{"id":4617,"date":"2016-06-06T14:34:23","date_gmt":"2016-06-06T14:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/?p=4617"},"modified":"2016-06-09T12:51:39","modified_gmt":"2016-06-09T12:51:39","slug":"downy-emerald-at-thursley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/06\/downy-emerald-at-thursley\/","title":{"rendered":"Marsh Orchids, Downy Emeralds, Beautiful Demoiselles: Yes it’s Thursley Common"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Marsh<\/a>
Marsh Orchid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was a cloudless morning, perfect for a walk around Thursley Common to look for dragonflies, other insects, birds, and bog flowers too.<\/p>\n

The bog pools were surrounded by Marsh Orchids in lovely purple bloom.<\/p>\n

A few lizards, one with a regrowing tail, sunned themselves on the boardwalks.<\/p>\n

Masses of Black-Tailed Skimmers chased aggressively about the pools, along with a few blue damselflies and some Black Darters. Some Large Red Damselflies warmed up on the heather, well away from the pools.<\/p>\n

\"Lizard<\/a>
Lizard regrowing tail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Curlew called (or is it sang?) its beautiful, melancholic mating cry, flying high, slowly, and holding out its wings in a distinctive curve: something like a small heron, but with its incredible long downcurved bill, and tail feathers spread showily. It’s a rare delight, not least because Thursley is the only place Curlews breed for many miles around.<\/p>\n

\"Stonechats<\/a>
Stonechats on dead tree<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stonechats sang their brief grating song from conspicuous viewpoints all over the common, sometimes in little family groups.<\/p>\n

A Tree Pipit gave a fine display of its song flight from a tall tree.<\/p>\n

On a lake filled with Yellow Water-Lilies at the edge of the common, gigantic Carp lurked and splashed at the surface, and Downy Emeralds chased, seeming club-tailed.<\/p>\n

\"Downy<\/a>
Downy Emerald (I only got this distant reflection)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Green Tiger Beetle whirred on to the path – a very strange flight jizz,\u00a0 but easily recognized once close enough.<\/p>\n

\"Green<\/a>
Green Tiger Beetle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Scorpion<\/a>
Scorpion Fly<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Perhaps the most tantalizingly lovely insect of the day, however, was this Beautiful Demoiselle, shining iridescent Lapis Lazuli blue against the delicate pale green of a birch sprig.<\/p>\n

\"Beautiful<\/a>
Beautiful Demoiselle on Birch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a cloudless morning, perfect for a walk around Thursley Common to look for dragonflies, other insects, birds, and bog flowers too. The bog pools were surrounded by Marsh Orchids in lovely purple bloom. A few lizards, one with a regrowing tail, sunned themselves on the boardwalks. Masses of Black-Tailed Skimmers chased aggressively about … Continue reading Marsh Orchids, Downy Emeralds, Beautiful Demoiselles: Yes it’s Thursley Common<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[90],"tags":[812,1040,1038,240,1039,825,314,320,1041],"class_list":["post-4617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-natural-history","tag-common-lizard","tag-curlew","tag-downy-emerald","tag-foxglove","tag-green-tiger-beetle","tag-marsh-orchid","tag-stonechat","tag-tree-pipit","tag-yellow-water-lily"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4617"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4633,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4617\/revisions\/4633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}