One thing we did notice this time is that it's not just Mum who stays in the nest brooding the eggs, both parents take it in turns. Isn't that lovely? :-)
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| Taken through the kitchen window on Saturday morning. |
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| This is why they are very hard to see during the day! There are two here and only their little beaks give them away. |
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| But yesterday afternoon they were taken up the far end by the parents. So final count - four babies! |
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| All that white fluff is catkins from willow trees and fluffy seed heads from the Balsam Poplar. |
More excitement seeing the first damselflies here yesterday afternoon. I saw a pair of Large Red Damselflies mating. Honestly, they've probably only just eclosed and they were at it already. You'd think that insects had sex on their minds, or something. ;-) I couldn't get photos of them so here are a couple from last year.
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| Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula). |
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| "Hello!" |
I also saw this one when I did have a camera with me. ID is quite hard at times but I think this is a female (maybe immature) Common Blue. Mature males are a lot easier to ID!
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| Possibly female Common Blue (Enallagma cyathigerum). |
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| And another view of it. |
I'll be doing another blog post shortly as I have tons of insects to share that I've been spotting this last week, some of which are new to me, which is all the more fun as whilst trying to ID them, I get to learn about them.
Great set (as I expect) Mandy. I do like the shots with the water reflections co-starring with the moorhens. Doesn't matter that you can't get close as the overall effect is great.
ReplyDeleteDon't think I'll see any damsel flies till we get to France in July - but then I won't have the camera as we will be on the tandem. I'll have terrible withdrawal symptoms.
Thanks Nick but I feel peeved because I look at all the amazing bird photography on G+ and wonder how on earth...... even with the DSLR and 300mm lens these birds would be just a blob in the far distance and the SX50 has more than twice the magnification (but lacks quality). I have to be within 10 foot of a small bird to get a halfway decent photo and that's practically impossible except when I hide under a tree and shoot at my peanut feeder! Bah humbug. :-) But hey it's a record for me of life on the pond, eh? :-)
DeleteNo camera! How can you not? Don't you at least have a point and shoot pocket camera? I'm shocked. ;-)
Brilliant macros of the damselfly and it's lovely to catch a little glimpse of the new family of Moorhens
ReplyDeleteThanks Rosie - a glimpse is mostly all we're getting of the baby moorhens but it is always fun to try, and they grow up so fast I'm glad I managed a few photos! Looking forward to seeing (and capturing) more damsels and dragons as the season progresses. :-)
DeleteLovely to see your baby moorhens Mandy.
ReplyDeletePhilippa
Thank you Philippa, it's always a fun time each year! :-)
DeleteIrresistibly C U T E !!! How wonderful to see them out of your window :-) Excellent D-fly images too!
ReplyDeleteJust got back from a fantastic adventure to Utah. We're already eager to go back. Anyway...it's going to take me so long to catch up on my favorite blogs! Hope you and your O.H. are well.
Marianne! I've just been all through your Instagram pics of your vacation and loved them all. Thinking about joining just so I can comment occasionally on your posts! Twitter is not the place to comment really, other than a few words, and anyway I hardly look there. I sometimes post a link to my blog posts but that's only because at the bottom of the post there's a share to Twitter button. :-)
DeleteWe are well and thanks for asking, and thanks for visiting! :-)
Oh forget that, I can't figure out how you actually join Instagram, there is only a log in option, not open an account. :-/
ReplyDeleteHi Mandy,how nice to have Moorhen's on your lake, the large red Damselfly is stunning.
ReplyDeleteHope I have found the answer to the little webs in the top of nettles, there still could be other insects using the nettle.
Each day I have checked them and to day I found Spindle Ermine (Yponomeuta cagnagella) caterpillar.
Just the one, they build webs in the leaves, it was busy eating the nettle, had a look on the net, and they can build quite big webs and there can be allot of them in one "nest" . Will post photo on blog soon, like you I have sooooo many insects to name, but having fun researching, learning allot.
Amanda x
Thanks Amanda - it's great seeing baby moorhens each year but we are on tenterhooks every time a heron comes by because they'll eat the babies if they get a chance. :-(
DeleteRe the caterpillars - the Spindle Ermine eats Spindle (Euonymus europaeus)! I have them here and also another Yponomeuta which eats my Sedums and makes horrible tents around them. There are various different Ermine moths so maybe it is one of the others? I look forward to seeing your photos!
Ah, here it is! I guess hugging the moorhen babies is not an option?
ReplyDeleteOh if only, I wish I could! But it is better for their safety that they are tucked away out of sight! Thanks for looking, Jan, I thought you might be interested. :-)
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