Emperor dragonfly

Every year at around this time I try to get to grips with dragonflies and every year I fail. There are only 39 resident species of this insect (with 13 migrants) to get my head around, but I just can`t seem to get the I.D. features in my thick skull.

One dragonfly that I can confidently identify though is the magnificent beast in the photos above, the Emperor. Britain`s bulkiest dragonfly, measuring a whopping 78mm, a regal insect of warm summer`s evenings that can be found in large ponds, lakes and flooded gravel pits and sometimes ditches and canals. It is widespread in southern Britain and where found is locally abundant. The site where I managed to get the above digiscoped shots is Maxey gravel pits, a site known for its breeding dragonflies as well as its birds. There are several other species of this insect present, some of which I will endeavour to photograph and identify over time.

The youth of today!

Young ducks and waders are undeniably (and I hate to use the word!) cute. They are just balls of fluff, but are very obviously birds, unlike other birds where the very young look like something from the Jurassic period! On my recent visit to Cley, two species of young bird were in good numbers, Shelduck and Avocet. The photos below are of a group of young Shelduck, very feisty youngsters that were constantly `attacking` the adult Avocets when they got too close and a couple of videos show some young Avocets, a group of three fairly young ones and a single that was nearly fully grown.

All together now, aawww!

Pacific Golden Plover

The Pacific Golden Plover at Cley in north Norfolk has been present for the past few days, another potential `lifer` was in the offing and so I made the not so distant journey from Peterborough on Sunday. The journey was made in less than quick time as the heavens decided to open upon reaching Kings Lynn, leading me to drive at 15mph! I did think of turning around, but pressed on regardless, fearing the worst, that the bird had drowned in all the rain! I arrived at Cley, the sun was shining and the bird was present and visible from the North Hide. I quickly made my way to the rather full hide and after ensconcing myself in a far corner I got my first views of a Pacific Golden Plover. This bird was in stunning breeding plumage and very active, constantly feeding and flying. Other birds present were 4 Spoonbills, dozens of Avocets, numerous Dunlin, a male Ruff and a rather splendid Spotted Redshank in breeding plumage (more of which another time).

I apologise for the above digiscoped images. The bird was constantly distant and these do not do justice to the absolutely stunning plumage detail of the bird, but there are useful as `record` shots, if nothing else!

The Pacific Golden Plover is a much rarer visitor to our shores than the American Golden Plover, with 80 or so recordings of the bird since 1870, with 80% of this total since 1990. The bird at Cley was showing the longer legs, longer tertials and the grey axillaries (under the wing) that help to tell this apart from `our` Golden Plover and it also called a couple of times, which helped in the I.D. department.

I am on a roll at the moment!

Pacific Golden Plover (video)

A trip to Cley Marshes on the north Norfolk coast produced this stunning adult Pacific Golden Plover in full breeding finery. A close relation to the American Golden Plover, but breeds in north Siberia and west Alaska and a rarer visitor to Britain, indeed another `lifer` ticked off.

This video is just a little taster until I wade through the hundreds of dodgy, distant digiscoped images and find something half-decent. Note the two Lapwing in the background having a `set-to`!

Northern Wheatear (from the archive)

A couple of shots showing two different male Wheatears taken earlier in the year at Maxey gravel pits. The bottom bird is, I think, a younger male as his `mask` is not quite as defined as the top bird. It won`t be long now until they start to make their return journey and they could well stop off at Maxey on their way through.

Little Bittern

Another weekend, another `twitch`.

With a visit to see my Dad planned on Sunday for Father`s Day and a `lifer` showing 20 miles from where my parents live, I decided to reduce my carbon footprint somewhat by doing both journeys in one go.

An adult female Little Bittern had been present at Rickmansworth Aquadrome for the past week, frequenting a small river and being remarkably `showy` for such a shy species. I had visions of adding another `tick` in my book. The sun was shining (a rarity in itself!) as I pulled into the car park where I was greeted by a few birders that had also just arrived. We all asked each other if any of us knew where to go, none of us did, but we found a map of the area and saw the location of the Little Bittern. We walked to the site, getting lost once, but there was no chance of missing the area as we were greeted by the following;

The bird was showing, but was constantly obscured by reeds, however I did get my first views of a Little Bittern in the U.K. and the world. She was constantly fishing, catching sticklebacks with consummate ease and at one point caught a newt, but was eventually flushed from her reedbed by a pair of Canada Geese, so I saw the bird in flight! Her new location was found, but whilst I was on site the bird never showed in the open and with my Dad expecting me, I left.

The only photo I have is below, a little obscured by reeds, but the bird is there;

For some better photos of this lovely bird click here.

The Little Bittern is a rare vagrant to our shores, although the species has bred here, in 1984 at a place called Potteric Carr in South Yorkshire, but there are an average of 5 sightings per year. A bird that is the size of a Moorhen and more at home in the warmer climes of Europe and the Middle East.