A walk around a small lake in North Yorkshire

  • lovely selection of photos ILR and good to see the dragonfly hawkers, damselfly (is it a red-eyed damsel) and the small tortie butterfly. Weather was certainly good yesterday.
  • Hello Hazel,
    I have an Aunty called Hazel, a name you don’t come across much these days
    I digress,
    I must confess since being influenced by other enthusiasts on this site I know absolutely very little about butterflies, moths, and dragonfly, I have photographed around 5 butterflies and these few on this post and now know the names of five butterflies by looking them up. However like I did with the birds I bought a good book and I know quite a few birds now and still learning, my next purchase is going to be a book on moths and butterfly’s including dragonfly if there is one.
    If you know of such a book it would help in my choice. Glad you liked them Hazel. I intended going to blacktoft sands reserve but when I arrived it was shut
    So ended up on this small lake that ended up to be a good choice,
  • I think Wendy and Hazel in France would be able to recommend a goo book on moths for you and TeeJay (Tony) will probably be able to recommend a good book for dragonflies/damsels.  

       I like the WildGuides books and have the one for British birds and I see they do one on Damselflies and Dragonflies HERE          I just looked again and saw they have a book on moths too HERE  but wait for others to recommend what they would go for before you opt for these.        I think I have probably picked up more help with ID's via this website as I only new the common garden birds 9 years ago !    Still learning with the help from everyone's input on here and having photos to look at also help enormously by picking up ID tips and hints from those who have greater skills.   

    I also have the Collins Bird Guide which gives a lot more detail but its a tad expensive (I got mine free with a BTO subscription a few years ago),   they also do a handy app for your mobile.    

  • Hi Hazel
    Thank you, i have the Britain's Bird book and the RSPB Handbook of British Birds as well as a few more that were given to me, so OK on the bird front, although the links for the dragonfly's and the moths are most welcome and i shall investigate them further. The Collins bird guide could be a nice Christmas or Birthday or both present so hopefully i might get asked what i want for Christmas ? Lol.
    Thanks again Hazel
  • Some good sightings and photos of various critters. I've not seen any Hawker mating wheels this year.

    I have the "Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Great Britain and Ireland" which is very comprehensive, but if you don't want a book just for Dragonflies, then try the British Dragonfly Society website HERE which has a good picture gallery to help ID anything you see.

  • Thanks for the information Nigel it helps when you know what your photographing I shall check out your recommendations, Much appreciated
  • Your Dragons in Cop are Migrant Hawker's and Damsel is a Small Redeye. ILR

  • Thanks James for the information, I am going to buy the book that Hazel and Nigel recommended the field guide to the dragonflies and damselflies of great Britain. They are fascinating creatures and the detail on the photos are amazing.
  • A friend said I could use a few diagrams he made up, I will see if I can add them here for you they have helped me a lot this year.