Heather Lake - on 21st June & 5th July, 2017

On 25th May, I had paid a visit to the lake at Heather and been impressed by the number of damselflies (Azure, Common Blue, and Blue-tailed) and Four-spotted Chaser dragonflies that were there. I resolved to return at various stages during the season. My next visit, however, wasn't until 21st June.

Wednesday 21st June

As I approached, I found that there were large numbers of Ringlet butterfly along the edges of the meadow.

Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) (male) - near Heather Lake

Reaching the lake, it was immediately apparent that there were good numbers of male Emperor dragonfly around. These - one of the two largest of British dragonflies - were hard to miss! 

There were, perhaps, too many of them as they were extremely active and almost permanently engaged in feuds over territory with their own species and with the Four-spotted Chasers. I only saw three perch, and two of them were in extremely poor condition. This first one was rather too distant for a detailed shot.

Emperor (Anax imperator) (male) - Heather Lake

I'd already taken a couple of shots of the next one before I noticed that it had lost a complete wing! This was disappointing as it was very confiding.

Emperor (Anax imperator) (male) - Heather Lake

The third one looked to be relatively intact, but insisted on playing hide-and-seek with me - I'd have had to wade out into the lake to get round to the other side of it.

Emperor (Anax imperator) (male) - Heather Lake

There were plenty of Common Blue Damselflies around, including numerous mating pairs.

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (male) - Heather Lake

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (pair mating) - Heather Lake

The Four-spotted Chasers were just as aggressive as the Emperors, but seemed to be weathering their encounters somewhat better than them.

If there's ever a competition for the photo with the most exuvia on one stem, I might enter the first image - and I was so intent on photographing the dragonfly that I didn't even notice at the time. If I had have done, I might have got even more than the six that are visible in the image!

Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) (male) - Heather Lake

Immediately after taking that last photo, I went round to the other side of the bush that I was standing beside, and sent a Hobby flying off into the distance. I only managed a retreating shot, but it appears that it was a juvenile. This bird was possibly responsible for that Emperor losing a whole wing!

Hobby (Falco subbuteo) (juvenile) - Heather Lake

One of the most interesting sightings for me was a lone Black-tailed Skimmer near the south end of the lake. Whilst by no means a rare dragonfly, I don't see that many of these.

Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) (male) - Heather Lake

From the west side of the lake I was able to observe a female Emperor ovipositing.

Emperor (Anax imperator) (female - ovipositing) - Heather Lake

As I was about to leave, I noticed an Emperor exuvia which I photographed in-situ before retrieving it. It now sits in a pot in my study.

Emperor (Anax imperator) (exuvia) - Heather Lake

Wednesday 5th July

Two weeks later I was back again. This time there were even more Emperor dragonflies in evidence.

Strangely, an Emperor exuvia was the first thing I photographed this time!

Emperor (Anax imperator) (exuvia) - Heather Lake

Some of the male Emperors were settling and, fortunately, many of these were in better shape than those on my previous visit - but not all of them!.

Emperor (Anax imperator) (male) - Heather Lake

I spent a short while trying to get flight shots, but the high foliage at the edge of the lake kept getting in the way. This was the best I could manage. Although it's a terrible, shot it amuses me as it reminds me of looking up at a helicopter.

Emperor (Anax imperator) (male) - Heather Lake

There were many Common Blue Damselflies around, as can be seen in this next image.

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) - Heather Lake

I don't see many of the blue form of the female Common Blue, so was pleased to get this pair in tandem.

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (pair in tandem) - Heather Lake

There was plenty of mating going on on this occasion too.

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (pair mating) - Heather Lake

Four-spotted Chasers were still around, though not quite as numerous as on my previous visit.

Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) (male) - Heather Lake

The female Emperors were ovipositing again.

Emperor (Anax imperator) (female - ovipositing) - Heather Lake

The real highlight of the day for me, however, was getting my first ever shot of a mating pair of Emperors!

Emperor (Anax imperator) (pair mating) - Heather Lake

I recently returned to Heather Lake. The weather was not ideal, and I only saw four dragonflies during a two-hour search - it seemed very strange! Any disappointment was added to by finding that I'd managed to step in a large pile of dog dirt hidden in the long grass. Cleaning this from deeply treaded soles of my boot was not a pleasant task.

Thank you for dropping by - I suspect that my next post will feature butterflies, but I've still got a lot of catching up to do.

Other Birds - a mop up, to end of September, 2015

I've been posting a little sporadically over the past six months, and there have been many outings resulting in images that I've never posted on my blog. I'm relatively up to date with the owls, but there are many 'other birds' from that period that have not made it onto my blog, so here are some of them.

Longmoor Lake on 2nd May, 2015

I'm a member of the Peter Williams Naturalists Club, and one of our members (Rhys Dandy) led a club visit to this location. The weather was not that kind to us as it was dull, cold, and windy, but it was an excellent visit and Rhys turned up some gems for us. The area round Longmoor Lake has relatively recently been planted as The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Woodland - it's easier to say Longmoor Lake - and the tree protectors did rather detract from the photography. There were a few Wheatear around at the time, but the real stars for me were the Whinchat.

Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) (male) - Longmoor Lake

Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) (male) - Longmoor Lake

Undisclosed Site on 4th May, 2015

A visit to my Little Owl Site No.49 resulted in the sighting of a drake Mandarin. I subsequently came to the conclusion that the Mandarins were nesting in the same tree as the LOs!

Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata) (male) - undisclosed site

Now follows a series from Rutland Water, most of which were taken whilst on volunteer duty on the Osprey Project with pal John, or on my way to or from a spell of duty.

Rutland Water on 7th May, 2015

On my way down to start my turn of duty (John was to arrive later) I noticed my first Yellow Wagtail of the year on the path ahead of me. It flew up unto a tree as I approached and, because of the overall colouration of the tree, I found it quite hard to pick up again.

Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava) (male) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve

Fortunately it returned to the path and proved to be relatively confiding. I subsequently found out that this bird was ringed as a juvenile at Abbotsbury Swannery, Dorset UK, on 11th September, 2013.

Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava) (male) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve

Here are some of the other birds from that day - firstly some from when we were on duty. Although they Osprey images are not good, I was pleased to catch a sequence of a bird lifting out of the water.

Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) (female) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) (male 33(11)) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve

On our way back to the car park at the end of our shift we called into Tufted Duck Hide to see if the Otters were showing - they weren't, but I took some shots of a GC Grebe. OK, so these might be dirt-common, but I think that they are wonderful birds!

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve

As we approached the car park, a Chiffchaff seemed to be collecting nesting material.

Chiffchaff  (Phylloscopus collybita) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve

Rutland Water on 13th May, 2015

We applauded the female Mallard that had 11 chicks in her charge. I wondered whether she was looking after some for someone else. On a more sombre note, I wondered how many of these chicks would survive to adulthood. 

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve

 Here are a few more from that day.

Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve)

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve

Rutland Water on 4th June, 2015

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) (male 33(11)) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve

Rutland Water on 11th June, 2015

On this day, Black Tern was a 'lifer' for me. Sadly, I only got rubbish distant shots, but I have to post a few here!

Black Tern (Chlidonius niger) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve

Undisclosed Site on 16th June, 2015

I was delighted to visit my Little Owl site No.49 in the evening and find the female Mandarin with three youngsters!

Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata) (female + young) - undisclosed site

Here's a few more sessions from Rutland Water. Please bear in mind that the dragons and damsels from these sessions will have featured my previous post, and some of the other creatures will feature in a later post, so the sessions weren't as unproductive as they might seem from these images!

Rutland Water on 18th June, 2015

From Shallow Water Hide we watched House Martins collecting mud for their nests.

House Martin (Delichon urbica) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve

With the House Martins were a couple of Sand Martin. Here's one of them.

Sand Martin (Riparia riparia) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) (male 33(11) + unringed female) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve

On the way back to the car park we heard and found these juvenile Blackcap beside the path.

Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) (juveniles) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve

Rutland Water on 2nd July, 2015

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) (unringed female) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve

Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve

Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) - Rutland Water Lyndon Reserve

Rutland Water on 9th July, 2015

A visit to the Egleton side of Rutland Water gave us distant views of Green Sandpiper.

Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) - Rutland Water Egleton Reserve

I must have spent a good half hour trying to get an image of a Reed Warbler that was flitting around well-concealed in the reeds outside Shoveler Hide.

Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) - Rutland Water Egleton Reserve

Then, for about one second, it showed itself fully!

Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) - Rutland Water Egleton Reserve

A Curlew showed quite well in front of the hide too.

Curlew (Numenius arquata) - Rutland Water Egleton Reserve

Near Lowesby on 16th July, 2015

On our way back from Rutland Water we found this Kestrel sitting on a pole.

Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) (male) - near Lowesby

A long break in dates now as images from when friends from Canada, David and Miriam, came to stay have already been published.

Rutland Water on 3rd September, 2015

Pal John was the first to spot an Osprey heading past as we sat in Shoveler Hide on the Egleton side. Most of the Rutland Ospreys had already departed by then, so this was exciting!

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) - Rutland Water Egleton Reserve

There were quite a few other birds seen from Shoveler Hide, including this selection.

Redshank (Tringa totanus) - Rutland Water Egleton Reserve

Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) - Rutland Water Egleton Reserve

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) - Rutland Water Egleton Reserve

Rutland Water on 9th September, 2015

John and I had gone to Rutland Water to try and photograph the dragonflies, with a hope that we might also glimpse a Hobby. We'd been singularly unlucky in this last respect so far this year. We did have a Hobby briefly flashing around, but I pretty-much failed in the photography department!

Hobby (falco subbuteo) - Rutland Water Egleton Reserve

Drakelow Nature Reserve on 17th September, 2015

As a change from our usual routine I took John to Drakelow Nature Reserve, which is managed by the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. We were mainly looking for damsels and dragons, but we did see a few birds. However, I missed getting a shot of the Hobby that briefly appeared!

The state of moult of this Buzzard gave it the appearance of having a kink in its neck!

Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) - Drakelow Nature Reserve

We also had flyovers by Cormorant

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) - Drakelow Nature Reserve

These next two images are probably my favourite of this whole post. The subject matter may be ordinary, but there's something in the light and composition that just grabs me!

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) - Drakelow Nature Reserve

That ends this post. Thank you for dropping by. My next offering is possibly going to feature some creepy-crawlies!!