July 26

WILDLIFE HIGHLIGHTS

It's been another mega month for wildlife sightings for me, with most of the focus being on dragonflies and damselflies. The summer is a great month for seeing these amazing insects, that dart and flit about erratically catching other smaller insects. Though mostly found by ditches, streams, ponds and lakes, they can also be found in woodland some distance from water sources, where some mature before returning to the place where they emerged. Whilst I still have much to learn about their life cycle, I'm enjoying seeing each of our UK species and learning to identify them.

But, to start off this month, it was a butterfly we went in search of. Not just any butterfly, but the Queen of Spain Fritillary - a rare migrant usually found in Northern Africa and mainland Europe - and one I've never seen before. With the warmer summer we've experienced, there have been a few sightings of this gorgeous orange butterfly in the south of England. One of our friends, a fellow butterfly enthusiast, found one in Stoke Bottom, West Sussex. Sadly, when we visited the place, we didn't see any. However, it was a fabulous day out all the same and I was very happy to see not only a mating pair of Small Whites (photo) but also a mating pair of Large Whites too.

I saw my first White Admiral caterpillars this month, courtesy of my friend Dom Greves, who had managed to locate them in a small woodland in East Sussex. The ones he showed us were so tiny. We were actually looking for the leaf damage rather than the caterpillar, as this was a little easier to spot.

Early in July, Bob and I had a lovely couple of days away in Dorset and Hampshire, staying overnight in Poole. This trip was specifically to look for two new species for me, as I'm currently hoping to see all the species of dragonfly and damselfly native to the UK (in the next year or two). Our first destination was Silverlake, Dorset where Scarlet Darters had been seen. Bizarrely, our friend Polly Mair from East Sussex had chosen to visit on the exact same day! So, it was nice to catch up with her whilst there. Aside from her, we didn't see many other people there are all. Probably no more than half a dozen people or so, which was lovely and peaceful.

It was such a hot scorching day, but thankfully, there was a little bit of shade at one end of the lake, so we spent much of our time sheltering there. It just so happened that was where a lot of the Scarlet Darter activity took place too - most convenient. It wasn't a challenge a see this species, as there were so many flying around, and their scarlet abdomen is very striking and obvious, which makes them easy to see. As soon as we approached the edge of the lake we saw our first one and we must have seen over 20 in total that day.

They're a stunning butterfly, but not to be confused with the Red-veined Darter, which I'd seen for the first time last month, more locally. The abdomen of the Scarlet Darter is much wider, and the eyes are all red. What was really interesting to observe of the Scarlet Darter, was how, when the day became much hotter, they perched with their abdomen raised skyward, so not so much of their body was exposed to the sun (bottom photo).

We were fortunate to see so many of the Scarlet Darters, including a mating pair. To begin with, the pair would fly close to the edge of the lake and very quickly separate, so it was difficult capturing a photo of them in the mating wheel. Added to this, they were usually obscured by some vegetation. But, eventually, Bob and I got lucky and spotted this pair actually on a grass stem in the water.

A female was also seen egg-laying over the water - they flick their abdomen downwards, to propel the eggs into the water. So, I was very pleased with this next photo, that was taken in between moments of flicking. They move about a lot and don't hover much, so tracking them is extremely difficult, even with the technical advances in cameras.

This site was amazing with regards to the number of dragonflies and damselflies that we saw flying around. I don't think I've seen anything like it. In terms of dragonflies, aside from the Scarlets, there were also Common and Red-veined Darters, Black-tailed Skimmers, a Keeled Skimmer, both Emperor and Lesser Emperor dragonflies, and Four-spot Chasers.

There were exuvia everywhere - the casings from which the dragons or damsels emerge from. I've never seen so many exuvia before, with multiple ones on the grass stems in the water. I can't even tell which species of damselfly this one below is because it's freshly emerged and is yet to change colour into its adult form.

We had a few other interesting wildlife highlights that day too. We spotted a Large Marsh Horsefly on a long reed that we realised was egg-laying. I was fascinated by the way she was using her abdomen to eject her eggs, so precisely and delicately like someone icing a cake!

Then a few hours later, long after the fly had flown off, we noticed the colour of the eggs had changed. Whilst taking some photos, Bob noticed the miniscule insect on the eggs and said it was probably a parasitic fly or wasp ovipositing its own eggs!

Needless to say, I was thrilled to see the Scarlet Darter on this day, and so many of them too. I really had lots of opportunities to photograph them, which was wonderful. But, in many ways, something else stole the show! Polly noticed a Grass Snake in the water, not far from where we were resting under the tree. It then swam quite a long way through the water, and Bob and I were both able to take some photos. This was my best view of a Grass Snake ever.

Plus, I took a few videos of it slithering through the water.

We didn't think it was very long to begin with, as there was so much vegetation in the water, it was partially obscured. But, when it was in shallower, clearer water, we could see that it was quite long after all.

After our very hot day at Silverlake, we headed to Lulworth Cove to see the Lulworth Skipper - a species I've only seen once before. We saw a handful, though they were well past their best, so I didn't take many photos. I was too hot and tired to look for them for long, plus my memories from my last visit put me off standing in the tall grass for too long - I managed to get 11 ticks on me that previous occasion! Not very pleasant. So, the call of ice cream, a swim in the water and relaxing on the beach for a bit was enough to entice me away from the butterflies. It was a great way to end our day.

The following day, the focus was on seeing the other new species for me - the Southern Damselfly. Bob had seen them before at a site in the New Forest, so we were going to head there from Poole. However, the day before, I was chatting to someone at Silverlake about looking for this species and he mentioned a site in Christchurch worth trying. I made a mental note of the location and managed to find it on the map later. So, Bob and I decided to head there first. I'm so glad we did. It wasn't much more than a ditch, and with very little water in it, but there was quite a bit of activity in this small area. There there plenty of damselflies around us, including some Beautiful Demoiselles that kept returning to their same perches. The metallic blue colour is stunning, but I've often found in certain light they look more green. You can see the difference in the next two photos (both males).

As it turned out, it was a great site for the Southern damselflies, so we were pleased we'd made the effort to check out this new site. It was great to see some mating pairs too, which was fabulous to photograph, though tricky, despite being fairly close. There was often vegetation in the way, and I had to watch out that my foot didn't sink into the mud!

The male is quite distinct from other blue damselflies because of the spear-shaped black markings on the abdomen and a black 'mercury' mark on S2, which is just below where the wings are attached to the thorax.

The female is harder to distinguish from other female damselflies. Usually, their close proximity to the males are the give-away. I think this male is close enough!

After an hour at this first site, we drove on to the New Forest and had another hour walking along the stream where Bob had been before. Once again, we had some more sightings of the Southern damselfly at this location, but there were fewer and it was a little trickier to photograph them.

For me, the highlight of this second location was actually spotting a beautiful immature Keeled Skimmer that was starting to change colour into the blue of an adult male. The Keeled Skimmer was in good number there, and I saw several mating pairs. I also spotted a female Emperor dragonfly egg-laying. After a while, the heat was starting to get to us, so we drove home from there.

During the rest of July, we stayed more local to home.

It's been a joy to see so many Hummingbird Hawk-moths this year - they must be having a good year. Whilst we've been seeing lots in the garden, I was rather pleased to spot this one resting on a branch when we went out for a walk on the South Downs. It's in great condition. So rarely you see them resting!

Then we headed to one of the ponds not far away, in search of more dragonfly activity, only it was a Common Shrew that made my day. It was the first time I've seen a living one. It was scurrying around the edge of the dried up pond.

We also saw a Red-veined Darter at this pond, which was now my third sighting of a species I'd not seen before this summer. I was glad to be able to improve on my photos from my previous two sightings. You can really see the two tone colour of the eyes in the next photo, with the blue on the underside.

The very next day, I saw another one at a different location outside Hailsham! It was an immature and it's yellow-orange colour was very different, but you can still see the blue underside of the eye. Unfortunately, this one was more flighty. I took two photos and then it disappeared and I didn't see it again.

The visit to Hailsham had primarily been to see the Scarce Blue-tailed damselflies, which I saw for the first time last year. However, they're very similar to the much more common Blue-tailed damselflies and can easily be mistaken, especially when both are seen in the same area, as was the case on this day. In fact, we saw mating pairs of both species.

The best way to tell them apart is to look at the end of the abdomen of the male - the blue-tail. When they're in the mating wheel, it is the male that has the end of his abdomen attached to just behind the female's head. On the Blue-tailed damselfly it is all blue on S8 and although you can see blue on the underside of S9, it is black on top (first photo). On the Scarce Blue-tailed damselfly, it is S9 that is all blue (second photo).

Interestingly, Bob noticed that whilst mating, the male Blue-tailed Damselflies hold their wings together, whereas the male Scarce Blue-tailed Damselflies seemed to hold their wings open.

From Hailsham we headed to Birling Gap and for a late afternoon walk through the wildflower meadows behind the main coastal path. We saw lots of Silver-spotted Skippers, Common Blues and a few Clouded Yellows - like the Hummers, they're also having a great year with large numbers seen. But, our target species was the Chalkhill Blue. They were seen in such large numbers, many roosting together in the swathes of tall grasses alongside the paths. It was quite a sight. It was tricky to capture this effectively in a photo, and also finding one or two individuals to photograph that were fresh. But, eventually we spotted a lovely fresh male with it's beautiful blue colouration and dark markings in the white fringes of the wings, as it began to warm its wings in the sunshine.

Later, I spotted a lovely female with her chocolate brown coloured wings, although she didn't open them fully.

As usual, Bob and I often walk the South Downs behind where we live - our local patch - in between our other outings. It was good to see some Silver-spotted Skippers along Cradle Valley. You often don't notice them until they're flying away from you, and they're so quick! I didn't get any good photos this year of this species. However, I did have an impressive Hornet Robberfly pose on a dead flower head, which is a rarity. Usually, they're on the ground with other vegetation getting in the way, or the background is just 'messy' looking! But, in this next photo, with the background nicely blurred, you can really notice the details of this unusual looking fly, from the hairs on its long legs, to the golden coloured abdomen. It may not be the most attractive creature in the animal kingdom, but it is nonetheless impressive and remarkable. As I'm learning, appreciating nature isn't just about focusing our attention on the attractive or desirable species. Every creature has a place in this world and I think its worth respecting that.

This month also saw a massive number of Toadflax Brocade caterpillars munching their way through the Purple Toadflax in our garden. I'm sure I counted over 40 one day. There were large ones looking close to pupating at the same time as tiny little ones resting on the leaves. Gradually, as the month progressed, more of the leaves were eaten by them, except for the leaves that turned brown in the dry heat. When there weren't many leaves left to eat, I even saw caterpillars munching their way through the outer green layer of the stems. I'd not noticed this in previous years.

Then one morning, Bob noticed two Toadflax Brocade moths had emerged and were waiting for night to fall, before flying off. They're an attractive little moth that blend well into their surroundings. Hopefully, there were more than two caterpillars that were able to complete their life cycle and make it to the adult moth stage.

One of my other highlights this month has been sitting outside in the warm evenings eating dinner, then remaining outside as darkness descends, looking for bats and seeing the first stars of the evening. We never know which we'll see first. One time, when we were staying over in Shoreham, we were treated to a really long aerial bat display that lasted probably over 10 minutes. It was wonderful. There were even three at one point. What a treat!

It's been lovely seeing two new species of dragonfly and one new species of damselfly in the last two months. Hopefully, soon I can see the final four UK species I haven't seen: Northern Damselfly, Azure Hawker, Northern Emerald and White-faced Darter - all of which can be found in Scotland. I daresay Bob and I will be heading up there again in early summer sometime in the next few years. Plus, I'd also like to see the Dainty Damselfly, which isn't probably officially on the UK list, because it's only recently starting to be seen in a few locations. I don't need to head up to Scotland for that species, but over to Kent.

As with the butterflies, and probably other insect species, our changing climate will invariably attract more migrant species to the UK over the forthcoming years. I wonder what new species we'll see. I wouldn't mind seeing Camberwell Beauty and Monarch butterflies, that's for sure!