Saturday forecasted stunningly lovely, Mrs PB at work, and me with a necessary trip into town equalled only one thing....a quick wander along my old stomping ground!
Greeted by a bee with a white tail... a White Tailed Bee?
The clarity of the water along this stretch of river is fabulous....
Across the river, high up a tree a small group of Long Tailed Tits were going about the chirruping business
On a tree this side of the river, a strange bulbous growth approximately 2 inches in diameter, if not larger... presumably some wasp or bee created it
I saw a lot of Banded Demoiselle about, of differing shades, depending on where the sun was!
There were a few Black Headed Gulls milling about, in full summer gear at last
A shadowy movement caught my eye on the far bank... Grey Wagtail... looks a bit "fluffy", so could be juvenile
The glorious tones of a Blackbird atop a tree rang out
Not just male, but female Banded Demoiselle were out in number
A Buzzard lumbered by overhead
Soaring high, before being harassed by a couple of gulls, and coming lower again
I don't always look into the flower heads, but this time I did, and spotted something slightly reminiscent of a hand grenade!!
A solo Swallow was briefly darting about over the pond a short distance from the river
Another female Banded Demoiselle
And a little way away, a Million Spot Ladybird
And (possibly) a Dark Bush Cricket
A couple of iffy damsels now.... male White Legged, or Common Blue
Followed by female Azure or Variable
A Gold Hairy Bummed Fly
Cygnets.... 9 two years ago, I think, followed by 8, and now 6... not sure if it's the same parents, but same stretch of river
Looks similar to the Soldier Beetle the other week, but different habitat entirely, so maybe not
I'd seen a couple of Kingfishers whizzing by "peeping" as they went, and one fortunately enough landed just over the river from me, for about 10 seconds
Just below the Kingie, 4 Grey Wagtails loitered, I couldn't decide on 4 juveniles, or a combination of juveniles and parents, but I've never seen them not hunting, just lounging about!
There'd been a Little Egret, mooching for a while, and he then decided to come a bit closer
It was definitely a Demoiselle kind of day!
On the stalk below the Demoiselle's leaf....a single spot ladybird
A couple of white butterflies finally deigned to appear
And I finally tracked down the intensely irritating non stop singing Chiffchaff!!
And then I realised time had caught me up, and I had a job or two to do, so I did!!
And thus ended an impromptu river meander, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed :o)
Stay Safe All
_____________________________________
Regards, Hazel
Lot to learn
Hello pimpernebloke. There are differant types of White tailed Bunblebees one species of White tailed Bumblebee is called the white tailed Bumblebee but even though the Garden Bumblebee doesn’t have white tailed in the name the Garden Bumblebee is a type of white tailed Bumblebee as well but the Garden Bumblebee has 3 yellow stripes whereas the white tailed Bumblebee has 2 So I hope you find these helpful.
Iv noticed Cause I been so busy I been missing some posts of peoples visits So I thought Id reply since Iv seen your Photos. I think your Photos are very good close ups.
Hi PB,,
A very productive meander and great shots all round.
We've seen a few damsels this year but no Banded Demoiselles and well done with the Kingfisher, not seen one for quite a while.
Thanks for sorting and posting,
Trevor
A brilliant set of photos PB, and very hard to pick a favourite. However, a look into flower heads can often be productive, and even better, because many insects are busy gathering nectar, a good photo opportunity.
Now a post read afterthought, the kingie has to rank high on favs...
Many thanks for sharing
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
PimperneBloke said:Hazel...how are the eyes coming on?
Pretty good thanks PB and will have another eye test in two weeks time to check the progress and see if I need a slight top up with the laser to achieve 20/20 in both eyes; it's just wonderful to be able to go about daily life and back to my hobbies of birdwatching and eventually photography without the need for glasses. They removed cataracts first and inserted the multifocal lens replacement at the same time which took less than an hour to complete; no pain or discomfort whatsoever, just a month of eye drops which is due to finish this week :) My neighbour was so impressed she has gone today for her preliminary eye tests in readiness for her lens replacement. Onwards and upwards. No more juggling binoculars, eyeglasses and camera !! Yay :)