Stripy

My bug hunt around the garden this morning yielded nothing much that I haven't photographed and posted before, so I decided to take a trip to Trench Wood to see if there was more to be seen there. It was fine but quite chilly, and scudding cloud was hiding the sun every few minutes, so I was doubtful about the project - but in the event I had an enjoyable walk, and found plenty of things to interest me and the camera.

If you'd care to see some of my favourite finds, I've posted a selection to Facebook. You'll notice that all of the nectar feeders I photographed were posing on Devil's-bit Scabious, the reason being that this was the only thing in flower in the sections of the wood that I visited. Luckily it's having a good year and there's plenty around, but even so, competition for the flower heads was fierce.

Odonata-wise, my find of the day was a male Migrant Hawker, which was hunting alongside a couple of Southern Hawkers in the scrub behind the pond. I've never recorded this species at Trench Wood before, so it's lucky that he landed briefly and allowed me photo, albeit at quite a distance. I think I may have seen a female over the pond as well, but she was moving too fast for me to be certain.

I've chosen this Common Darter as my photo of the day for two reasons. Firstly because he's quite new; it feels late for these little guys to still be emerging, but I spotted a number of immature Common and Ruddy Darters on the rides, and that seems worth noting. And secondly because it took patient stalking to get as close as this, and having achieved the proximity I wanted I'm quite pleased with the way the photo came out. Please do take a look at it full-screen, if you have the time, and admire Nature's perfect little feat of engineering.