Over the last week or so I have ventured out with my camera a few times for a bit of Wildlife and Nature Photography, only for a couple of hours or so, but it has been worth it. It can be very pleasant to just walk slowly, looking and listening. Pointing my binoculars in the direction of the sound, trying to spot the bird that is singing in the tree. Looking closely at the flowers and spotting insects on them. All the time trying not to interfere with whatever it is that they are doing.
As usual tap on an image, not the header Banded Demoiselle, to see it better quality in its gallery.
On 21 June I spent a pleasant couple of hours at Ben Rhydding Gravel Pits LNR (Note to self: Create a page for the Gravel Pits. There is a Ben Rhydding Gravel Pits Category for it but no Page yet.)
Several Chiffchaff could still be heard but not seen; because of the foliage it has now become quite difficult to spot the smaller birds. I could also hear several Goldfinch in the trees close to me but it was a while before one made itself visible. By pausing several times I was able to spot a few more birds moving about. A Wren with some moss in its beak rather than insects for young, possibly building a new nest. And not too far from it a fledgling Wren, hopefully not being fed moss. I could also hear several Blackcap and managed to spot one of them with insects in its beak.
I spent a few minutes watching a Grey Heron on the river. It was slowly moving along by the side of a stony section with its neck curled ready to strike, which it did successfully several times. With fish that size I could imagine it needs to catch quite a few. But I must admit that when I have seen Herons stretch their wings out you can see that there is not much to them. I think of a Cormorant as being a similar size but a quick look on t’internet says that a Cormorant is twice the weight of a Grey Heron.
Beyond the down-river end of the reserve there were several families of Greylag Geese with the youngsters looking quite “grown up”.
The photo of the Red Kite is from the end of my visit. I had already put my camera away when I heard the call of a raptor. I looked up and almost at tree-top level a Red Kite flew over. I got my camera out again and managed to get a photo of it as it flew back towards the river. I went back into the reserve but even in the open spaces there I could not see a Red Kite.
The Gravel Pits tend to be a good place for butterflies but I think all the rain we have had has played a big part in what seem to be low numbers. A few brown ones were flitting around in the sun of the day and I couldn’t identify them until one stopped long enough for me to see that it was a Ringlet. More ID practice needed.
On several previous visits I had seen dragonflies zipping around the pond or backwards and forwards along the edge of the river. I kept looking out for one on this visit and finally spotted a Broad-bodied Chaser quite close to the road. It flew up from its perch every few seconds before settling in the same place again.
In most areas of the reserve Damselflies were around, settling for a second or two before flying off. One of them I can ID as an Azure Damselfly but I am not confident enough to put a name, other than Damselfly, to the others.
Wild plants and flowers are another feature of the Gravel Pits. The Bradford Botany Group have compiled a list of the plants they have found on site and I often use when trying to identify a flower but the more digging I do the more confused I get. In the ones above there are several I have just captioned “Grass” there is also Burnet, Hedge Woundwort and Umbellifera that I should be better at. The Hoof Fungus though, that is a total mine-field, I think I can say it is a Bracket Fungus with reasonable confidence.
My next two outings with my camera were to Denso Marston Nature Reserve on 22 and 26 June where the highlights were the Kingfishers and dozens of Banded Demoiselles.
Often when down by the river I hear the peep of a Kingfisher and with a bit of look get a glimpse of the blue as it flies along just above the water. On these two visits I was lucky enough to see where they were heading and, hidden by bushes I was able to see them perched and fishing. Watching one of them whack the fish on its perch was good, with all the “dust” falling off the branch. I did try a video but, handheld with an 840mm focal length lens, it is wandering all over the place.
The Grey Heron in the river had quite a few Banded Demoiselles flitting around it and even settling on it. Even through the feathers it could feel them and would reach round to shoo them away. I don’t know if a Grey Heron would bother catching such a tiny morsel but I have watched a Grey Wagtail at Crag Hebble Dam jumping up, catching and eating Dameslflies.
The Moorhen chick, bald with a grey beard, is being looked at caringly by its parent. The chick is trying to eat seed head or soft snail shell that is too big for it. It keeps popping out of the chick’s beak and the parent dips to get it and offer it back to the chick. It doesn’t look very appetising.
It was good to get a proper sighting of a Song Thrush eating a cherry. They can often be heard singing in the trees or quickly flying between them but they are usually aware of me before I am of them. The cherry trees also had Blackbirds, Wood Pigeons and Jays tucked away out of site. I was hoping to watch the Wood Pigeon eating cherries in the same way as during Day 99 of lock-down in our garden.
On my 2nd visit to Denso one of the first things I spotted was right in front of my face. A caterpillar pulling itself up a thread that it had presumably spun itself. You can just see the thread in the photo. It was hanging from an Elm tree which probably would help me identify what caterpillar it is.
I don’t know if it was the plant or the sunshine that was encouraging the Banded Demoiselles to congregate but at one time a good few of them were in that one small area.
Recently the topic of the Telegraph & Argus Camera Club has been #naturalgeometry and this has made me look at geometry and symmetry of plants and insects. Quite noticeable is the way the stems of the flowerheads on the various Umbellifera are spaced.
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