Summer's on the wing
Jun. 10th, 2023 01:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
puddleshark
Silver-studded Blue (Plebejus argus).
A morning walk through the woods, by the marshes, and back across the heath.
The path through the woods: deep shade, and dappled sunlight.
The bracken has an ambition to eat all paths.
Unidentified Marsh Orchid (but I know it's a Marsh Orchid because it was growing in a marsh). Click three times to zoom in and spot the lurking Crab Spider.
On the heath, grasshoppers singing, and Stonechats saying Chat!. Thanks to the dry weather, the European gorse has already finished flowering, and the Dwarf gorse has not yet started. Gorse is out of flower, and kissing is out of fashion.
Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens) & prey. The commonest species of dragonfly on the heath.
Yet another Keeled Skimmer eating something.
Lots of tiny Silver-studded Blues on the wing on the heath, but almost no heather or Cross-leaved Heath in flower for them to nectar on this year. Last year's heatwave and drought seem to have really affected the heather.
Cross-leaved Heath (Erica tetralix.
Green Tiger beetle (Cicindella campestris).
Heath Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza maculata). Shyer and more delicate than the Common Spotted Orchid. And even spottier.
Downy Emerald dragonfly (Cordulia aenea), patrolling the edge of the Tea-brown Lake. Almost, but not quite, in focus.
In the shallows, the tadpoles have little legs. I was hoping for a glimpse of a Grass Snake hunting in the lake, but it was still a bit too early in the day, not quite warm enough.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-10 02:34 pm (UTC)What is bracken? That looks like clusters of fiddlehead ferns to me?
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Date: 2023-06-11 07:58 am (UTC)They are such tiny butterflies, but luckily I had the 55-250mm zoom lens on the camera!
Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) is a sort of tall fern. It's everywhere in this country. Not too much of a problem in woodland, but on heaths and hillsides, it has a tendency to take over once it gets established.
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Date: 2023-06-10 05:04 pm (UTC)The last dragonfly photo kind of looks like a helicopter! :)
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Date: 2023-06-11 08:01 am (UTC)Yes, I read somewhere that the design of helicopters was inspired by the way dragonflies angle their wings, though I don't know if this is true.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-18 03:05 pm (UTC)