Lakenheath Dragons

Thursday's hot weather suited the Damselflies and Dragonflies at Lakenheath; I particularly enjoyed the Willow Emerald which were everywhere through the reserve together with Common and Ruddy Darters and Migrant and Brown Hawkers.

Yesterday was our monthly Dragonfly and Butterfly count at Paxton Pits and, despite the windy weather , we ended up with reasonable numbers of both groups. Brown Argus are particularly common this year and good to catch a mating pair. Lots of Ruddy and Common Darters, Emerald (with blue on body and black stigma) and Willow Emerald (green with pale stigma) Spread wings, Brown and Migrant Hawkers, Common Damselflies and Variable mating in the Water Soldier area.

Paxton Safari

A very pleasant morning spent at Paxton with Jo yesterday seeing what was lurking in the vegetation and, as usual, the number of insects was outstanding including this Musk Beetle, Banded Demoiselles, Migrant Hawkers, Common and Ruddy Darters, Brown Chinamark Moth (only moth where larvae are completely aquatic), numerous fly species and Wasps but also a Grass  Snake and White-lipped Snail. The images were taken with two extremes of focal length for 'macro' - 23mm with Supplementary lens (eg beetle) and 450mm telephoto (demoiselle etc!).

 

It's Behind You - Spiders at Lakenheath

Although not as plentiful as previous autumns, there were plenty of different spiders and harvestmen at Lakenheath on Wednesday - this wren was hunting for food in the undergrowth but somehow missed this one or perhaps it is not a palatable food item. Despite searching widely, I haven't located any literature on which species of spiders are or are not eaten by birds. Possible species ID: Harvestman Leiobunum rotundum, Araneus marmoreus, Araneus quadratus, Pisaurus mirabilis. (For next year's ID help - Ruddy Darter (black legs), Common Darter (striped legs))