Wednesday 27 August 2014

Yellow wags on the move...

Thanks to Dave Helliar for sending me photos of some of the nine yellow wagtails present on his patch near Chard this morning. He managed to get some lovely shots!









Tuesday 26 August 2014

Local round-up...

Apologies for not having posted much recently. Work has overtaken me somewhat and I've been a tad busier than usual. Thanks then to Dave Helliar for keeping the news coming in including the following photos taken around the local area during the last couple of weeks:

Migrant Hawker, Chard: D. Helliar
Worn Chalkhill Blue, Portland: D. Helliar
Misumena vatia with prey, Chard, D. Helliar
Great White Egret having a stand-off with a
Little Egret, Seaton: D. Helliar
Looks like the GWE has the upper hand
GWE, Grey Heron and Little Egret, Seaton: D. Helliar
Osprey, Seaton: D. Helliar
Wheatear, Seaton: D. Helliar
Young wren soaking up the sun, Chard: D. Helliar

Hope to be posting more in the coming weeks.

Thursday 7 August 2014

Butterflies galore!

In the last week or so there has been an amazing eruption of butterflies. Small tortoiseshells in particular are out in their thousands! Thanks to Dave Helliar for sending through a selection seen this week on his travels around Dorset...

Grayling: D. Helliar
Clouded Yellow: D. Helliar
Brimstone: D. Helliar
Brown Hairstreak: D. Helliar
Brown Hairstreak, male: D. Helliar
Brown Hairstreak, starting to look a bit worn: D. Helliar
Check out the small tortoiseshells! 
Hundreds of them!

And to round it off Dave found small red-eyed damselfly at a new site near Chard too:

Small red-eyed damselfly: D. Helliar

Southern Hawker: D. Helliar

Tuesday 5 August 2014

Pacific Golden Plover...

Andy Grinter managed to get up country at the weekend to see this lovely adult Pacific Golden Plover at Draycott Bassett Pits in Staffordshire. Although it was clearly distant, you can certainly see what it is:

Pacific Golden Plover: Andy Grinter
Pacific Golden Plover: Andy Grinter

Monday 4 August 2014

Signs of Autumn...

Many thanks to Dave Helliar for supplying images he's taken over the last couple of weeks around the local area. The first wood sandpiper of the year (and stunning pics they are too), a sure sign that things are on the move and autumn passage has begun...but summer hasn't finished yet,  here are a few insects from Dave's garden in Chard - all taken on a bridge camera:

Myathropa florea: D. Heliar
Megachile centuncularis: D. Helliar
Syrphus ribesii: D. Helliar
Syrphus ribesii: D. Helliar
Eristalis arbustorum: D. Helliar
Sphaerophoria sp: D. Helliar
Melanostoma scalare: D. Helliar
Red-tailed bumblebee: D. Helliar
Common Blue: D. Helliar
Clouded Yellow, Lower Bruckland Ponds : D. Helliar
Small red-eyed damselfly, Lower Bruckland Ponds: D. Helliar
Hobby: D. Helliar
Juvenile Little Ringed Plover: D. Helliar
Adult LRP: D. Helliar
and saving the best 'til last:
Great White Egret: D. Helliar
Wood Sandpiper: D. Helliar
Wood Sandpiper: D. Helliar
Wood Sandpiper: D. Helliar
Wood Sandpiper: D. Helliar
Wood Sandpiper: D. Helliar
Wood Sandpiper: D. Helliar
Kingfisher: D. Helliar
Kingfisher: D. Helliar
Kingfisher: D. Helliar
Kingfisher: D. Helliar

I'm sure you'll agree, a fantastic set of images!