Ditch Watching !

 Plan 'A' was to go to Oare Marshes to check out some waders that I haven't seen for a while,  hopefully see the Red Necked Pharalope, but the birds were not playing ball today, remaining near the centre of the flood and too distant for any photographs, not to mention the light, which was obviously the 'bad light' coming from behind the waders.

Fortunately I had brought my birding scope and managed to pick out the Red Necked Pharalope, typically spinning behind any passing waterbird, four Curlew Sandpipers were found, one of my target birds,  one Little Ringed plover, one Common Sandpiper, but no sign of the summer plumage Spotted Redshank that I would have liked to have seen, but bad light, distant birds, meant switching to Plan 'B'.

A very distant Red-Necked Pharalope

Plan 'B' was to try and get a view of the reported 'Blue-Eyed Hawkers' or Southern Migrant Hawkers, that were frequenting the local ditches.

A local 'Odonata' enthusiast pointed me in the right direction, I made my way towards the ditch, on the west flood, a ditch I had walked pass many times over the years hardly giving it a second glance, I found a convenient small hillock and settled down for some serious 'ditch watching' .

The sun was beating down , I found myself thinking that I needed a good sun hat, trouble is I don't do hats very well, always looking slightly ridiculous, but does that matter in the middle of a marsh, probably not.

Dragons and Damsels were starting to appear, Migrant Hawkers were patrolling up and down the ditch, making my heart race each time one appeared, but not the Blue eyed Hawker I wanted to see.

Migrant Hawker

I was distracted by a passing Grass Snake which made its way along the ditch until it stopped directly opposite me, sensing my presence, it stopped and promptly retreated back into the reeds and out of sight.

I started to notice a few Common Emerald Damselflys making there way up and down the ditch, always quite well camouflaged I find, but I managed to get a few shots.

Common Emerald Damselfly

Next to show were some Damselflies resting on the green matted weed on the surface of the ditch, initially I thought Red-Eyed Damselfly, but on closer inspection I could see the half black and blue segment S8 I believe its called, which signifies the Small Red-Eyed Damselfly according to my friend the 'Odonata enthusiast' who had reappeared and was searching for the Blue-Eyed Hawkers himself.

Small Red-Eyed Damselfly

An occasional Brown Hawker made an appearance proceeding to 'dog fight' with any Migrant Hawker that they encountered, never settling as usual.

Finally the Blue-Eyed Hawker appeared or to give its correct name Southern Migrant Hawker' I would say probably two or three individuals were seen along this relatively short ditch, physically smaller than the Migrant Hawkers, but the blue abdomen and blue eyes were quite striking making them unmistakable. I watched these for some time patrolling up and down the ditch, try as I might I could not get a photograph, very frustrating I just wanted one photograph to record the moment.

I eventually moved over to the East Flood and checked out the ditch that runs alongside the footpath, two more Blue-Eyed Hawkers were seen, these two were on territory, they did not take the incursion of the other on to its chosen territory lightly, chasing each other off.

Unbelievably, each of these eventually landed on the ditch reeds allowing a photograph or two, much to my relief.

Southern Migrant Hawker

All in all a successful day

Shorne Lakes

Since rediscovering the beauty of Shorne  Country Park, in particular the fishing lake area, I have revisited a number of times now, mainly in search of Dragons and Damsels but the lake area is so peaceful, its just nice to sit and take in the peaceful surroundings and see what comes along.

Waterbirds consist mainly of Mallard, Moorhen, but a lone Heron was seen checking the lake out, and Grey Wagtail was seen flying over.

As far as Dragonflys go, the discovery of the Downy Emerald was quite enlightening, I have had three good sightings as a male Downy Emerald checked me out as it patrolled along the edge of the lake, the sightings were brief, impossible for me to  get a photograph, its getting near the end of there flight season now, so maybe next year, the same goes for the Brown Hawkers always seem to be on the go, I have never found one at rest.

I have now seen fourteen out of the possible nineteen species reported from Shorne. the latest being a Small Red-eyed Damselfly

Small Red-Eyed Damselfly

I'm sure Broad bodied Chaser and Migrant Hawkers are on the list. I wonder what the other three might be.

Four-Spotted Chaser

Black-Tailed Skimmer

Emperor 

Emperor

Ruddy Darter

Female Ruddy Darter

The lakes look deep , well stocked with fish, every now and then huge Carp can be heard sucking at the surface around the lily pads.

Butterflies abound all around the perimeter of the lakes, on the few occasions that I have visited this area I have managed to see White Admiral, Silver-Washed Fritillary, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Brown Argus, Gate keeper, Meadow Brown, Small White, Comma, Red Admiral, Ringlet and Speckled Wood. I'm sure theirs more to see.

Gatekeeper

Small Skipper

possible Brown Argus

Ringlet

Small White

More to discover I'm sure.

Lullingstone Butterfly's !

After seeing the Silver- Washed Fritillary at Shorne, thought I would look for the Dark Green Fritillary at the Orchid Bank at Lullingstone, a pretty reliable site to see these in good numbers.

I had chosen a good day, the sun was shining, the greater Knapweed was in full bloom, and I was the only person looking for  butterflies.

Centaurea scabiosa  Greater Knapweed 

The Grater Knapweed is so attractive to Butterflies and as you will see, the common factor in most of my photographs, although it could be the colour purple, because  Field Scabiosa and red clover were also attracting the Butterflies,  Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns, Skippers and Common Blue Butterflies as well as the bee's, all drawn to their colour and promised nectar source

As I approached the Orchid bank the stands of Greater Knapweed are quite obvious, I could see some trails leading through the grasses towards the Knapweed, probably where others had been seeking out the Fritillaries.

A quick scan around and no Fritillarys on view, but Marbled Whites were there in abundance. very attractive Butterfly, I especially like the subtle shades of grey in the under-wing. some of the females have a slight yellowish wash to the underside which can be seen in the photographs.

Male Marbled White Melanargia galathea   

Female Marbled White

Strangely the Marbled White is not a member of the sub family of whites,  more aligned to the browns, quite widespread here in the south of the country and can usally be found in flowery meadows.

Quite approachable when nectaring on purple flowers, and often disturbed from the grassland as you walk through.

 The female does not land on the grasses to lay her eggs, rather she drops them as she flies over. And that explains probably why I have never caught up with one when seen flying along a grassy field. you live and learn.

Always a spectacular  Butterfly to photograph

Meadow Brown

Small Skipper

Male and Female Common Blue

Finally caught site of a distant Fritillary moving over the grassland, I settled down near the clump of wild flowers mainly Greater Knapweed, Clover and Scabiosa, and then they suddenly began to appear, all around me giving some excellent views and photographs.

Dark Green Fritillary

Silver-Washed Fritillary

And just for a comparison this photograph was of a single Silver-Washed Fritillary found at Shorne Country park.

The difference in under-wing pattern is quite distinctive, white spots on the Dark Green Fritillary, and three whitish bars on the Silver-Washed Fritillary.

The Silver-Washed Fritillary appeared much larger also than the Dark Green Fritillary

A very nice session with the Butterflies, hopefully with this good weather we have had recently, all the species are doing well.