I have been a bit slow with getting these photos ready. Other little trips, and posts, have been getting in the way. These are photos from two trips to Ben Rhydding Gravel Pits.
One of the first things I noticed on the first of the visits, just before getting to the river, were two bright red Sawfly Galls on Willow tree leaves. There were no interesting birds along the river, no Heron, no Little Egret, until I got towards the far end and saw the Sand Martins swooping and screaming and them zooming in to feed their young. Several of the young could be seen at the entrances to the nests.
Please tap on an image below to start seeing them in the gallery carousel, wher, if you click the “i” you can see more information.
I did think I was getting the hang of identifying Damselflies but it seems to be that the more you know, the more you realise you don’t know, and the more questions you need answering. I am more than happy for people to let me know what things are especially if I have got any wrong. I don’t remember seeing a White Legged Damselfly before, but I’m not confident that that’s what it is. I am sure it is a Damselfly of some kind. I must admit that I quite like the photo I have used for the header image.
I believe Ladybirds and their Larvae can munch their way through loads of Aphids but they have not got to a couple of stalks of Knapweed where hundreds of Aphids look to have themselves “plugged into” the plant. All of them a head down, drinking the sap.
During my visit I kept hearing a Song Thrush and towards the end of my visit I carefully walked in the direction of the song. I found the tree it was in but the bird itself took some finding and it was not easy to get a decent view of it.
I have been told that the Orchids have put in a rather poor show this year so I was lucky to see the Common Spotted Orchid.
During my visit there were several people with dogs. Most were on leads, a couple put their dog on a lead when they saw me and took it off the lead when they had past. Was that to protect me? To protect the dog? To protect its owner from comments from me? Or to protect the wildlife in a Nature Reserve?
The photos below are from my next visit to Ben Rhydding Gravel Pits where I am making “educated” guesses as to what many of the plants are.
The captions and descriptions can be read by clicking on an image to view it in the gallery carousel. You can then move back and forth through the photos in the gallery.
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