Down to Wykeham Forest this morning and it took just half an hour before a distant Honey Buzzard was picked up. Always very distant the bird was watched for 40 mins, soaring and wing clapping it covered a massive area. Other raptors here were 2 Goshawk, 5+ Common Buzzard and 2 Kestrel. Some flocks of Crossbill 'chipped' overhead and a male sang from a pine top behind us. A fly-by Golden-ringed Dragonfly was a welcome year tick.
With no more Honey Buzzard action we headed down hill to the Forge Valley. At the first stop we managed a distant male Beautiful Demoiselle, but it was at the second stop where we managed superb views of these cracking beasties. The sun brought the stream to life with 20+ Demoiselles, including several ovipositing females.
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| Male Beautiful Demoiselle |
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| Female Beautiful Demoiselle ovipositing |
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| Red Admiral |
A stop at Scaling Dam on the way back gave 2 Little Ringed Plover and 2 Common Sandpiper.
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| Little Ringed Plover |
Very quiet around Gateshead yesterday, hence no blog, but there were several Emerald Damsel at Kibblesworth Brick Works and the first returning Dunlin at Shibdon.
Beautiful Demoiselles beautifully captured.
ReplyDeleteCheers John, they were superb!
ReplyDeletePah! Not as good as Banded though (he said jealously) :-(
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