Pleasley Pits - Butterflies and Dragonflies

Yesterday, in the 32 degree heat (!), I decided to have a drive over to Pleasley Pit to try and see my first dragonflies of the year and a few butterflies. 

The first species I saw was Small Blue. There weren't that many flying, but I did manage to see a few individuals and a mating pair. Other butterflies seen were: Common Blue (2 males), Brimstone (1 male) and a single Comma. One Burnet Companion and one Silver-ground Carpet (day-flying moths) was also seen.

Small Blue

Damselflies seen were: Common Blue, Blue-tailed, Large Red and Azure.  Two species of dragonfly: Four-spotted and Broad-bodied Chaser were also seen.

Four-spotted Chaser

Broad-bodied Chaser

Pleasley Dragons and Butterflies

 Yesterday, the temperatures hit 23 degrees, with lots of sun and blue skies, so Jayne and I drove across to Pleasley Pit to see if there were any dragon and damselflies about. In total, we saw 5 species and 6 species of butterfly.

The first damselflies we saw were Large Red Damselflies. In total, we saw a minimum of 15 pairs "in tandem" and ovipositing. Next up, were Azure and Blue-tailed Damselflies, with just 1 of each seen. 

Two species of dragonfly were seen: Broad-bodied Chaser (1 male seen) and Four-spotted Chaser (2 seen).

Four-spotted Chaser

After the dragonflies, we had a quick check on the Small Blues. 10+ were seen, along with 1 Common Blue,  1 Holly Blue, 1 Orange Tip, 1 Brimstone, Large White and a single Burnet Companion (day-flying moth). 

First Dragons and Butterflies

 Last week, Jayne and I went to RSPB Old Moor (see last post). Whilst there we had our first damselflies of 2024. The two species seen were: Large Red and Blue-tailed Damselfly.

Today I went to Pleasley Pit to look at the colony of introduced Small Blue butterflies. There were 6 flying around, and landing on my feet!

Small Blue

My foot (and a Small Blue)

Small Blue

Whilst there, I also saw Large Red (c.5) and Blue-tailed Damselfly (1 male), but, by far the biggest surprise, was a female Hairy Dragonfly ovipositing!! I put the record on IRecord, and it appears that it's only the second record of the year for Derbyshire! In addition, it's my first record for this site.

Hairy Dragonfly

Whixall Moss - 1st June 2023

 Today Jayne and I visited the Fenn's, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses in Shropshire. We  went in search of two insects, the Large Heath butterfly and the White-faced Darter dragonfly.

Unfortunately, we didn't see the former species (perhaps a little early in the season??), but we did have fantastic views of the darter, including a pair "in tandem".

White-faced Darter (male)

Other wildlife spotted included: Four-spotted Chaser, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Large Skipper, Brimstone, Green Hairstreak, Common Blue Butterfly, Orange Tip, Green Tiger Beetle, Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting, Stonechat and Sundew.

Four-spotted Chaser

Sundew

21st May 2022 - First Dragons and Damsels

 Jayne and I had a walk around Seymour Ponds yesterday, and saw our first Damsel and Dragonflies of the year.

The first species seen was Blue-tailed Damselfly, followed closely by Large Red and Azure Damselflies. Several Four-spotted Chasers were also seen flying around.

Four-spotted Chaser

In addition to the damselflies, we also saw a few butterfly species: Orange Tip, Brimstone, Green-veined White, Small Heath and one of my favourites, Brown Argus.

Brown Argus (underwing)

Brown Argus (upperwing)

Linacre Nestboxes and Ringing - 15th and 16th May 2021

Two visits to Linacre this weekend, once to check on the nestboxes, and once to do some ringing.

The nestbox check took place on Saturday, but was cut short by heavy rain. I did, however, make sure I'd ringed the first brood of tits for 2021, a brood of 7 healthy Great Tits, and had checked on the progress of the Pied Flycatcher nest. Great new here, as the nest contained 2 eggs! Hopefully, this will increase to 6, 7 or even 8 over the next few days. I'm keeping everything crossed.

Pied Flycatcher nest

The ringing took place on Sunday between 6am and 9.30am. In total we caught and ringed 13 birds  of 6 species. The most impressive bird has to be the adult male Kestrel. This was only the second Kestrel ringed at Linacre, following a female back in February 2018.

Kestrel

Other birds ringed were (new/retrap): Blue Tit 0/1, Great Tit 4/1, Coal Tit 1/1, Goldcrest 2/0 and  Blackcap 1/1, including a female originally ringed in 2018 as a 5, i.e. born in 2017.

Other species seen around the site included a male Pied Wagtail by the main entrance on Saturday, and a new moth species, Green Carpet. Unfortunately, it flew off before I could get a photo.

The first damselfly of the year, a Large Red Damselfly, was noted today (17th) emerging from the pond by the workshop.

Linacre Insects - 30th May 2020

I was down at Linacre this morning, checking the nestboxes and ringing some of this year's pulli (more on that in a future blog). With the temperature being around 19 degrees whilst there, I also managed to get some good insect records, including a new species for me at Linacre.

Insects seen today were: Large Red Damselfly (1 male), Common Blue Damselfly (c5 males), Blue -tailed Damselfly (1 male, the first Linacre record of 2020), Broad-bodied Chaser (1 female, my first Linacre record since 2014!), Swollen-thighed Beetle, Red and Black Froghopper, Cinnabar Moth (1), Silver Y moth (1), Silver-ground Moth (1), a long-horned moth, Nemophora degeerella, bees including Tree, Red-tailed and Common Carder,  and a couple of yet-to-be identified micro moths.

Broad-bodied Chaser

The new species was Britain's largest species of Crane fly, Tipula maxima. It was very big indeed! Apparently, it can have a leg span of up to 100mm.

Tipula maxima

Linacre Update - 20th May 2020

I had a walk around Linacre with my nephew, Luke, on 20th May. The weather was warm and sunny and we got some great views of some of the insects and birds, including one species last reported in 2011!!!

I'd better start with the bird not recorded since 2011 - SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. Our last sighting was back in June 2011 (see here). This year's sighting was in a different part of the woods that I don't normally visit, so it's possible it has been present in previous years and not spotted.

Spotted Flycatcher

Insect wise it was also a good visit. The first sighting was a Wall Brown. This was very nice, as I had my first Linacre record of this butterfly last year. Next up was a Green Shieldbug, followed by a Small Copper, a Dingy Skipper (my first sighting since 2014!) and a Speckled Wood.

Wall Brown

Dingy Skipper

Wednesday's trip was also the first time in 2020 that we were able to record any damselflies, with two species seen: Large Red and Common Blue. These two species are recorded annually at Linacre, but this visit was the first time that I've actually seen Large Red Damselflies ovipositing (egg laying) on site. One pair was seen laying eggs in vegetation on the bottom reservoir. Exuviae of this species, and of Common Blue Damselfly were also found for the first time. The Large Red exuviae were in the ringing site, and the Common Blue (1) was found on the top reservoir.

Large Red Damselfly

Cromford Canal - 21st May 2020

Jayne and I had a walk along Cromford Canal on Thursday. We started off at the Wharf and walked towards Ambergate for about 2 and a half miles.

As always, we had great views of Little Grebe on the canal, including one pair with a tiny "humbug" chick. Moorhens had chicks (5), as did Mallard (2 broods) and Canada Geese (4 goslings). Warblers were in good voice with Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Garden Warbler heard. The Garden Warbler was singing from the top of a tree, so we actually got to see it! A single Pied Flycatcher was heard singing from the woodlands. We also spotted a shrew species running along the tow path. Unfortunately, it disappeared into the vegetation by the canal before we got good views, but it could have been a Water Shrew.

Little Grebe and chick

Garden Warbler

Canada Geese goslings

Once the sun came out, damselflies started to appear, with Large Red Damselflies and Azure Damselflies being the most common species. The highlight, however, was a stunning male Banded Demoiselle, my first sighting of 2020, that Jayne spotted just beyond the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Lea Wood Nature Reserve. It was being "buzzed" by the Azures, and I managed to catch this lovely photo with all 4 wings on show.

Banded Demoiselle.

North Wales' Insects

Following on from my last post about some of the insects Jayne and I saw at RSPB South Stack I thought I'd write another post to show some of the species we saw in the Happy Valley Park in Llandudno, and at the National Trust's Bodnant Garden.

First off, Llandudno. We found this small park on the base of the Great Orme and spent a couple of hours here over two days. The highlight for me was finding a new species, Brown Argus. This is  quite a tricky species to identify, but, eventually, I managed to identify both males and females.

Brown Argus (female)

Brown Argus (male)

We also had Common Blue Butterflies and a Silver Y moth here, along with another new species for me, Mullein Moth. We didn't see the moths, but we did manage to see the very colourful caterpillars.

Mullein Moth

On Tuesday, Jayne and I spent a couple of hours at Bodnant Garden, just outside Llandudno. The weather was great, very warm and sunny, and we managed to spot some damselflies including Common Blue, Azure, Large Red and Beautiful Demoiselles, all of which were breeding.

Beautiful Demoiselle (male)

Beautiful Demoiselle (female)

Linacre Insects - 3rd June 2017

It was bright and sunny again today (20 degrees), so I had a couple of hours in and around the ringing site at Linacre, to see which insects were out and about. As it turned out, there were quite a few, including many "new for the year" species.

The first insect I saw was Common Blue Damselfly, which was very numerous (c.20/30 individuals), including many newly emerged individuals. A single Large Red Damselfly was also present , in exactly the same spot as last year's individual.

Common Blue Damselfly

Large Red Damselfly

A single Meadow Brown butterfly (my first of 2017), was seen, as was a male Common Blue Butterfly, feeding on the Bird's Foot Trefoil, and a Large Skipper.

Common Blue Butterfly

Large Skipper

As well as these butterflies, there were also several day flying moths present, 3 of which I could identify: Nettle Tap Moth, Cinnabar Moth and Bloodvein.

Cinnabar Moth

Bloodvein

Hoverflies were present in good numbers with numerous Eristalsis sp seen, a single Helophilus pendulus , 1 Volucella pellucens (Great Pied Hoverfly), 1 Volucella bombylans and a couple of "as yet unknown" species!!

Great Pied Hoverfly

Other species seen were: Scorpion Fly, a Mayfly sp (possibly Drake Mackerel) and a Hairy Shieldbug. All in all, an excellent couple of hours!!

Minsmere again!!

RSPB Minsmere really is a wonderful place, so I popped down again yesterday morning at 5:30am, and spent 3 and a half hours walking around the reserve!

I started off at Island Mere hide to listen out for a singing Savi's Warbler that had been reported. It started singing as soon as I sat down in the hide - a wonderful "year tick", and only my second ever record. Bitterns were heard booming here, and Marsh Harriers were also seen. From here, I moved on to the rest of the reserve where I  heard Cetti's, Reed and Sedge Warblers, singing. 5 Little Egrets were on the levels, whilst Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls were present on the scrapes along with Common Terns. There were at least 2 broods of Shelduck, including this one with 9 chicks.

Shelduck and ducklings

There weren't too many waders about, but Avocets were seen along with a couple of Redshank and a flock of c.20 Black-tailed Godwits. Ducks were represented by Mallards, Tufted Ducks and a single Gadwall. Both Canada and Barnacle Geese were seen with young.

My final stop was the small pond by the Reception, where I looked, unsuccessfully, for Water Voles. I did, however, see a single Hairy Dragonfly (again, no photo!!!), Large Red, Blue-tailed and Azure Damselflies.

Large Red and Azure Damselflies

Driving back at 9am, I saw a Barn Owl hunting over a field near Leiston.

Year List update:
160 - Savi’s Warbler
161 – Barnacle Goose
162 – Barn Owl

Linacre Ringing, a new damselfly and a Year Ticks

Yesterday saw the first mist netting session at Linacre since April with 3 members, including me, from Sorby Breck Ringing Group. To say it was quiet would be an understatement, with just 10 birds of 5 species ringed, but at least this consisted of 3 species of warbler, including a "year tick" .

The first bird out of the nets was the "year tick" - a Garden Warbler! Not only was this my first record of this species this year, but it was also a juvenile bird, proving breeding at Linacre. The next couple of birds were Chaffinch (re-trapped adult) and Nuthatch (new, juvenile bird), and then, about half an hour later, we caught a couple of Blackcaps (both adults, 1 new and 1 a re-trap) and a new juvenile Chiffchaff. The last four birds of the morning were a Blue Tit (new juvenile), Chaffinch (new juvenile), and 2 more Blackcaps ( new, adult birds).

After the ringing, we spent some time clearing some of the vegetation from the net rides, and managed to record a few insects, including  Red-tailed, White-tailed and Tree Bumblebees, a Small Skipper, a Bloodvein moth and a Large Red Damselfly, my first record of this species at Linacre. The damselfly, a female, was found resting on the Yellow Flag Irises in a very small pond on the ringing site.

Bloodvein

Large Red Damselfly

Other birds seen around the ringing site included a singing male Whitethroat (first Linacre record of 2016), 3 Swifts, 2 Swallows, and a  Mistle Thrush mobbing a hunting Kestrel.

Derbyshire Damselflies and Moths

After the ringing session on Saturday I spent a short time at Cupola Pond and Wragg's Quarry on Beeley Moor with Jayne, looking for some dragonflies and damselflies.

The first species we saw when we arrived at Cupola Pond was Large Red Damselfly. There were at least a dozen individuals flying around the site, including 3 pairs ovipositing (egg laying).

Large Red Damselfly

We also saw 1 male Blue-tailed Damselfly and several Azure Damselflies, both male and female.

Azure Damselfly (female)

Azure Damselfly (male)

Whilst watching the damselflies, Jayne spotted a dragonfly exuvia on grass approximately 2m from the pond. This is the skin that a dragonfly nymph  sheds when it leaves the water to become an adult. I think it's a Four-spotted Chaser dragonfly. 

Four-spotted Chaser?

After visiting Cupola Pond, we drove about 2 miles to Wragg's Quarry, were we saw another 4 Large Red Damselflies along with single Common Heath  and Latticed Heath moths.

Common Heath

Latticed Heath