Chelmarsh and VP - Birds!

The insects have been a breath of fresh air over the past few weeks but just to remind visitors 'wondering' I'll be back amongst the birds soon (when there are some!) there were two birding moments from the day!

Chelmarsh res addded Little Egret for the County yearlist and I had to pinch myself on the drive in through Dinney Farm - was that really a Grey Partridge - one of two briefly present next to the edge of the wheat field......






The previous image was taken with the 100mm macro lens - the 300mm plus converter combo got quite a close view!





And here are record shots of the two Black-tailed Godwits seen at VP earlier in the day!

Stiperstones - Grayling

One of the ‘disappeariing’ inland species of Butterfly is Grayling but Shropshire still maintains a small colony here and there. An evening walk at one or two locations near Snailbeach and the The Bog turned up two males

A quirky and charismatic butterfly, it is actually quite easy to photograph – once you’ve found the little blighters! Almost inevitably found when flushed, they need to be watched carefully as they dart about and then relocated stealthily bearing in mind they simply melt into their surroundings of rock and gravel.

Not a lot of variety of poses are possible, Graylings always sit with their wings closed. Here’s the first one.....







Deciding to show me his wing spot!






Even on rock of dissimilar colour like this quartz, the wing pattern blends in!






The second individual was using the wing spot to take on a red ant – it didn’t work (the ant was untroubled!)






Close up of the cryptic camouflage!






Nearby in the grassy areas were a few Small Heath, as with Grayling - never opening those wings!






As for Grayling, I suppose the challenge is to get an open wing shot, a challenge for another day - hmm how am I going to do this

Arnfield Reservoir - Western Bonelli's

I arrived at Arnfield Reservoir at about 3.45 to a small group of birders, not exactly in good spirits as the Bonell’s hadn’t been seen since 1.20. I hadn’t wasted the afternoon then! Another 30 mins were to elapse before it showed again – visible from the sluice bridge in a large Willow next to the inlet stream Only problem for me was - I was on the other side of the willow!! Eventually however, it showed for the group I was and we were treated to fleeting glimpses.....

Realising it favoured the other side, e all moved around to the sluice bridge where it was impossible to use a tripod (you can guess what happened next!) Yes, it moved out to the edge of the Willow in full view posing perfectly and by the time I’d decided to get my camera – disappeared out of view again. Nevertheless, I had a good 20 secs of watching through the bins. The underparts were most striking , almost pure white imparting a ‘Wood Warbler’ like appearance, without the yellow throat! I thought it was quite smart and certainly instantly recognisable amongst the other Phylloscopus Warblers also present (Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Blackcap)

Setting the scene hopefully for an image or two, I carried my kit across the sluice bridge for a prolonged Bush watch!






Eventually it showed again, near the top and partly obscured by leave but at least a record shot was on the card!








I really hate not being able to come away with something! A check of the internet sites proves just how difficult this bird is to photograph. The only real disappointment was not hearing it sing. No-one else present had heard it that day either….. It was now 6.00 and the scream of jet engines on the descent into Manchester Airport reminded me I had to pick Gemma in 30 mins time

Prees Heath - Silver Studs

Decisions decisions?? They make or break a day and I had oodles of luck going with me this weekend! I had decided to ignore the Derbyshire Western Bonelli’s Warbler yesterday and it had proved to be a virtual ‘no show’ day! I was up for it today though and opted for late afternoon as I was up there anyway (picking up Gemma from Manchester Airport!) A busy morning meant it was lunchtime before I departed and another good decision* – checking out Prees Heath on the way! I thought I may have been too late for updating my images with some ‘larger files’ of Silver-studded Blue butterflies. There were some really dire ones on the wind, tattered and torn wings but amazingly (a recent emergence??) quite a few pristine specimens too!) Males, really nice fresh one here
The 'silver' (actually metallic blue) studs not always evident on the underwing!
Females, as they do showing variable amounts of blue suffusing the predominantly brown upperwing.....
At least we can see those blue studs now!
Ringlet plus good numbers of Small Heath were also seen *Twas a good decision as the Bonelli’s didn’t show all afternoon until just before I got there – how timely is that!

Wenlock Edge - Silver Wash!

A return from Berlin and (other than multiple Little Egrets) all was quiet on the Shropshire birding front! The insect crusade continued with Rob Stokes and a quest for Silver Washed Fritillary on Wenlock edge. Open glades in the densely wooded areas gave the best hope for success and it wasn’t long before we were into two or three! Despite being the most common Fritillary nationally, a real difficult one locally and this was a Shropshire tick for me.

They are really powerful fliers and tend only to fly whilst the sun is shining so there were long waits between passing clouds! I only had one brief photo opportunity and took it as a smart male landed nearby (and didn't stop long!)








A return visit later got a female (slightly smaller and with browner colouration)








Plus a brief chance of recording the underwing whilst feeding.






My first Comma image of the year here too....






The Comma's comma!








Large Skipper a busily supping nectar






By far the most abunfant species was Ringlet – they seem to be having a ‘plentiful’ year!






The middle of the day was to spent searching for something very scarce on Titterstone Clee......

Titterstone Clee - Pumilio!

The next target was to try and see if the Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly on Titterstone was a ‘one off’ fluke? After an hour or so of searching, it was heading that way with barely a couple of dozen Damselflies seen! These included: Common, Blue-tailed, Azure and Large Red Damselfy. Eventually after an hour or so of searching, Rob shouted out ‘Pumilio’! It had been a long difficult search but there it was sitting pretty – a pristine male Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly!

Time for a few shots to show the key features














The blue is restricted to segment 9 with only a small percentage of segment 8 (in Blue-tailed damsel, the blue is exclusive to segment 8)

Most of the field guides refer to small black dots also being present on segment 9. These marks are quite variable however and on this individual, were more extensive.










Here's some images of adult male Blue-tailed Damselfly, also present to show the difference (the blue is restricted to segment 8)







Immature males have a greenish thorax.






The most juvenile forms have a reddish thorax with a dorsal black stripe








A clatter of wings in the vegetation alerted me to ‘something much bigger’ also present and eventually I found the cause with two big eyes looking back at me! The fly puts the size of these impressive insects into perspective....






I’ve normally only seen Common Hawker up here (our first thought) but with the bold markings on the thorax and other subtle features, this was in fact a teneral Southern Hawker!

Teneral Dragonflies are as obliging as they come and here is the Hawker after it's maiden flight....









Close up interest....






Eventually it flew off and was lost to sight. A nice bonus find but no question about star insect - the Scarce Blue-tailed Damsel truly was the ‘find’ of the day! Bearing in mind they haven’t been ‘officially’ recorded here since 2006, a pretty important find too!

Berlin - here I come (back)

Didn't she do well! Many thanks for the 'good luck' wishes for Gemma. She and the team did the UK swimmers proud! Her crowning moment? - a bronze medal in the 200m Individual Medley....