Well I'm afraid it had to happen. The predicted forecast for today was partially correct.... it said windy.... perhaps wet... and perhaps a smidge of sun..... well it wasn't wet!! Whilst it was murky this morning I took a few in the garden
Butter wouldn't melt....
"Mum, mum, mum, mum...……."
Mutter mutter mumble mumble "will you kids just give me five minutes peace...."
It's hard to believe that this....
Came from one of these weird things.....
Methinks his eyes are bigger than his belly...
And so are hers!!
The sun came out shortly before lunch, so I whipped up a little snackette and a drink to take with me, and battled my way bravely to the river through the storm force gales (I couldn't possibly let my devoted followers down after all)… also, it was described as a moderate breeze, but one man's breeze is another man's hurricane! Warning: Brew, snacks, reference materials all required!
A few steps into the woodland that runs alongside the river, I spotted a lovely speckled wood
And then Mrs Blackcap decided it was lunchtime (this is a theme that will recur throughout the walk!)
A lovely Robin stepped nicely into the light for me
And then a stripy thing crossed my path
1 (You can teach an old dog new tricks Tony )
A kestrel rose majestically from some trees just to my left, and then the wind caught it and it was about half a mile away before I'd even raised the camera!
The sparrow thought it was lunch time
And a reed warbler had something.... (don't you just love not realising you have a two-fer until you get home!)
There were plenty of demoiselle and damsels about
2
3 (Banded)
4
The first of many encounters with the heron
"And it was thiiiiis big..."
Stripy thing
5
Demoiselle?
6
Bee
7
A Pink Topped Damsel....very rare!!
8
There was a green veined white flittering around
And from beneath for Cin
An Ar-mallard-a went by
Bee!?
9
A pretty accommodating reed warbler again
Mr and Mrs Banded Demoiselle enjoyed so haut cuisine.... funny, I never thought of them as insectivores...
A beetle!
10
Small Tortoiseshell
The heron got a fright....nearly as much as I did when he clattered off
More damsel action
11
12
A raggedy peacock was on the path, barely moved as I stepped over it
Another fly... not sure what the bubbles are?
13
Then we met the extraordinarily rare Gold Lame damsel, followed by the Bitey Gold Lame Damsel
14
Lily Beetle?
15
No clue what this is, a series of tubular stems that look to have been cut down
16
A million spotted ladybird
A Brimstone, I think...Underwing Overload for Cin, coz it didn't open it's wings whilst it was landed
And finally another small tortoiseshell
I hope you've all enjoyed my week even half as much as I have, thanks for all your help with ID's, and for the banter and positive comments throughout.... But I might sneak another one in tomorrow lol
Stay Safe All
Thanks for braving the gales to bring us some more goodies. It sure was windy today but warm settled weather is forecast for the weekend I think' I can see you are getting quite hooked on our insect friends. The one that caught my eye was No 8. I think this is a Blue-tailed Damselfly but an immature female variety known as rufescens hence the pink - nice. There's another Blue-tailed at No 4 which I think is called typica, I'll leave the hoverflies to Nige. but I think the one at No 5 is possibly one of the Eristalis Always good to get shots of Reed Warblers
EDIT I see Nige beat me to it.
Unknown said: females come in several colours including pink
That's a bit stereotypical, Nige, isn't it...pink for a girl?? lol
Unknown said:Wind often makes it difficult
I didn't have it at the time
Thanks for all the ID's, most appreciated
Nahh, no need to identify them.... they guys and gals on here are more than happy to help
Glad I brighten your evenings
Brilliant photos, and commentary PB, good to see you're enjoying the vacation that wasn't what it's supposed to be.