A handsome landscaped lake, forested banks, open water, marginal vegetation … and a mass of algae indicating eutrophication (and a heatwave)
Reed Mace and Water Mint beside the lake
Branched Bur-Reed beside the lake
Small Red-eyed Damselfly; many Black-Tailed Skimmers raced above the water and around the marginal vegetation, with a few Emperor Dragonflies and some blue damselflies (Common Blue or Azure).
Cattle grazing on the dry grass of the pleasantly English parkland landscape, in a prolonged heatwave
Weld (Reseda luteola), a tall handsome forb even when past flowering.
Female Common Blue butterfly on Creeping Thistle
Meadow Brown, once so common I wouldn’t have thought to photograph it: now declining across Britain, but happily still thriving here at Osterley. Also around the meadow flowers were plenty of Gatekeepers.
The heat dome over Europe has made water bodies like Kew’s lake all the more special. In the 30 C heat of the afternoon, the dragonflies sparkle, shimmer, and flash across the water, hardly perching, diving at each other in lightning-rapid defences of territory. This male Ruddy Darter perched long enough between aerial sallies to be pictured.
Common Blue Damselflies skittered about, perching for a few seconds at a time.
Higher over the water, Emperor Dragonflies patrolled ceaselessly. Smaller species like Black-tailed Skimmers and Broad-bodied Chasers flashed low over the water.
Pairs of Small Red-eyed Damselflies settled on the Duckweed near the margin of the lake, the females repeatedly laying eggs while the males clasped their necks.
An extremely tame fox panted in the heat, hoping for dainty morsels of food from nearby picnickers.
Alder forest! The species likes to get its feet wet, growing by rivers and lakes. Here, a patch of damp low-lying land by the Tarn on the common gives a rare opportunity for a whole stand of the trees: surprisingly handsome, given their usual appearance as riverside bushes.Black-tailed Skimmer resting near the Tarn. Several of them zoomed over the water, with an Emperor; a Great Crested Grebe fished; a fish jumped.Large Skipper under the BirchesA Birch, unusually carpeted in crusty orange lichen (not Xanthoria, I think) or perhaps a non-lichen fungusHandsome Polytrichum moss on forest floorA Robber Fly with its prey, on Bracken
The whole of the wetland was sparkling with Emperor Dragonflies patrolling the pools: a few females laid eggs by Water-Lilies, the males occasionally chasing prey, or a rival. The margins were full of Azure Damselflies, nearly all males: I saw one pair in wheel formation.
The marshy areas bristled with Southern Marsh OrchidsRed-Eyed Damselfly
Several Red-Eyed Damselfly males displayed on lily-pads, chasing off rivals; occasionally an Azure came by too. Over one or two of the smaller pools, a Hairy Dragonfly patrolled; one of them had an aerial tussle with a similarly-sized red dragonfly, I think a Common Darter.
Yellow Rattle
Overhead, quite a few Sand Martins caught insects over the water (well, the Wetland Centre does sport West London’s only Sand Martin bank, an artificial river cliff), along with a few Swifts, and I think exactly one Swallow … it feels as if something terrible has happened to these populations. They have to migrate across the Sahel, the Sahara, the Mediterranean, and numerous populations of hungry village boys and keen shooters, so it’s something of a miracle there are any left: and that’s not even speaking about climate change.
Blue and yellow Vetches bringing colour to the tall grassland, with tendrils everywhere
A couple of Common Terns, presumably those breeding on the Wetland Centre’s lake islands, made their bright and cheery waterbird calls as they wheeled about, searching for glimpses of tiny fish to dive in and catch.
Common Spotted Orchid
There were only a few butterflies about – a Red Admiral, a Holly Blue, a couple of Speckled Wood, some Whites, a female Brimstone. For me, the bees and pollinators looked well down on normal, too. Amidst the warmth of the day, the beauty, the peace, and the brilliant colours, it is a sombre tale of decline.
Thick-Kneed Flower Beetle on Iris among the rampant herbs in the Ramp MeadowBlack-Tailed Skimmer Dragonfly: a female or an immature male (the mature males have a blue abdomen with black tip)
Male Golden-Ringed Dragonfly, on GorseDowny Emerald Dragonfly over Moat Pond, Thursley CommonBlack-tailed skimmer in a bog poolLarge Red Damselflies in cop over a bog stream, a pleasant corner on a hot day. The female is immature, with brighter colours than older females of this species. The female Large Red Damselfly has a black line along the top of her abdomen. Keeled Skimmer – these little guys were whizzing about like crazy!
Also seen: one Emperor over the Moat Pond; Common Darters; Southern Hawker; Common Blue Damselfly.
Four-Spotted Chaser, on a fine lookout
There were few birds about, but they were good: the only pair of Curlews nesting in Hampshire, both seen, and both heard, flying from their nestplace over the bog, calling continuously (and evocatively) and landing separately; Dartford Warbler, a terrific view, the long tail cocked, and hopping about on a tuft of dry grass; Stonechat; Skylark; Buzzard. On the main lake, just Mallard, Coot, Tufted Duck; on the Moat Pond, Moorhen.
Four-Spotted Chaser, resting on HeatherSouthern Marsh-Orchid Dactylorhiza praetermissaPicture-Winged Fly on sandy pathLarge Red Damselfly on one of the splendid boardwalksMain lake in Thursley’s acid bogBogbean flowers emerging from the main lakePines and Heather – simple but special, compete with a Cuckoo singing, a Stonechat, and a Dartford Warbler
Don’t eat me!Emperor moth caterpillar being eaten by ants
Thursley Common scene looking across bog with dead Pines, open lake with Canada geese, encroaching Birch scrub and Pine forest in the distance
Goldfinch atop Pine tree
Tailless Lizard on boardwalkHoney-scented banks of Bell Heather, Gorse, Birch on Thursley CommonBee-Wolf with Bee preySmall Ammophila Sand-wasp, scurrying about in the heather searching for preyThursley Common: managing the heather by mowing irregular stripsBlack-Tailed SkimmerKeeled SkimmerBlack Darter, a tiny dragonflyCommon DarterThursley Common – the sandy paths full of sand-wasps and bee-wolves, the heather full of bees and grasshoppers
Also saw Common Blue Damselfly, Southern Hawker, Emperor Dragonfly.
A pond at Bramshill. Reedmaces in foreground, water level well down in current drought. Succession (sere) from open water – floating pondweed – emergent plants e.g. rushes, then reed and reedmace, then willow bushes, finally birch-oak mixed forest
Black-Tailed Skimmer on his lookout perch
Common Darter: he too constantly returned to this perch
Brown Hawker female, ovipositing
The ‘beach’ on the Long Pond, Bramshill
Emperor Dragonfly on reedmaces at end of Long Pond, Bramshill. Zipping about were lots of blue/azure damselflies, common darters, and black-tailed skimmers, and a few bluetails.
The Long Pond, Bramshill – perfect dragonfly habitat. Open water with floating weed, bordered by beds of rushes, reeds, willow and alder bushes. Conifers in the background
Common Fleabane – a handsome yellow composite in forest ditch, Bramshill
Round-Leaved Sundew Drosera rotundifolia, an insectivorous plant
Red-topped Cladonia floerkana lichens
OK, ok, you wanted some dragonflies. There were masses of Black-Tailed Skimmers chasing about in groups at Pudmore Pond. Black Darters, Common Blue Damselflies, and Small Red Damselflies skittered about the smaller ponds. A large Hawker or two dashed past, unidentifiable, probably Southern Hawker. A Keeled Skimmer perched conveniently nearby, daintier than the Black-Tailed.
Among the birds, some 50 Swallows were roosting on telegraph wires early in the day. Families of young Stonechats gave grating contact calls, unlike the stone-clicking call of the adults. A Redstart flicked its tail in the bushes. Skylarks rose and sang almost too high to see against the clouds over the heathy hills, Shelley described it perfectly in his ‘To a Skylark’: “a flood of rapture so divine”.
Black-Tailed Skimmer
The English seem unemotional … except for their passion for nature
