06 Friday Sep 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, nature
Water, and the way it interacts with other materials, can be fascinating. Take the water droplets on this feather, for example.
Considering there weren’t any droplets on the surrounding dirt or grass, I’m not exactly sure why the water is clinging to the feather in this way. Presumably it has something to do with the structure of the feather itself, the miniscule hooks and barbs that hold the feather together and help to keep a bird waterproof. It certainly was lovely to look at.
05 Thursday Sep 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature
Tags
#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, blackbird, British birds, moulting bird, moulting Blackbird
As I’m sure most of you know, birds undergo a moult of their feathers after breeding, which is why everything goes very quiet for a few weeks: they’re vulnerable to predation while their new feathers are growing in. This Blackbird appears to have completed its moult of body feathers but not yet its head. Either that or it has some kind of infection or parasite, perhaps, that’s caused this partial loss.
Fortunately, the bird’s baldy look is not affecting its ability to get about or feed. As I watched this morning, it cleared away a big pile of leaves and snaffled down the fat juicy worm it found.
04 Wednesday Sep 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature
Tags
#365DaysWild, British dragonflies, dragonflies, dragonfly, dragonfly eating wasp, Hawker dragonflies, Southern hawker, wasp
Today’s lunchtime snack for this Southern hawker dragonfly had a sting in the tail: it was a wasp. The dragonfly, though, started its meal from the other end, first devouring the head, then removing the wings, before steadily munching its way down the body.
This was obviously not good news for the wasp but it was good news for me, as this was the first Southern hawker that’s stayed still long enough this year for me to grab some photos.
02 Monday Sep 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature
Tags
#365DaysWild, British insects, cricket, Dark bush-cricket, meadow insects, Pholidoptera griseoaptera
I’ve been back to the field where I saw Friday’s ‘grappling grasshoppers’ to investigate the other interesting insects I noticed. This is one of them, a gloriously ‘armoured’ Dark bush-cricket (Pholidoptera griseoaptera).
According to the Buglife website, you ‘must creep up on them to see them properly’ but, luckily, I had my zoom lens, plus this creature was probably quite confident in its ability to out-leap me if necessary and was too happy basking in the sunshine to be bothered about me.
01 Sunday Sep 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, autumn, flowers, nature, seasons, wildflowers
Tags
#365DaysWild, Autumn Lady’s-tresses, British orchids, British wildflowers, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, orchids, Spiranthes spiralis
Happy (calendar) Autumn!
Today’s plant couldn’t be more appropriate – these are Autumn lady’s-tresses (Spiranthes spiralis). True to their name, they usually appear when the weather turns more autumnal, and their twirling spiral form apparently reminded their original namer of the ringlets once popular in women’s hairstyles.
Though they like to grow in very short turf, Autumn lady’s-tresses are themselves quite small and, surrounded as these were by other wildflowers, especially the superficially similar Eyebright, they weren’t easy to spot.
Luckily for me, when I was having an early wander around Cosmeston this morning, I bumped into a friend of a friend, who is extremely knowledgeable about the local flora, and he very kindly showed me where these gorgeous little orchids were growing.
31 Saturday Aug 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, autumn, birds, nature
The yellowing of the leaves on the tree outside my window, my sightings of migrating birds, the cooler night-time temperatures have all been telling me for a couple of weeks that autumn is on its way, something the calendar will agree with tomorrow. But, for me, one of the true indicators is the arrival of the Turnstones, back from their breeding season in Greenland and northern Canada.
The five I spotted on the Ely embankment this morning still show some of their summer colouring but those chestnut feathers will soon disappear as the birds complete their moult into winter plumage. Welcome back, my little friends!
30 Friday Aug 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature
‘Aw, isn’t that sweet?’ I thought when I spotted this couple of Meadow grasshoppers today. ‘He’s got his arm around her.’
Of course, there was a bit more going on than that and, as I watched, another part of his anatomy swung around her body to make contact with her vital parts. No wonder he’s got a glint in his eye!
29 Thursday Aug 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature
Tags
#365DaysWild, autumn migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, migrating birds, Spot fly, Spotted flycatcher
The day started cool, with a heavy dew and clouds hiding the sun, and I thought I wasn’t going to find a lot during my Cosmeston meander. I was wrong.
Once the sun came out so did the creatures: two Green woodpeckers together on the grassy track ahead; two migrating Whinchats, my first this season; a Hummingbird hawkmoth that only hummed a little before landing on the dirt track in front of me – not something I’ve ever seen before; another magnificent Clouded yellow; and, today’s star, yet another Spotted flycatcher, my fifth at Cosmeston in the past week and the most confiding, allowing me to get quite close for photos. It has been a wonderful, and much needed, immersion in Nature today.
28 Wednesday Aug 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature
I am sometimes guilty of overlooking the ordinary but this photo, which I am very pleased with and now have as the desktop image on my laptop, reminds me of how truly lovely is the ‘ordinary’ Meadow brown butterfly. I tend to overlook it in favour of more colourful or unusual species, yet it is a butterfly that continues to grace the local meadows even now, when many of the other butterflies have gone for the year. I am rebuked by its beauty!
16 Friday Aug 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature
Tags
#365DaysWild, British dragonflies, British moths, dragonfly eating moth, Emperor dragonfly, Oak eggar, Oak eggar moth
Another male Emperor dragonfly eating his lunch photo – the only time I manage to catch them is when they’re eating! This time, thanks to a couple of my talented moth-er friends, I can confirm that the Emperor is munching on a male Oak eggar moth.
earthstar 
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