A session combing the banks of the River Severn on Saturday eventually paid dividends when I located a
Common Club-tail Dragonfly. It was fairly newly emerged and doing it's best to lay low in the long grass while it got itself together. Not many county sightings at this point, didn't expect my first Dragonfly of the year to be this one to be honest.
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| Club tailed Dragonfly |
There was a complete lack of other Odonata, which ironically had been my banker..I was expecting to see a few damselflies, and just hoping I would get lucky with a Club tail. Also of interest was a couple of caterpillars, the larvae of Drinker Moth and Scarlet Tiger moth.
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| Scarlet Tiger Moth Larvae |
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| Drinker Moth Larvae |
There were also reasonable numbers of the diminutive Lesser Yellow Underwing moth.
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| Lesser yellow Underwing |
From here I moved onto The Wyre and in search of a speciality that has been slow (like most things ) to show in any numbers this spring.Along the way there good numbers of
Speckled Yellow Moth ( far to lively ) and
Brimstones After a bit of walking I found a good spot and was lucky enough to observe a pair of copulating
Pearl Bordered Fritillaries, showing nice and close.
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Pearl Bordered Fritillaries
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One the way home I swung by my patch, and I was clearly on a roll ! I was delighted to spot a moth that has eluded me til now,
Mother Shipton.
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| Mother Shipton |
What a fine day !...Click my Flickr link for more images
Wouldn't mind see one of those Clubtail Dragons, interesting little beastie!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great invertebrate weekend you had Mark. there are a few species there that I am yet to see this year!
ReplyDeleteCheers both. It was a really pleasing couple of days overall
ReplyDeleteYour efforts paid off Mark! Great species seen by you!
ReplyDeleteLove your latest Header image!
Thanks Pam. The weather was kind. Lets hope for more of the same soon, we, and more, the wildlife, deserve it !
ReplyDelete