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Tag Archives: nature reserve

Critters at RSPB Ham Wall

13 Tuesday Jun 2017

Posted by sconzani in animals, insects, nature, parks

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Black-tailed skimmer, caddisfly, Common tortoiseshell, damselfly, Four-spotted Chaser, nature reserve, Roe deer, RSPB Ham Wall, Shapwick Heath

The only problem with going on a birding trip is that, in order to get photos of the birdies, I usually have my long lens on my camera, which means it’s then not easy to get photos of all the lovely smaller creatures I see as I’m walking around. And both RSPB Ham Wall Nature Reserve and, just across the road, Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve have a profusion of delightful, and sometimes rare smaller creatures to be seen.

170613 Shapwick Heath

In particular, we saw a wealth of damsel- and dragonflies, including several of the Four-spotted chasers and Black-tailed skimmers shown below and, we think, the unusual Variable damselfly (though this can be tricky to identify). Spiders were particularly abundant on the path-side scrub, as were Dock beetles, judging from all the holey leaves we saw.

170613 4-spotted chaser
170613 Black-tailed skimmer

170613 RSPB Ham Wall critters (1)

170613 RSPB Ham Wall critters (2)

We rescued several large hairy caterpillars which were determinedly marching across the paths but risked annihilation from feet and bicycle tyres, as well as one large and very friendly Caddisfly (above). Butterflies weren’t as plentiful as I expected, though we did see good numbers of very fresh Small tortoiseshells, presumably newly hatched.

170613 Small tortoiseshells (2)
170613 Small tortoiseshells (1)

The most unexpected sighting, and a highlight for me, was a Roe deer on the canal-side bank in Shapwick Heath. Only its head and its very large ears could be seen, as it munched happily on a large green mouthful of vegetation while keeping a close eye on our admiring group of photographers.

170613 Roe deer

As I mentioned in yesterday’s piece on the birds of Ham Wall, you really need a week to explore these superb reserves thoroughly and then you might be lucky enough to see their resident water voles and otters. I have to go back!

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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