Fishlake Ospreys

Well its been an exciting time down at Fishlake Meadows with returning Hobbies putting in occasional appearances and at long last an Osprey decided it was a good place to stop en route on its long journey south. I say AN Osprey, but actually there has been more than one over the last 7 weeks. A friend of mine who lives on the estate nearby has seen no less than 3 in the air together, which would certainly seem to confirm my opinion that the current bird is not the original one I photographed a few weeks back, nor possibly the one I glimpsed previously from the car when driving to the local tip (causing some erratic driving).
Anyway, for the record, here is the one from the 17th of this month.

Looking straight at me, which is a bit unnerving.

It was a breezy day and it seemed as challenging for this magnificent bird of prey to stay balanced on its perch as it was for me to keep the camera steady on a momopod

After 30 minutes or so it hawked around over the ponds for a few minutes before circling off in the company of a Buzzard

Exciting though it is to see these birds locally, some of the more regular birds here which some people consider humdrum are far from mundane in my view. This Grey Wagtail kept me company (and kept me entertained) on the canal for quite a while when waiting for the Osprey to turn up. What a beautiful bird it is. Never still, and in the deep and dappled shade of the tree lined barge canal, it gave me all manner of photographic challenges. I know they aren't pin sharp, but I'm still quite pleased with the outcome.

Normal service will be resumed again soon

I have taken some time out from the world around me lately as it inexplicably shrank when my best friend's long life came to its inevitably sad conclusion. Winston was everyone's friend, he loved everyone and in return everyone loved him, but none moreso than us and he leaves a gap which will take a long long time to paper over. I don't think a kinder hearted being ever trod the earth and I know my family all feel priviledged to have shared his comfortable companionship and to have called him "ours".

Fishlake Meadows ...continued

I have been taking photographs, but I have been very lazy in sorting them out and sharing them. These date back to the 19th of July on a pleasant enough day when I was hoping to hear a bird again that may possibly have been a Savi's Warbler. Unfortunately, I never heard it again. Fortunately, there are always other things of interest, and on this day it was mostly Sedge and Reed Warbler fledglings, and insects. There was one fledgling that I couldn't positively identify and looked different from the others, so I will stick it in in the hope that someone more experienced than me might help me out..

A less welcome visitor to some, is this one..

Orange Balsam may not be anything like as invasive as Peruvian Balsam, but I suppose it really shouldn't be in this sort of setting. (I quite like it though).

One of my favourite small breeding birds on Fishlake is the Reed Bunting. Although the striking looking male wasn't showing himself on this day, and despite not usually being attracted by women with moustaches, I actually prefer this female's subtle mix of creams and browns

Very close to where she was sitting was this Water Knotweed looking pretty in pink, it isn't scarce here, but neither is it in profusion

One species that was in profusion was the Gatekeeper, they were flitting about everywhere, but finding one not on the wing proved quite difficult until this one eventually stopped by for a quick slurp of Ragwort nectar.

Also feeding on Ragwort, but in a different manner, were the Cinnabar moth caterpillars which had put on a considerable bulk since my previous post. Here they are still wearing their stripy pyjamas and gorging themselves on their unfortunate host.

I haven't seen so many Peacock butterflies as in previous years, but maybe its just been a question of wrong place at the wrong time, so I spent a little time in the company of this fresh as a daisy example (while being eaten by Horseflies). When the wings are folded, there is little to suggest what treasure may lie between

This one was a little shy in exposing its full glory

I know its a familiar butterfly to everyone, but I wonder how often we stop and really examine its beauty, the tiger stripes at the front, the dusting of bronze near the body, the ginger hairs, the raggedy but perfectly symmetrical coastline of the trailing edges, the gold tipped antennae... I suspect most of us are too mesmerised by the eye spots to take all this in. And that is just as well, because that is what they are there for.

On the way back up to the canal I at last found a Blue tailed Damselfly at rest in a place I could photograph it.
I love watching these things fly, the body almost gets lost against the dark ditch water and they look as though they are towing a bright blue flag by an invisible bit of string... ahem...maybe thats just me

When looking for butterflies, it is always a good idea to look not just on flowers, but on the ground. Butterflies often supplement their diet with various minerals and nutrients to be found in soil and other less palatable things to be found on the floor. This Red Admiral was not sunning itself as I first thought, but tasting something from the path as can be seen in the second picture

Near the canal the parallel ditch forms a very small pool which is often a good resting spot for dragonflies. Its also a good spot for the very strange Branched Bur-reed flowers, the male flowers above and the female flowers below all borne on the same stem.

I was buzzed here a few times by an Emperor dragonfly and a Southern Hawker (I think) but neither hung around for portraits. Much more obliging were the Common Darters of which there were quite a number around, each with their own particular perch. Of all the dragonflies these remind me most of helicopters, they hover quite regularly and at rest often fold there wings down as though ready to go in the hanger.

I know this looks like a studio shot, but it really isnt!

I tried a few in flight shots of which none were really successful, but I include this one as to me it reminds me of that helicopter in Thomas the Tank engine. I know. I have a vivid imagination. Anyway, it looks to have a cheeky grin. Actually the main reason for posting it was to show how the legs are tucked up in flight to reduce drag.

From the archives - Little Egret v Black-headed Gull

The weather down here last week was to say the least... blustery. Winds gusting to 60 mph is a little unseasonal and although the accompanying rain was much needed, the combination of the two was about as conducive to butterfly activity as it was to photography.
Instead, I spent a bit of time looking up some pictures from earlier in the year which for one reason or another I failed to post here and came up with a visit to Keyhaven with Russ and Maureen dating back to the 18th of April.
The weather does not have the monopoly on unseasonality.
I had hoped to post an animated gif here of the Little Egret below, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to be supported here. I tried flash as well but that didn't work either. Very annoying. Anyhow, this Little Egret had seemingly strayed  a little too near to a Black-headed Gull's nest and a noisy squabble broke out. One may assume that an Egret's size and armoury would make this a rather one sided battle...  but not a bit of it

Driven away, the Egret carried on fishing and the Gull carried on... gulling. Of course there was a point to this, a Little Egret's diet would happily include Gull chicks given the chance.
A couple of crops of the Egret, showing that just occasionally a bit of wind can make a photograph a lot more interesting.