Autumn glory - one season follows another

 Shades of autumn were very real this afternoon as I took a short stroll around this lovely site. The sun came out for a short time but the blackberries are ripe, apples are on the trees and the berries on the hedgerows. I was feeling a little melancholy thinking how it would have been my Mum&Dads diamond wedding anniversary tomorrow. Dad has been gone nearly two years and life has to go on but I miss him very much. I read the story of the young widow today who lost her husband to a shark attack and she said the thing he knew was that she is not good at partings and she would not say goodbye. I think thats me too, farewells are hard enough, goodbyes too final.

 But there was a sudden vivid flash of orange/red and this lovely Comma fluttered by and perched in the suns beams. They are often the first butterfly I see each year, and are ragged yet beautiful. There were several speckled woods as well which all served to lift my spirits.

 I was so pleased to see a couple of emeralds around the long pond. Always stunning, but a little sad to find a teneral emerald in the hedgerow. What are its chances? This is a late emerging species but there were few around and I hope the little creature will find a mate and be in time to create the next generation. This one was by the pond and is mature. The larva will not emerge from eggs laid now until next year but will then develop quickly to emerge in their loveliness in the summer. Lets hope the newly emerged one finds a few sunny days.

 But it is September tomorrow and the reserve is putting on its autumn glory ahead of the coming colder months. I have been thinking about butterfly egg hunting this winter - and time at DENR is always so good and gives me a sense of wholeness and peace even if the rest of my world feels the sand is shifting around me. Change is a process and as the egg becomes a larva and then the dragonfly emerges so we all have to change and mvoe through the seasons that life brings.

Dragons of all sorts.............

 I have had a busy busy week and have a packed weekend, so was delighted to squeeze in an hours sojourn at Duck End mid afternoon when the sun came out. It was great to see four brown hawkers, and at one point the two females were both ovipositing into the same piece of floating driftwood. This is fantastic- the larvae will hatch next sping and then the larvae will develop over 2-4 years so I look forward to seeing them circa 2014/15! These are sometimes written off as dull hawkers but in the sunlight their wings are truely golden brown and very beautiful.

 It was slightly disappointing to find a lot of the long grass around the long pond cut. I am really appreciative of the volunteers who look after this site but it has reduced the number of emerald damsels I could find by about 50%. But there were 27 of these lovely creatures to be found around the site today, including some that were making the next generation and a couple laying eggs. These will hatch next spring, but unlike the brown hawker, the adult will emerge after the larvae has grown rapidly for only 2-3 months.

 It was good to see two blue-tailed damselflies today. The books always say these are one of the commonest species but I have not seen them in great numbers. The males are territorial and the adults remain close to water so may be worth looking in this spot again on my next visit. They are also more active than any other damsel in cloudy weather so one to look for a little harder I think.

 A truely tomato red colour caught my eye and this ruddy darter enjoyed the sunshine. They are said to be less abundant then their cousin the common darter but I saw more of these today. They have very black legs and they often return to the same perch.

 And I was so pleased to see this lovely migrant hawker perching in the trees behind one of the ponds. Another one was hawking across the same pond. My first of this species this year. Its a little smaller than the southern hawker and is quite common in this part of the world and will be on the wing until late October given some decent weather.

And a quick stop off at Flitton Moor on the way home- again to find the marginal plants and grasses cut whihc seems to have done for the dragons around the pond. There were several small red-eyed damsels in the pond. They seem to like pondweed and algae which is just as well and flit about at a lwo level. What a nice way to pass a sunny hour. Love it.

Lunar and a pug

 It has been a very wet and not very warm summers day - not one for getting out - but good for me as I needed to do some work around the house and some other tasks. Yesterday I went to use my camera to take some photos of the moths in the trap and the device told it the memory card was full - so have today backed it all up and cleared the photos - all 1983 of them! Amongst the moths I did see in the trap were two more new ones for me, and this is the first the Lime-speck Pug/ As always I say I think! This is the first pug I have identified although there have been quite a few around. I am not surpised at what the moth book says about them- "Deciding the moth is a pug is relatively easy...but identificaiton is often tricky"- and its not wrong! This oen fits the bill for size and the time of year and can be found anywhere in the UK. The book says its "umistakable" - and that point I and the book think differently. My first guess was a moth that when I looked is around only much earlier in the year. Lets hope I have arrived at the right moth now!

And lastly this plain looking moth but underneath it was a lovely yellow-orange which pointed me to the Underwings, and from the markings I think it is the Lunar Underwing. Its common and abundant in the south, and hte flight period is August- October. The small mark at the bottom of the wings also is mentioned in the book. There were at least three of these in the trap. 

I have lots of moth photos to work on but am so far delighted with my first months of moth trapping. There were lost of footman and plume moths in the trap this week as well - some to work on when I have some time.  What a diverse and interesting insect group they are!

Yellow shell diversion

There are very many moths and I am very slow at working out what they are. I am beginning to see now different wing shapes, antennae lengths and size and that is starting to help. They are fascinating creatures, not at all like I imagined, and even the dullest looking often has lovely detail and markings on looking closer, and often a big range of colourshades. I was unsure about this one yesterday and asked for confirmation from the experts and was very pleased to find I had got it right. One of the things that throws me is colour variation and often the creatures I see are very different shades from the ones in my book or even photos on other peoples blogs. But nature is wonderful and diverse and that makes moths all the more interesting. Anyway this is the Yellow Shell another ubiquitous creature but my first. And this morning there are lots more for me to ponder but I have to go out now so something to look forward to later on...............just a small diversion from essay writing.............

Wasps, slugs and primitive moths

 Been a busy few days but put did the moth trap out in the garden last evening. Luckily it stayed dry and there were indeed a few although not lots of moths this morning. But on my way to the trap I nearly put my foot down on this large ugly slug- in fact there were two of them on the lawn. Despite being brown they are large Black Slugs. and these are molluscs and related to snails but do not have a shell. Its name is more attractive than the slug- Arion Ater Ater. It has rows of rough pimples and this one was nealry 12cm long.

 On the outside of the trap was a Common White Wave- from the Geometridae family.

 And inside the trap this strnage creature which I believe to be an Ichneumon Fly- although they are actually wasps. The adults visit flowers for nectar but the larvae are parastic on moth caterpillars so cannot imagine the moths were very thrilled to see this. There are over 1200 different types of this in the UK so it is not surprising that I am not sure which one this is - best guess is a Ophion Lutues but this could be way off beam.

A few different moths in the trap - one is waiting for some expert help- have amde a guess but am uncertain. This one though looks like the  Orange Swift- part of a family of primitive moths wiht elongated wings that it holds vertically against its body whan at rest. These do not feed and have very short antennae which ticks the boxes. 

So far so good- looks like another dry although not so warm night so will leave the trap out and who knows what may be there tomorrow - all part of the fun!

The golden-ring at last !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its always a gamble with going to hunt for dragonflies as to whether the weather will be kind and favourable but we seem to have made a good decision this week with two fine and warm days - even though we booked the trip weeks ago. I was really keen to see some more species and had looked up good sites in the New Forest - and two of them did not disappoint. By a fast flowing, cool stream I found lots of these beautiful demoiselles. Their name is very apt and their flight butterfly like. The male is an incredible blue and this one was sitting enjoying the sunshine and it shone and glistened.

The female beautiful demoiselle is equally dazzling and is a metallic green with brown iridescent wings.

 They are different to the demoiselles I see locally which are also brilliant creatures but are rightly known as "banded" with their wing marking not spreading across the wings in the same was as their cousins. 

Not necessarily as stunning but equally fascinating was the next new dragon for me - the keeled skimmer. Also known as heathland skimmers this was where I found them basking low down on boggy ground wich led to very muddy and wet boots. They perch low down so the knees got wet as well! Slightly different to the black tailed skimmer and it likes the New Forest for the acidy wet heathland.

  

But the real high point for me was the wonderful Golden Ringed Dragonfly- a completely new family for me - the Spiketails  - Cortuleastridae.  Three Common Golden Rings were patrolling up and down the acidic stream, sometimes hawking upwards and flying off but always coming back to their territory. These are really distinctive and impressive creatures and were clearly great hunters. I was so thrilled that we went back again to ths site today and they duely buzzed and flew for me to see along teh same stretch of river. This is a very long dragonfly and its eyes are amazing and piercing. I am glad I am not on its menu. I still feel so excited seeing these as they have long been on my wish list. And the day ended with a 4th species for to add to my list- the southern damselfly or mercury bluet. Its the smallest damsel in the UK with a weak and low flight. Its flies only in sun so the sunny skies today were truely a bonus. Its called mercury because of the mark on Segment 2 - I could only see this with the bins or in my photos- but its clearly there. So a great two days- four new dragons plus large red damsels, ruddy and common darters - splendid.

Three beauties

 This pretty moth was in my trap earlier this week but pore over it as I might, I could not decide if it was the sallw or the poplar kitten. Anyway got some expert help and it is the sallow. Why ? 

"Its mainly the shape of the band across the middle of the wing and the black lines on either edge of it. Poplar has some thickening of the black lines in certain places whereas Sallow does not. Sallow is also the commoner species in the county and is slightly smaller than Poplar on average."
It's brilliant to get help liek that - I think I would still be procrastinating otherwise!

 And this morning after a warm night the trap was full of moths for me to potter over. The most striking was this quite large moth with very clear markings. I have decided it is the swallow prominent - right time of year etc. These moths cannot feed and are from teh same family as the sallow kitten - Notodontidae. Likes poplars and willows.

Not the first time I have had this little beauty in my trap- in fact last night I had more of these than any other - but that fine by me - the Ruby Tiger -common as they say and likes herbaceious plants and shrubs which is probably why they like my garden.

Think I have got a while winters worth of moth photos to pore over and probably still need a little help!

Headlight Hawker and Poppies

 It has been a lovely sunshiney afternoon so the call to get out with the camera was too strong to resist. Headed off from home into Centennary Wood. Never been a strong favourite of mine and it disappointed again today. Despite torrential rain yesterday all the ponds were bone dry and there were just no dragons to be found. I did see two brown hawkers on the woodland rides but that was it. This is the pond where last year there were good numbers of ruddy darters but this year just lots of pretty ox eye daisies - no water , no darters.

So I walked onwards and down towards Flitton. My path took me alongside the cornfields. Every so often there were patches of vivid red poppies which stand out like little oases. They always remind me of my visit to Ephsesus which was ablaze with these bright red wildflowers. As I walked the harvest had begun in some fields, so a sign that summer is truely here and time is moving on. Why do we have harvest festival so late when the harvest is gathered home around now most years?

Onwards to Flitton Moor which was much the better part of my walk. The pond was alive with dragons today. Two emperors were going head on for their right to patrol the pond, common darters were  busy enuring the next generation and the ruddy darters glittering in the sun. There were good numbers of azure damsels, a couple of bluetails and my first for this year- the small red eyed damselfly - quite a few of these, some sunning on vegetation on the pond, others in tandem and some ovipositing. These are really delicate little damsels and they amazingly tolerate well the brackish water. I walked along the Moor and was rewarded with the Headlight Hawker- the Southern Hawker posing for me and 17 banded demoiselles dancing in the sunlight along the River Flit. On such a lovely and peaceful afternoon I walked onwards to Ruxox- where people lived over 50000 years ago and maybe watched dragons just like me - what a thought, which led to me wandering into Flitwick before heading home.

Ubiquitous or not

 An eclectic selection of photos this evening, starting with this lovely rose. Its one from my front garden and just today the second flush of blooms looked lovely even with the rainstorms. But it made me realise how the year is marching on, a fact even more obvious when I did a little shopping and the store was full of woollens. Anyway for now the roses are looking wonderful and this one has a deep sweet scent. And then looking at the photos I had taken earlier this week of moths from the trap I realised how too these change over the weeks and just how many different moths there are.

Amongst the moths that I have not seen in my trap before was this Riband Wave. They fly mid June- mid August and like so many of the moths I see is "ubiquitous" - but its still new to me and one for me to look out for.  The distinct kink in the leading edge of the band is a feature to look out for.  I am still having to look up what leading edge or margins or outer margin et al etc mean so identification is time consuming!

 I thought this a rather ugly moth to start but having looking at it a little more it has grown on me. Its the sort of moth that would have given me the creeps in bygone years but its grown on me. It lives in the south and central part of this country and is another ubiquitous creature - the shuttle shaped dart.

Unlike the dart this one really attracted me as soon as I looked into the trap. It looks like a camouflage but it is a Broad-bordered yellow underwing. It is said to be ubiqutous as well, flies mid July- early September and has the rather catching name  Noctua janthe. 

And ending with not a moth but this rove beetle - Nicrophorus investigator - I have had a few of these in the trap this week- they live in many habitats and escape into the grass as soon as they possibly can. An interesting assortmant of creatures - lots more to peer at and see if I can work out whay they are - but never a dull moment in the moth trap world. Why doesn't everyone have one???????????????

Honey for the soul

I love Cambridge, and I love the Botanical Gardens there, so it wasa  real treat to spend the day in the sunshine, meet up a with a good friend, walk, talk and picnic. I have to admit there was a lot of talking but done as we ambled around the Gardens, skipped across the stepping stones on the pond, drew breathe at the colour of some of the flowers and every so often stopped for me to gaze at a dragonfly. It is difficult to pick out the best plants there were so many, but the stunning heads of the aganpanthus were amazing, and  the colours of this yellow and red plant in the hothouse (and it was hot) were striking. The scented garden was lovely until the pungent aroma of the curry plant hit us, but the soft fragrance of the lavender and the sweet scent of the old fashioned roses were lovely. It was a wonderful place to spend the day at stare at God's creation - What is the world if full of care we have not time to stand and stare - and it was like honey for the soul and cool waters on the mind and emotions. A really special day.

I am fascinated by the lifecycles and different stages of the dragonfly. So it was brilliant last week to have a go a pond dipping and this marvellous larvae was the result. It is a darter but I cannot tell if it is a ruddy or common darter. Luckily the books tell me it is almost impossible to tell the difference without a good microscope and a key. But what can I tell about this?

It is a darter of the Sympetrum family. So if it is a ruddy darter mating will have taken place on the wing with the coupled pair performing a dipping flight over the water. The female jettisons her fertilised eggs at the water surface by alternating movements of the abdomen. The male will hover nearby during this period and protect the female by driving off any approaching males.If it were a common darter the story is not so different with the eggs are not laid, but broadcast from the air: the male holds the female in tandem and swings her down and forward over water at a height of around 40cm. At the furthest point of the arc the female releases some of her eggs to fall on the water.

So thats how life started for this little creature and it will probably have overwintered as an egg and then the larvae developed very fast in spring and early summer - so its possibly a year old. But it is not ready to emerge yet. The larva are fearsome hunters. If it is a ruddy darter it will often be found alongside the emerald damselfly which is true of the site where I found it, but I know that both ruddy and common darter live there so that takes me no further.

Well in the end I probably cannot ascertain which of the two it is but that does not matter. What a fantastic lifecycle - it will eventually emerge as a truely beautiful dragonfly and then enjoy a few weeks on the wing when its objective in life will be to start the cycle all again. Lets hope that is the case and looking forward to seeing these little jewels on the wing in the sunshine for the next few weeks.

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