Seasonal First (2): Moon Jellyfish

There were a few jellyfish about of the Aurelia aurita species (also known as moon jelly, moon jellyfish, common jellyfish or saucer jelly). They were floating in the shallows. I believe they have a sting of sorts. You can read more about these Ulmaridae here.

The upper side, showing the four rings (the gonads)

The underside of a different one

Underside close-up

I'm intrigued to know whether this one had been bashed about in the waves ... or if there is another explanation.

Perhaps there is more than one jellyfish in the photo above. The Marine Conservation Society offers good advice on health and safety when it comes to jellyfish around the UK.

• My previous jellyfish sightings (this time around the island of Skye) 
• A survey (and I shall be logging these ones) to report any jellyfish seen off the UK, run by the Marine Conservation Society
• Juliet Wilson (aka Crafty Green Poet) considers Information Systems for Conservation ... Her post discusses the value of surveys like this jellyfish one.   

P.S. 20 May 2012: an update: 

'they all look like moon to me. The one pictured upside may not be, I can’t really properly see it’s characteristic rings, but it probably is a moon….'
Dr. Peter Richardson, Biodiversity Programme Manager, MCS

Seasonal First (1): Pied Flycatcher ... and Tadpoles

We have just returned from a long weekend in Wales, where we enjoyed watching a pair of Pied Flycatchers. They didn't hang about for long although there was a fair amount of coming and going around the nestbox. We kept a very low profile and a good distance ... I apologise for the quality of this record shot ... but there they are! 

I took the following photo a year ago, and posted it on 30 May 2011 ...

You can see my other 2011 Pied Flycatcher photos here and here ...

I also saw my first tadpoles on Saturday. Most were a good size, but had not started to show their legs.

Last year's 'First Tadpole of the Season' photos (20 April - much earlier!) are here

I am still waiting to see Sand Martins this year, but have now seen Swifts, Swallows and House Martins. I noticed my first yellow butterfly yesterday, but it didn't come close enough for me to see it properly. I guess it was a male Brimstone. I also saw my first 2012 jellyfish, which will feature in a different post.

Seasonal Splash (6): Spring Sunset at Snape

Serenity . . .

Just before the light went, we managed to see our first Avocets of 2012 at Snape. They were not at very close range, but you could just make out their distinctive white and black forms with the naked eye - and they looked much better through binoculars!

We passed a toad crossing on our journey home, with a volunteer assisting these foolhardy creatures across the road. It brought back memories of toad-watching last Spring in South Wales. We have a toad tunnel in our local area, to allow the toads to cross from Landseer Park to Holywells Park in safety.

Toads in South Wales: last year's photo re-visited

Creatures of camouflage

• Toadwatch - and here

Beautiful Birds (27): Pied Flycatcher in South Wales

It was, as ever, a real privilege to watch this beautiful bird tending its young. We didn't see the chicks, but we watched both parents flying back and forth with tender morsels.

Previous Pied Flycatcher post

• 2011

Odonata (6):WWT Llanelli ... again

There was rather a different selection of Damselflies from my previous visit some days ago. In terms of colour, there were blues and greens but no reds on this occasion. Shades of grey and brown seemed quite commonplace. I am attempting to identify the creatures, but am still feeling very much a Damselfly novice! As ever, any help on this front would be appreciated!

Damselfly

?Azure Damselfly (male)

Damselfly (female)

Damselfly (female)

Damselfly

Damselfly

Four-spotted Chaser

Detail

In situ

Odonata (5): Beautiful Demoiselles and other Damselflies, Llandeilo

The weather was unpromising, but we had a few patches here and there of watery sunshine. There were far fewer Damselflies about than on our previous visit, but this may have been due to the blustery conditions.

We recalled seeing a Beautiful Demoiselle on the nettles a year ago, and wondered whether one might appear. We did not have to wait long before a male caught our eye, with his iridescent wings  ...

Beautiful Demoiselle (male) Calopteryx virgo

I failed to catch a photo with the wings outstretched ...

Just as we were preparing to head back to the car, our eyes alighted on this magnificent, shiny creature ... a female Beautiful Demoiselle. She flitted between the Rhododendron and the fronds of bracken.
 

This male Blue-tailed Damselfly perched on some new woodwork.

The Stinging Nettles were alive with Green Nettle Weevils (Phyllobius viridiaeris).

The Cardinal Beetle preferred the Hawthorn. 

I found an interesting post about the Cardinal Beetle here; and although this one was seen in Wales, it is of the red-headed variety. 

• Previous Beautiful Demoiselle post (and bit on iridescence), showing that I saw my first one last year on 12 June 2010.
• You can see David's Demoiselle photos (May 2011) here (male, wings outstretched) and here (female), at his Swansea Bay View blog.

Eye-catching Insects (6): at Aberglasney

Signs of the season ... unidentified insects!

I would love to know what these are! Are they too furry for Hoverflies?

Beautiful Birds (24): Pied Flycatchers

Last weekend ...

We noticed a flash of black and white ...

... as a male Pied Flycatcher appeared in a favoured nesting spot.

He flitted from tree to tree ...

... and it wasn't long before we saw the female.

The two were preparing to mate, with much flapping of wings in a kind of air dance. They were too quick for us to catch on camera, but it was a joy to behold. 

Eye-catching Insects (4): Hoverfly with stripes

Helophilus pendulus Hoverfly, I think

I came face to face with this tiger-like apparition, deep in the woods, along the boardwalk at Dinefwr on Monday afternoon. How amazing to have stripes going in two directions!

Henry Walloon ('Life on an Oxfordshire Lawn') has an informative post about insect mimicry, including those wasp-like stripes - here.


Best of the Rest ...

• An intriguing (but tragic) murder mystery out on the moors. What would Sherlock Holmes say?

Odonata (2): Damselflies - and other creatures - at Dinefwr

Large Red Damselfly, male

 

With shadow ...

Query female Common Blue

P.S. My thanks to Stuart who said...

Caroline: I just realised you have a query on your Common Blue Damsel. It looks like Azure Damsel to me (the first black mark on the abdomen is shaped like an underlined U. In Common Blue, it's an oval on a stalk.)

A bit of a jigsaw puzzle!

There were very few Dragonflies flying about, but we saw a couple flit through the trees.

I also saw the following creature, presumably depositing eggs as it she flew up and down numerous times within a small radius of weed. I would be glad to have an ID!

I assume the following is a nymph of some kind, but I don't know whether it is a Damselfly or some other creature ...

We also saw a few Orange Tip butterflies and a Red Admiral. A flash of crimson caught my attention as a Burnet Moth fluttered by the waterside. It was enjoying the warm sunshine, and was too quick for my camera!

• 2011 ~ early Damsels and Dragons

Eye-catching Insects (3): Dock Leaf Beetle at WWT Llanelli

I am not entirely sure whether the top two photos show Dock Leaf Beetles (Gastrophysa viridula). I think they do, but thanks to Stuart's photo and commentary here, I feel relatively certain about the ID of the Beetle in photos 3 and 4.

You can read more about these beetles in the Cabinet of Curiosities blog belonging to Phil Gates, a Guardian Country Diarist ... here.