UKH

Large red damselflies, think they are ovipositing (laying eggs).  

Broad bodied chaser and brimestone butterfly. 

Fox and roe deer. All last Sunday on my extended dog walk. Lots of warblers, marsh tit. Felt like a mid summers day - almost too warm. 

Fantastic photos Mick!

Nice photos. Not seen any damselflies, nor dragonflies up here yet. Only a very few butterflies.  Weather is back to being cool and wet!

Saw my first Sedge Warbler at weekend though! It was the loud singing that attracted me to stand and wait till it showed itself to figure out what was with guidebook help.

I also watched for sometime with interest at the behaviour of what I assume was a family of treecreepers. Two, I guess that where the parents, feeding what looked like a juvenile. There was a fourth nearby, but don’t know if that was connected to the “family” or not.

Good stuff. This year I’ve heard a good few sedge warblers and seen a few. But Reed warblers are even harder to see, usually singing deep in some reed bed. Heard a grasshopper warbler on my dog walk the other week - only second one on my ‘patch’.

Ed. My grandparents had a giant redwood very close to their house, next to a river. First time I saw treecreepers was there - they’d made a nest in the bark and let me stand a few feet away when they flew in to feed the chicks. I was very young, never dawned on me to back off (not as though it made any difference ). 

Ta

RSPB Vane farm reported having a Reed Warbler last week; I’ll not get my hopes up to see one. They said they were rare there and were hard ever to see anyway. Otherwise, it seems a lot quieter for even common species being about these days; a thought shared by various birdwatchers. Weather maybe be having an effect; even the normally noisy black headed gulls were almost silent at the weekend.

I keep on listening to recordings of Reed and Sedge Warbler. Saw some Sedge Warblers the other day after hearing them singing (slightly different locations) and being fairly sure that's what they were because they didn't sound right for Reed Warblers.

Have heard loads of Reed Warblers singing in various locations and been almost certainly within 10m of them - but could I see them, of course not. Too windy apart from anything else although on a previous visit I did spot what was probably one when it popped up to the top of the reeds for a good 2 seconds - not good enough, I want more.

The Sedge Warbler was being evasive. If it saw me it disappeared down in thick vegetation. I had to partially hide behind a small willow and wait till it came out to sing again several times to get a photo! Sure walkers passing by probably thought what’s that guy standing waiting for! Still it was nice to listen to it singing it’s heart out.

Earlier, I had seen a few bright red beetles in my garden on only one of my lilies; big holes in the leaves everywhere. Later googled and it turns out to be Red Lily beetle (other names Scarlet Lily, Red Lily Leaf) and use almost exclusively Lily plants. Had a laugh at myself for not associating that it was only the lilies that had them and that would be in their name to make googling easier, doh!

Nice. I had a beautiful little red damselfly land on my leg two days ago. We have three ponds in the garden and they bring all manner of beasties in.

The grasshopper warblers have been deafening in our field, at least three calling (I'm assuming males).  When I played a call back the other evening one practically attacked me.

I tried to attach a MPEG but can't - here's the area though...

Apologies if I have posted this before but its useful for someone like me who has difficulty identifying almost any bird song -

youtube.com/watch?v=nVQSMRqeOJs&t=1

Dave