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Showing posts with label Scorpion fly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scorpion fly. Show all posts

Monday, 4 June 2012

A mixed lot

I may be gone for sometime soon... toys and pram with service provider, in the meantime;


For once I'm glad it's raining, on several counts really, water is so precious and we take it for granted but the fish will be glad of it, as will anything that grows and I can start catching up on all the jobs I have neglected, including posts on this blog. As a regular visitor, you will know sometimes the posts are for my benefit and to some extent I suppose this is, nothing earth-moving I am afraid but a place to post some images and keep a record of things, gives me some clue as I can't remember what I had for breakfast.

The local damselflies have been late this year, perhaps that cold wet spell we had in April, go out at the right time and I can count 18 blackbirds or more, all worming. Blackcaps have been singing but seeing them has proved very tricky but I managed a male out in the open. A Green Veined White and one that isn't! 

There are a large number of breeding Wrens hereabouts and again I caught this one singing out in the open for a split second. The male blackcap and wren were in the same location and while waiting for them this Scorpion fly landed in front of me and it seemed daft not to take a photo (at least I think it's a Scorpion Fly).

Again I am blessed with a number of Song Thrush hereabouts and they did used to nest in next doors garden, but no longer. I was concerned they had been 'disturbed' but in the last few weeks I have come across as many as four at any one time, like the blackbirds, out 'worming'.

There have been the odd sighting of the bullfinch and nothing more than that and an illustration of how difficult they are to see, let alone capture (and so you know I'm not making it up). The Mute Swan simply because I was shocked when processing to see how 'black' the surroundings were and had it not been the vegetation top left it is almost 'artificial'.

A picture of a Chiffchaff which has been singing for a month or more and driving me nuts, you can never see it and similarly a Willow Warbler for comparison, although the scale is not the same, but you can se the longer primary projection on the Willow Warbler.

And a quick snap of a female blackcap as I didn't want to disturb it as I moved on.

Red damselfly, late this year
Blackbird worming
A Green Veined White
and one that isn't
one of the many trogyldytes trogyldytes
(I just love the name)
Male blackcap in the open
Scorpion fly
Song Thrush out worming
Male and Female Bullfinch
a disappearing male bullfinch... one day!
left, Chiffchaff, right Willow Warbler
(note longer primary projection on WW)
not to same scale/proportions, WW is bigger
female blackcap with food
The more observant of you might have notived I began this blog stating it was raining, well it isn't now... how long it has taken me to get this post up here!

Tuesday, 31 May 2011

Mad as a wasp...

Wings normally tight to the body 
Large Skipper, male

Scorpion fly

Scorpion fly, female

Scorpion fly, male (upturned tail)

Troglodytes troglodytes

Azure Blue damselfly

ischnura elegans blue f 

Ischnura elegans f rufescens

Ischnura elegans f violacea

Chub
10 May – before the bread chuckers

Now, deserted Mute Swan nest, Preston Docks

Regular visitors will know about my 'memory' problems, not just my own physical incapabilities but the use and size of imagery on a blog – so I have experimented and reduced the file size but I'm none too impressed by the image quality... more work in progress methinks alas.

Mad as a wasp because whichever way I turn this year... again I noticed the adult blue tits were not attending the nest box, and after two or three days I knew the young had not fledged so it was worth getting the step ladders out and sure enough five dead fledgings left in the nest – clearly no adults to feed them. Last year exactly the same thing happened only 14 dead fledgings were left. I am sure it is the local cats.

The blackbird nest under my bedroom window has failed with four eggs (completely empty) and I think that is probably magpie (seen thereabouts), the blackbird nest in the back hedge failed with three eggs, I fear cats again (possibly grey squirrel) and the blackbird nest in the Honeysuckle has failed, all I know is it is empty after the female had  been sat for at least 10 days... again I put those failures down to cats. The Long Tailed Tit nest never really got finished, cats seen climbing the tree. A Moorhen had been sat for ten days on six eggs and now there is an empty nest and no sign of any young or adults – probably mink. And to top it all, down at Preston Docks the Mute Swan nest has failed, I had seen three eggs but now it is deserted only one remains. Not a good year! Not a happie chappie.

I was once told, 'domestic' cats killing birds and bringing them home (let alone biting just the heads off my garden toads and frogs) 'it's only nature'... well that would be fine if domestic cats had predators too and were prey, I'll have to try that one on the RSPCA when the Rotweillers are set loose, 'its only nature'.... that's a joke, I don't have any dogs and I wouldn't dream of such a thing; if anything it's man's activities that affect 'the nature way',grey squirrel (introduced from North America), mink (released from captivity), cats (left feral), people chucking bread at nesting Swans... garrruummp!

Meanwhile a few images while out on my local patch. I know northink about insects etc, and am intrigued by the variations in damselflies*. The Large Skipper was a first of the year, despite apperance is a butterfly and the Scorpion flies 'interesting'. A small shoal of chub appeared on the surface on an unusually cold and overcast day, normally it is bright and sunny. And we appear to have wrens on territory every 50 yards or so, must be 6 pair at least in no distance at all... hear them but not often out in the open.

*Not much of a clue, so please feel free to correct me on mis-identification. Thanks.