Monday 17 June 2013

Birds and Bugs

Over the weekend I managed to fit in a session of ringing with Scouse Ringer, or should I say a hard session of ringing! The RAS (re-trapping adults for survival) was back and proved to be hard work, but was all worth it in the end. The session brought us an okay number of Blackcap with a few just fledged juveniles. There is more information about the RAS here


The day after I had my ringing session I went for a local walk with my family down by my local patch on the River Weaver and saw quite a bit of wildlife... Could anyone identify this butterfly for me?


 There are quite a few finches down by the river so I decided to photograph a fairly common finch species the Goldfinch. They are truly wonderful birds.


This is the first Common Blue butterfly I have ever seen so it was rather nice to see.


On the other side of the footpath there is a huge meadow and among those hundreds of flowers I spotted another Common Blue butterfly. Isn't nature just full of surprises?


It wasn't just butterflies and birds that caught my eye today; there were plenty of dragon flies about like this Broad Bodied Chaser (the commonest species of dragonfly in Europe)


Another species of insect that I saw was the Damsel Fly, these are smaller than dragon flies and are generally Blue. 


We were followed all the way on our walk by this huge Buzzard. I also got a glimpse of Chunky for the first time in ages, so it was a relief to see him. 


7 comments:

  1. several beautiful blues here. :)

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  2. Check out Mother Shipton on www.ukmoths.org
    Common Blue butterflies seem to emerged all across the country this weekend.

    Cheers

    DaveyMan

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  3. A great selection of images from your family walk Findlay. Just the way to wind down after a busy day's ringing.

    Your 'butterfly' is a Burnet Companion Moth (euclidia glyphica) and the mating damselflies are Azure Damselflies (coenagrion puella).

    Excellent image of the Broad Bodied Chaser, and it's good to see that 'old' Chunky is still around...[;o)

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  4. I really like the Goldfinch Findlay, we have so many youngsters around our housing estate at the moment, stunning little birds.

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  5. Great set of pictures - you need to have eyes in all directions on days like this - you never know what you will find.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  6. A realy great day for broadening your horizons, Findlay. Delighted to see you appreciating other wildlife, and not just birds

    We're not seeing so many Goldfinches in the garden, now that summer (sort of!) is here. It's good to know that they're out there seeking natural food. I wish the pesky Starlings, Woodpigeons, and Collared Doves would take the hint from them. They're eating me out of house and home!

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  7. A lovely, varied post Findlay and super photos too. I especially like the one of the Broad-bodied Chaser.

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