A Walk along the River Bank(Part 2)

The second post of three that reveals my observations on a recent walk through the local parkland and along the river bank.

This was a particularly nice specimen of a Green-veined White Butterfly (Pieris napi)
It has a wingspan of 45 to 50 mm. A common wayside species which I have featured several times before.

1/320 @ f4. 28mm. ISO 80. Spot metering. Canon G10


Shown below is an example of the variation in colour of the Dog Rose (Rosa canina). We are fortunate that these lovely wild roses are just about everywhere now.



Although they look large here these hazel nuts are not full size and still very small, but are already well formed.


This was a busy damselfly airport and arrivals were beginning to "stack up in the overhead". Predominantly male Banded Demoiselles (Calopteryx splendens) and one lonely Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) They all landed safely.




Common Spotted-Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii)
This lovely Orchid which flowers May to August is locally common and found on grassland. The colour can vary from almost white to pinkish purple.


Lady's Bedstraw (Galium verum) Perennial
A pretty and very apt name for this plant. There were several large patches of this in a field along side the river. It grows to a height of 30cm and flowers June to September.


Scene taken on the 10th February this year.


Scene repeated on this walk.

A Walk along the River Bank(Part 1)

The first post of three parts about my observations during a recent walk through the local parkland and along the river bank.

Great Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum) Perennial
A familiar and common plant. It is found mainly along river banks and grows to a height of 2m. From June to August it displays these lovely pink flowers measuring 25mm across.


The Small Skipper Butterfly (Thymelicus sylvestris)
A small species with a 25mm wingspan, it can be observed mainly July through to August.


White Bryony (Bryonia dioica) Perennial
A hedgerow climber that reaches up to 4m. It flowers from May to August. A common plant and a member of the cucumber family, it will produce shiny red berries later in the year. Its similar in many respects to the Black Bryony.


Bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara) A scrambling perennial.
Reaches 1.5m in length and can be observed in hedgerows from May to September. A common plant, the berries are POISONOUS.


Mayfly (Ephemera vulgata)
This most strange looking creature (below) is actually a Mayfly. I found it hitching a ride on the end of my 400mm lens hood. It is approximately 20mm long and flies from May through to August. Common in south and central England. An aquatic species much sought after by the Trout of course.


This Caterpillar will turn into a beautiful Peacock Butterfly.


A pair of Coots refurbishing the nest. The three juvenile coots below are likely to be the first brood of this pair. They were the only other coots anywhere in the area. Juvenile coots tend to help in the upbringing of the second brood as and when they arrive.



Walking back through the parkland I observed this bed of yellow Corn Marigolds and blue Cornflower that had been especially planted in a fenced off area.

The Painted Lady - At last

The Painted Lady Butterfly (Vanessa cardui)

At last the Painted Lady which I have been trying to find for about a month now. This was quite a fine looking specimen which I found feeding on bramble flowers. The sun was shining so I had good light and mostly it was reasonably easy to reach. I used a 400mm lens for all the shots of which most were around the 390mm to 400mm mark. Unfortunately I couldn't get close enough to take some macros with my G10. I made sure I was going to get something as I took 141 shots at it.!! Just to make sure.





The Painted Lady is a large species with a wingspan of 60mm and is a summer migrant to the British Isles. It can be seen flying mainly from May through to June and again at the end of July through to early October. Breeding here results in new specimens appearing in July and have pink as part of the colouring.

They frequent open sunny areas especially on thistles. Apparently I read that there are thousands which have invaded the country this year and many more than usual.

Common Hawker Dragonfly

The Common Hawker (Aeshna juncea)

This is the first of this species I have seen this year. This particular one is a male and I photographed it on some stinging nettles. A common species that averages 70 mm in length, it flies from June to August.

Oak of the Future

"From little acorns, do oak trees grow"

A Collection of Birds today.

Canada Geese in line astern.


A female Kestrel engaged in a spot of tightrope walking.



A male House Sparrow enjoying the sunshine.


A female Mallard having a wash and brush up.




And a Mute Swan swimming by

A Chilled out Robin

I found this Robin taking a dust bath along a woodland track which was exposed to the hot sun.

Birds do this a lot and appear to enjoy it. It is understood that this activity helps the birds maintain their feather condition, remove parasites and also keep them cool in the hot weather. Whatever, he wasn't taking a lot of notice of me and didn't move until I was almost next to him.

A Four-legged Silhouette

Rock Pipit

The Pipit species are streaky brown birds and all very similar in appearance. If you find one by the coastline and it has very dark legs then its a Rock Pipit. This one very kindly posed for me and then flew off along the coastline.

A resident and very discerning bird choosing to live near the seaside. It produces 1 to 2 broods of 4/5 eggs from April to July.

Kingfisher

"They seek him here, they seek him there, that damned elusive Kingfisher."

Well I got him at last, but unfortunately its not great.

In the parkland that I walk regularly, a fellow Birder has erected a horizontal wooden perch which is placed in the side of the river bank to attract the Kingfisher, that is known to frequent that particular area.

I happen to see the Kingfisher on the perch as I walked by, unfortunately he had seen me to and flew off.

So I returned later and set myself up on the opposite bank as close as I could get using a hawthorn tree as background and tall grass in front of my position. My view was diagonally across the river.

I had been told previously that the bird had a nest in the riverbank on the opposite side from the makeshift perch, however this is concealed from the side of the river I was on. It wasn't long before he crossed the river, but unfortunately landed on a small branch behind and underneath the perch he should have landed on.

The fellow Birder obviously forgot to attach a sign to the perch stating "Always land here please". {:)

This didn't help with my auto focus shots and by the time I was able to change the long lens to manual focus and try and focus in on the bird, he was gone.


A resident bird, the Kingfisher is the only species of that kind that we have in the British Isles. It nests by creating a tunnel into the side of a river bank. It will produce 2 broods of 5/7 eggs from May to July.

To observe it perched at all is quite fortunate, one normally sees an electric blue flash as it moves out of sight or you may see it flying low and fast over water. It is an expert diver and catches fish by diving from one of its many selected perches scattered along a river bank.

Scenes from a Cycle Ride (Part 3)

The final part of this series of scenes from a cycle ride reveals the butterfly species observed en route.

The Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
There are many of these flying now, they have appeared all at once as this is the first I have seen this year. Not a strong flight, they always appear a little inebriated and tend to almost stumble about very low to the ground. Flies June through to August and has a wingspan of 50 mm.




The Small Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis urticae)
Easily identifiable and a most common species and usually quite easy to photograph. It flies from March right through to October and has a wingspan of 42 mm. Common yes, but certainly one of our most attractive species.




The Large Skipper (Ochlodes venatus)
The largest of the Skipper family, but still a very small butterfly with a wingspan of 34 mm. This is the first and only one I have observed this year. It only flies June and July. I believe this one is a female.





I know that each year we tend to repeat sightings and similar posts about butterflies, but they are always nice to observe and photograph.