A Mixed Bag of Bank Holiday Weekend Garden Sightings

Angle Shades

I am not very good at moth identification, and while this Angle Shades looked familiar, I was grateful to the folk on iSpot who gave me a nudge in the right direction. The moth was resting, which apparently they often do out in the open during daylight hours. It looked to me as if it had strung a couple of grass blades together, but I may be mistaken.

I apologise for the fractured quality of the photograph below, but I wanted to see if a 'full frontal' would help me to see what the moth was doing.

Angle Shades, head-on

I always keep an eye out for the iridescent Ruby-tailed Wasp at this time of year, and was not disappointed, though it took me two attempts to end up with the record shot you see below. These insects are small (about 1cm in length), skittish and flighty. Cuckoo wasps may not be my top insects, but you have to admire the colours!

I always find I lose a bit of damselfly knowledge over the winter, so I hope we see a few more to get my ID skills back up to speed. Having had a Small Red sighting last week, it was lovely to discover this blue specimen (or is it the Azure?) on the woodbine after a rain shower.

Damselfly

I usually find Mint Moths give me a run for my money as, like the Ruby-tailed Wasp, they flit about and are hard to photograph. But this one rested for some time on the large ox-eye daisy-like flower below.

Mint Moth

Odonata (9): Wicken Fen ... Black-tailed Skimmer

It was good to be back on Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve, a place I have known for many years, but have not had the chance to visit since we left Cambridge two decades ago. The blustery conditions were far from ideal for dragonfly-spotting, but we were delighted to find this handsome female, sheltering in the long grass.

An ID of a female Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) was confirmed by the British Dragonfly Society. You can see the yellow costa, a major vein, on the wings in the top photo. The pterostigma, a coloured mark on the outer extremity of each wing, is hard to make out in my pictures. It should be a dark shade between brown and black. Skimmers, not surprisingly, zoom along, just above the surface of the water. The male of the species looks completely different ... perhaps it is a case of blue sky and sunshine! 

If this iconic windpump sends out a signal of the past, you may be interested to read about an ambitious project to protect the future, under the name of Wicken Fen Vision.

Yellow Waterlily

You can read more about the plants here.

There were one or two pairs of Damselfly about ...

I think this is a Common Blue (male) ...

... and a male Azure Damselfly.

Odonata (8): More Damselflies

Unidentified Damselfly: brown band at S9

These were both seen at Helmingham Hall in Suffolk some days ago.

Possibly a female Azure Damselfly?

Odonata (7): Damselflies

My 2012 Damselfly-spotting season got off to a very slow start, but things are picking up a little. I think the picture above shows a male Blue-tailed Damselfly, judging by the photo here. I have also checked the British Dragonfly Society site. 

I am wondering if the damselfly above is a female Azure Damselfly. It may not be, as although the black markings are clearly defined, the other areas look more grey to me than pale green or blue. It could, perhaps, be a female Common Blue. As ever, if you are reading this blog, and can give an ID, that would be much appreciated. Apparently these females can be particularly tricky to identify! 

I am fairly sure that the Damselfly above and the two below are examples of the male Common Blue. These were all enjoying the Suffolk sunshine and calmer conditions after the stormy winds last week that caused second day of the Suffolk Show to be cancelled.

It would be interesting to know what Damselfly guides folk find helpful. This is the one I use, in conjunction with the images and write-ups on the web. It is a Natural History Museum publication, and is in a convenient format. I also use the Guide to Ladybirds of the British Isles in the same series.