June 26
WILDLIFE HIGHLIGHTS
We were up in Yorkshire at the start of the month enjoying a week's holiday at Bempton Cliffs. Gannets and Puffins were on the cards for us up there, and lots more besides. You'll be able to read more about our trip in due course.
It was wonderful having plenty of time off from work during June to recharge, even after our two-week trip away. We had a lovely relaxing week before Bob was due to do some guiding over in Bulgaria, and we managed to fit in a few local outings.
We visited one of our favourite local private woodlands and went in search of butterflies. I always love seeing Ringlets (photo), it's one of my favourite species. We were also treated to White Admirals, Silver Washed Fritillaries and many of the common species seen at this time of year.
But it was the dragonflies that stole the show really for us on this day. Having seen all the species of butterfly in the UK, I'm now focused on seeing all the species of dragonfly and damselfly that we have (odonata). Without especially trying, I'd already seen the vast majority over the years whilst really getting into British wildlife, but there were about a dozen that have alluded me. In the next year or two, I hope to complete that list. It isn't a tick list per se, but more about having a focus and trying to learn something new.
On this lovely sunny day, I was pleased to photograph a female Common Darter posing rather nicely on a small branch. Then all of a sudden it shot up and then back down again. It was only afterwards whilst processing this photo that I realised it had caught a tiny insect and was eating it.
We ambled slowly down one of the open rides within the woodland, looking up that Oak trees for signs of Purple Hairstreaks and White Admirals as we went. We saw a few, but there were limited photographic opportunities. When we were near the bottom of the ride, I commented about on another narrower ride off to one side, and we decided to explore that before retracing our steps, since neither of us had walked along it before. How fortuitous that we did. Not long after heading down it, a large green dragonfly landed just above us. I had a fairly good view of it, so managed to take a few photos with my camera. Whilst doing so, I was amazed by not only the green colour of its abdomen, but also the orange colouration in the veins of its wings. They were so striking - even the photo doesn't really do it justice. I realised it wasn't a Downy Emerald, which I have seen before. This was a new species for me. I had no clue what it was, but thankfully, Bob recognised it as being a female Brilliant Emerald. It was so unexpected and exciting.
Unfortunately, it flew off shortly after I took the photo and was not seen again, despite us loitering there and in the near vicinity for quite some time. However we did get to see a lovely male Downy Emerald that was more obliging...eventually.
Another lovely species we saw on this day was the Yellow-legged Clearwing, which is an amazing species of moth. Aside from it's jazzy legs and wings, I love the bushy looking end to its abdomen. There are some amazing moths flying around out there! And before you ask, no I won't be aiming to see all the moths species within the UK after seeing all the odonata. Do you know how many different moths we have? Roughly 2,500!
Even when relaxing in the garden, we were treated to lovely wildlife sightings, like this lovely white Crab Spider sitting on an Oxeye Daisy. It can change colour depending on what it is on (usually white or yellow). Even whilst taking some photos, an unsuspecting tiny insect landed on the centre of the flower, but it flew off again before the spider could ensnare it.
Another new species of dragonfly that's on my list to see is the Red-veined Darter. It's a migratory species that is fairly rare in this country. It's only just starting to breed in a few sites. So, when I heard that some had been seen in Durrington, I jumped at the chance to go and find them. I had some other things to do in the area that day, so I went on my own. Bob's seen them before and he was resting his back, though he was tempted to join me.
The pond didn't look anything special - a newly created one by a new housing estate. There wasn't a great deal of vegetation in the water, but at least that made it easier for me to walk around it. I was pleased to see a handful of exuvia, which are the casings from which the dragonflies emerge. The first one is most likely from one of the larger species, but the one on the right was smaller and one of the darter species. One of these days, I'd love to see a damselfly or dragonfly actually emerging from it's exuvia. That would require a lot of luck and patience!
There weren't just odonata hovering above the water, I was pleased to spot a very fresh looking male Small Skipper on the pebbles around the edge of the pond. Plus, there was a family of Swallows flying around and dipping down to drink the water. This one pictured looks like a recent fledgling, with its wider yellow beak opening and lack of bright red colouring under the chin.
In terms of the dragonflies, there were quite a few Black-tailed Skimmers chasing each other, defending their territory. This stunning one is a young male developing its pruinescence. Eventually, it will have a powder blue abdomen. This in-between phase is very striking.
There were also Emperor Dragonflies around the pond - a male patrolling and a couple of females egg-laying. I love the way this female is hiding behind the water lily. She was certainly keeping an eye on me whilst dipping her abdomen into the water to lay eggs on the vegetation beneath the surface.
Dragonflies love flying around on sunny days, and the Darters are no exception, living up to their name - quite literally darting around. But thankfully, the weather was actually to my advantage on this occasion, because there were some clouds passing through, which meant most of the dragonflies would rest periodically. That would be my best chance for taking photographs and for identifying the Red-veined Darter, which was what I was there for. However, since there are two other similar species, the Ruddy Darter and the Common Darter, both of which have red abdomen's (male), I had to be careful I didn't mix them up. I couldn't assume that any red dragonflies that I saw were my target species.
I was optimistic when I saw my first potential target flying around, as the red of it's abdomen seemed brighter than the other two species. But patience was the name of the game while the sun was fully out. Slowly, I ambled along the water's edge, trying to keep an eye on my target, which isn't easy when their flight is so erratic. It was quite a while before I actually saw one come to rest on the rocks ahead of me. Using my zoom lens, I immediately took a photo, even though I wasn't that close, as I needed a record shot at the very least. Identification could come later. It remained stationery, so I slowly crept closer, taking more photos after every few steps. I was sure I could see red veins near the thorax and blue in the lower part of the eyes (key features to look out for). Only later did I have the confirmation it was indeed a Red-veined Darter. Yay!
It flew off after a short while and I continued taking more photos of any ones that landed fairly near me. They seemed to favour one side of the pond in particular, so I hung around there for a while longer. Eventually, things went quiet. I used that opportunity to find a shady spot under some trees, then used my ObsIdentify app on the photo on the back of my camera screen to double check the ID. That was when I knew I'd achieved my goal. I was thrilled.
Back in East Sussex, on another day, Bob and I ambled around the Marbled Meadow (as we like to call it) near where we live. There were two noteworthy sightings that day. The first was a Six-Spot Burnet Moth caterpillar on the same blade of grass as a pupa hidden inside its casing, from which the adult moth would eventually appear. I'd not seen the caterpillar before, so that was good.
The second sighting was of a few Bee Orchids. They're low to the ground and easy to miss. I love this orchid species. They're always such a joy to see. In this photo you can clearly see the two yellow pollinia sacs that contain the pollen located just below the green hood at the centre of the flower. We were especially excited to see the flower because it's the first time Bob has ever seen any in the meadow. It's a special place and a lot of effort is going on to manage and protect the site, which is now officially a green space for Seaford.
The final highlight for June was seeing some White Letter Hairstreaks in Eastbourne. It's a scarce and elusive butterfly species in the UK. Their fate is tied up with the fate of our Elm trees. It's the butterfly's primary food plant and numbers have crashed as a result of Dutch Elm disease, which has been wiping out so many of our trees since the 70s. It's down to conservation efforts to help not only the trees but the butterflies survive.
We walked along a path that is lined with lots of Elm trees and we only occasionally saw a few White Letter Hairstreaks fluttering about high up. But further along, there was a larger concentration of them seen nectaring on some bramble. They were still quite tricky to photograph, but lovely to see. We didn't stay long because we could see rain was on its way. In fact, we didn't make it back to the car before we felt the first few drops. It still wasn't too heavy by the time we reached the car, which was parked on the other side of the Elm trees to the path. Then, Bob suddenly spotted a Hairstreak just a few metres ahead of us. It was fairly low, sheltering from the rain, which was getting heavier by the minute. It was funny to find one so close to where we'd parked after all our walking around!
This was my closest encounter with a White Letter Hairstreak - a species I've only seen on a few occasions, so I was thrilled. What a great end to another fabulous month of wildlife sightings.
