One Skipper doesn't make a summer

Today, the last day of June, one tiny Large Skipper butterfly (Ochlodes venata) was dancing over the riverbank vegetation, moving so fast it was very difficult to follow, then another appeared, equally restless. Returning to the same area on the bank later at about midday at last I found one perched, feeding on a common daisy. It did not stay long but here is the photo.

The name 'Large Skipper' is deceptive as it can be smaller than

the 'Small Skipper' and written off as a small day-flying moth!

This is the first Skipper I've seen this year - they are always seen in sunny, warm, dry weather here and only fly when the sun shines, choosing sheltered places. It may just convince me that it's summer!

Another sign that it may be summer today was the fine sight nearby on riverbank nettles of large numbers of caterpillars - beautiful amongst the silky webs they had built for protection, with glossy black spines - showing that the caterpillars were in their final stage. They will leave their colony and find separate areas to pupate,  some even move to high trees.

What is the result? Peacock butterflies.

Hopefully they will grace the Riverside with their splendid colours at the end of July.

These caterpillars are about a month late this year but conditions are good at present.

Tufted Vetch (Vicia cracca) in the wild flower meadow

and Common Mouse-ear (Caryophyllaceae)

Diversity for Damselflies

Today, 14th June, started typically dull, cool and windy but the clouds suddenly cleared in time for the damselflies to demonstrate their flying and hunting abilities in the sun along the river.

 They were active in numbers in every sunny and sheltered spot amongst numerous midges skimming the water surface, hunting and catching prey then pausing to pose on a chosen leaf for a while, then off again. Banded Demoiselle,  Beautiful Demoiselle and Large Red damselflies were the most numerous, some preferring calm and still waters whilst others prefer locations where the water is fast flowing.

Here, the rivers provide a suitable diversity of habitat to suit these different species, with plentiful and diverse bankside vegetation.

 A Banded Demoiselle damselfly (Calopteryx splendens) male on a hazel leaf in the afternoon sun this

afternoon. The dark band, like a thumb print on each wing gives it its name - but only the males have this characteristic and they are more often seen chasing and perching in the sun. The females enjoy dense nettlebeds and tall fresh grasses where they merge into the background colours.

The spikes along the legs are used for catching prey such as flies on the wing and hold the prey securely whilst it is eaten. 

This shows the fine structural engineering of the wing, very light but very strong, operated by strong wing shoulder muscles.

The same Banded Demoiselle damselfly and its shadow on its hazel

 leaf, showing its relative size. 

(the leaf has been chewed by another insect, probably caterpillars)

This damselfly is a Large Red damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) male, perching on a favoured

nettle leaf on the river bank. It's not all that large, but they vary in size according to the timing of their emergence, those emerging early in the year being larger as early hatching larvae usually have the best choice of locations for feeding. This year was not typical, as these Large Reds emerged late, together with other species of damselfly, whereas they are normally the very first to emerge in the late spring. 

June contrasts

After a few fine days with a drying and cool NE wind, it was back to rain brought on a south westerly wind but this morning, just before the rain set in, under cloudy, windy skies, the fine sight of a Red Kite gliding in circles over the river, with a kestrel closer to the ground, also gliding rather than hovering, covering the same ground.

Here are some fine weather views from the previous few days

on the Riverbank:

The wheat crop growing well in fields just across the river, with an old

Blackthorn hedgerow and oaks

A Brimstone Butterfly resting after some marathon flying,

looking like a pale leaf, fluttering along the river.

 This butterfly needs Purging Buckthorn which 

grows in scrub in neutral areas, or Alder Buckthorn which grows

 in scrub in acidic areas.

AZURE damselfly male (Coenagrion puella) perching in the sun on river bank vegetation

AZURE damselfly female nearby on the river bank

Sunday 2nd June 2013 - a fine sunny morning with a NW breeze and grass wet with dew, strangely the river was higher than during early June last year - but the 2012 June floods were yet to come.

Large numbers of our local birds were very active on the riverside - it was good to hear the constant chatter of house sparrows (70) with juveniles joining the adults on their first exploration of the river - lining up along the fence, waiting to be fed whilst their parents collected insects in amongst the Blackthorn and deep amongst the Hawthorn blossom where insects were plentiful - at last, after a long cold spring, enough food for all. Blackbirds seen were adults, some singing whilst others collected food for young still in the nest, very late this year. (29)

The smell of Wild Garlic on the banks was not as potent as it had been, being replaced now with other more fragrant wild flowers. Robins (10) were singing and 'fly catching', some singing loudly in competition with the chiffchaffs in the oaks. Woodpigeons (17) were wing-flapping displaying and preparing nests, they will have several broods, nesting until late in the autumn. Blue tits (18) and great tits (8) were elusive as nesting means no singing or roaming far - they save energy by collecting food close to their nests.

Chaffinches were still singing however (6) and a single dunnock sang out from a shady tree root. Wrens (11) were singing, each in its own territory low along the river, nesting late as are most birds this year. The late spring has had huge advantages, late nesting coincides with a proliferation of insect species, feeding on late spring plants and flowers, the late blossoming of the hedgerow and thicket plants mean bountiful crops of berries and fruits later, unaffected by frost. 

Nuthatches (4) however were quite early to nest and the youngsters were out and about, giving quiet contact calls, feeding on insects until the autumn brings (hopefully) a choice of nuts and they are again in competition with the Jays (2 seen today) and squirrels. A green woodpecker flew silently across - an adult visiting its nest does not draw attention to it. Goldfinches, just 2 were seen as they split up their flocks and keep quiet too.

Very faint calls above - a party of long-tailed tits,(6) juveniles not yet in their full adult plumage were foraging together in the Blackthorn - both these and the wrens, together with other ground and low-level nesting birds were all affected by the June floods last year - this year they will make up for the losses. A song thrush was busy under the cover of a hedge base, collecting food, definitely a late nester this year, whilst a great spotted woodpecker flew across from the trees. In the air just 10 starling appeared, 2 crows, a jackdaw and 3 magpies were seen. Noise above alerted me to a single herring gull over the river, trying to 'mob' a fine superior buzzard. The buzzard sailed away and 5 swifts were seen whizzing around directly overhead, collecting insects. Down on the river bank, a peaceful scene of a mallard pair dozing, safely sheltered from predators by the river bank vegetation and out of sight from predators on the wing under the overhanging branches. 2 more were heard, hidden from view (4).

Best of all were the visiting migrant warblers, the calling chiffchaffs (6), male blackcaps singing their beautiful songs from the willows and Hawthorn blossom (5), 2 willow warblers, a reed  

warbler amongst the tall grasses, 2 garden warblers flying amongst the willows, identified by their song and the whitethroats (11) such characters!