue-Tailed Damsel
Small Red-Eyed Damsel
Southern Hawker
Migrant Hawker
Brown Hawker
Emperor Dragonfly
Four-Spotted Chaser
Broad Bodied Chaser
Black Tailed Skimmer
Common Darter
Ruddy Darter

Radley Lakes Friday 7th August

I jumped on my bike today and rode to Radley to look for Damsels and Dragonflies.When I arrived the place was buzzing with them. I had a possible sighting of a Male Lesser Emperor in the strip of water between Thrupp lake and Bullfield lake, it was all to brief and frustratingly wasn't seen again, so may well be worth looking out for! A few Migrant Hawkers were also in this area.On Orchard lake there were at least 5 Small red-eyed damsels. I had to get a little bit wet to get the photos of them.

Small Red-Eyed Damsel

Small Red-Eyed Damsel

Small Red-Eyed Damsel

Small Red-Eyed Damsel

 Song Thrush

Dams/Drags seen:-

Emerald Damsel 1
Common Blue Damsel 100's
Blue Tailed Damsel 5
Red-Eyed Damsel 10+
Small Red-Eyed Damsel 5+
Southern Hawker 1
Migrant Hawker 4
(Lesser Emperor possible)
Brown hawker 5
Black Tailed Skimmer 3
Common Darter 30+
Ruddy Darter 4

Aston Rowant NNR Monday 3rd August

I went up to Aston Rowant (Bald Hill) this morning to look for Silver spotted skippers. A few were seen flying around.The most numerous butterfly seen was the Chalkhill blue with males flying up all around me while walking across the hill.Whilst looking around I was lucky enough to find a mating pair of six belted clearwings. I also found my second ever Downland villa bee fly, my first being at Daneway banks earlier in the year.

Six-Belted Clearwing

Common Field Grasshopper

Downland Villa Bee Fly