Dragonfly snippet

I was watching the male Common Darters chase each other as they vied for apparently important stretches of water when a much larger Southern Hawker came by. Immediately a Common Darter took on the Hawker. It hadn't occurred to me that they would be aggressive to other species. As usual no picture achieved of the dragonfly dogfights but a Comma alighted on a nearby thistle so that's all I can offer.

New Species - Barn Owl

It is good to record a new bird species - even if I only heard it rather than saw it. I have seen barn owls before in the area but this was the first one at the Moat House for me. I heard it from inside and went out to look. I had narrowed it down to the Norway Spruce just the other side of the moat but a couple of minutes later some idiot helicopter arrived noisily right above us and the owl was gone.

Common Darter common

Loads of Common Darters around in the last few days. Yesterday I was watching two males arguing about territory. There were a lot of 180 turns on the spot which is some feat I reckon. Today I saw a pair copulating which is even more of a feat seeing as they can fly while locked in their embrace. The effect is of slightly wonky wheel in flight. Unfortunately the picture is of neither event - whilst I had my camera the best pose I got was a male just resting on the ground.

New Species - Holly Blue

Yet another species added to the butterfly list in what is becoming another good butterfly year. I saw a couple of Holly Blues although I do not have a plausible picture to show as I couldn't get close enough and ID was done through binoculars. There were also more Small Coppers about as there have been over the last week. Previous to that I had only seen them once in prior years.

By way of compensation for the lack of a butterfly photo I show a picture of a female Common Darter dragonfly that happened by while I was attemting to photograph the butterfly.

Large Yellow Underwing

I found a moth carcass in the kitchen this morning so I got the chance to do a formal ID. It is the common Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba) which I have seen before.

Kingfisher sighting

Caught a brief glimpse of a kingfisher yesterday - my first sighting for many months. I also found myself in the midst of a group of long-tailed tits one of whom was studying me intently. Again I haven't seen them around for a while. I also managed to formally identify the dragonflies that have been around in the last few days as Southern Hawkers. I was pretty sure that was what they were but eventually one perched conveniently close and I could ID it.

New species - Elephant Hawk Moth

I have not yet explored the moth species here - at some point I am going to get the equipment to trap them at night and see what's around. However it was good to spot a monster caterpillar and be able to identify it as Elephant Hawk Moth (Deilephila elpenor). The picture shows just the front section of this huge caterpillar which I estimate to be about 100mm long. I have left a lot of Willowherb around this year and perhaps this is my reward as the larva feeds on Willowherbs. I hope to see the adult version as it has a stunning pink and olive green design.