Damsels

Azure Damselflies

Blue-tailed Damselfly

Large Red Damselfly

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

Insects are out and about!

Small Copper

Brown Argus

Brown Argus

Common Blue

Orange-tip

Green-veined White

Four-spotted Chaser

Azure Damselfly

Large Red Damselfly

Large Red Damselfly

not sure about this one...

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

Hurray for the damsels and dragons!

Common Blue Damselflies

Azure Damselflies

Large Red Damselflies

Blue-tailed Damselfly

Four-spotted Chaser

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

Aquatic life

It's too hot and humid at the moment for me to stay out for long. I preferred foggy Norfolk, to be honest. But here are a few images from a quick lunchtime wander.


Waterlily


Azure Damselfly cleaning its bottom


Azures mating


Large Red Damselfly

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

The Lodge

Large Red Damselflies laying eggs

Bee in a poppy. They seem to go mad for the copious pollen

Female Azure Damselfly

Mushroom

photos taken with Canon Powershot A640

Damselday

Azure Damselflies


Large Red Damselflies

Today I had the intention of mowing the lawn, planting some vegetables and doing some weeding. I managed to get the runner beans and courgettes sorted out, but didn't have much success with the rest.

Why not? Well, it's warm (21 degrees!) and humid, which makes gardening hard work. And loads of things kept appearing and making me get my camera.

First, a Common Blue butterfly, but that had disappeared by the time I returned with the camera. Next, an Orange-tip (which didn't stop) and a series of Painted Ladies which kept on migrating north.

On the pond it was damselfly day. The number of Azure Damselflies reached 9, but only a few lucky males seemed to have females attached (literally) to them. A couple of pairs of Large Red Damselflies were egg-laying.

It's been good to see that the male Whitethroat seems to have found a mate, who spends her time creeping about in the cow parsley around the edge of the garden (glad I didn't chop it). And a female Yellow Wagtail came to have a bath in the pond. She liked it so much she came back for another dip.

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

It's grey in May

Who lived in a skin like this?

'I did, the Large Red Damselfly'I found this poor cold creature at The Lodge today. It couldn't fly off, but tried to hide behind the skinny stem. I think the waving legs were to scare me.

Found some nice raindrops amongst the plants, though the light was terrible

photos taken with Canon Powershot A640

First damsel of the year!

A Large Red Damselfly basking on some nettles at The Lodge this lunchtime

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D + EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

Damselflies

Azures

Large Reds

Four-spotted Chaser (OK, it's a dragonfly)

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

On the heath

male Broad-bodied Chaser - what a beast!

Four-spotted Chaser

Large Red Damselflies. This pair had a lucky escape when the female became entangled in a spider's web, but they made their escape

Soldier Beetle

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

Step away from the bird

Long-tailed Tit

Baby bird season is hard work. After the experience of seeing Jackdaw chicks become supper for young Carrion Crows last week, today I stumbled across a tiny Long-tailed Tit fledgling. I'm not entirely sure what the official definition of 'fledgling' is, but this one couldn't really fly very well. It was more of a flutterer at an altitude of two inches.

It was in a vulnerable position in the middle of a busy path, so I watched for 10 minutes to see what happened before picking it up - it seemed quite happy to perch on my finger - and attempting to put it somewhere safer.

At first I couldn't hear any adults calling nearby, but then two sat in a nearby tree before flying off. The chick was calling but there didn't seem to be any other Long-tailed Tits around. In the end it fluttered into some nettles and I had to walk away... Now I'm trying not to think about its fate.

Large Red Damselflies - much less hassle

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM