Twizell Woods

 The 18^th and 21^st saw me at Twizell woods which got me a few first for the year including Common and Ruddy Darter and Common and Southern Hawker.

Common Hawker 18th. It would not settle and did not hover long enough for me to get a decent shot. I had to grab this as it flew past me.

Common Hawker 21st. This female is laying eggs.

Southern Hawker 18th. Too far away for anything decent but it did at least hover now and again.

I only saw one Broad-bodied Chaser on the 18th and it was a male.

The 18th and this fly looks as though it is hiding in plain sight. I thought at first Common Darter but when I got the image up on the computer, I now think it is a Ruddy Darter.

The 21st and I’m convinced this is the same Ruddy Darter sitting on some of the same branches as the one above.

Common Darter.

Common Darter.

Common Darter in tandem.

Another Common Darter.

An Emerald Damselfly

An Emerald Damselfly

Meadow Brown butterflies mating.

The butterflies were chasing each other all afternoon so I thought I would have a go at catching them while they were in flight.

My first Comma butterfly of the year.

There were a few Green-veined White butterflies getting minerals from the soil.

This Chiffchaff had just been in one of the ponds when I arrived.

Two Quarries

 

My wife and I had a trip to Bishop Middleham and Wingate quarries on the 16^th (she preferred the latter) primarily for the Marbled White butterflies at Wingate. The weather was hot and sunny and the butterflies were reluctant to settle, the ones that did were mainly female. I knew it was late in the season but I still wanted to see if there were any Northern and Brown Argus at Bishop Middleham quarry. There were a few still around as you can see below however if I have the identification wrong, please let me know.

Female Marbled White butterfly

Male Marbled White

Female Marbled White butterfly

Male Marbled White

Small Heath butterfly

How this snail got into this position on this slender bit of grass I will never know.

Looking at the markings on the underside of the wing I think this is a Northern Brown Argus.

Once again looking at the markings this is a Brown Argus and it appears to be laying eggs. As I mentioned in a previous Blog I was speaking to a man about these butterflies and this seems to go against what he said.

Is the fly checking out the Speckled Wood butterfly or is it the other way around?

Six-spot Burnet Moth.

When we were kids, we called these Hairy Caterpillars.

Durham Moors part two

 Here is some of the other wildlife we saw on the moors last weekend. And just as a matter of interest, this is the last Blog done on this computer as I have a nice shiny new one in a box that I am just about to open. I only hope when I plug my external hard drives in I don’t loose all of my images, wish me luck.

After seeing the adult Wheatear in the spring, it was nice to see the young ones doing well.

My immediate thought for this bird was a young Willow Warbler but now?

As it was for this one.

I was struck by the size of this Pipits feet.

This Common Sandpiper sat on this post long enough for me to rattle off a few shots.

I think the heat was getting to this Pied Wagtail

I wasn’t expecting to see Golden-ringed Dragonfly but both male and female were patrolling along the stream. 

Another bonus was seeing a good number of Dark Green Fritillary butterflies

An Antler Moth was also feeding on the thistles.