I had a wander along to East Blean wood today on quite a windy day but with some good sunny intervals. It was very nice to be able to have the chance to pay a visit and the variety of greens in the various leaves looked lovely as I made my way along with the sunlight streaming through the trees.
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| East Blean Wood |
I could hear a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a little further along a Green Woodpecker yaffled. I came across a Longhorn Beetle and on looking it up it appears to be a White-clouded Longhorn Beetle Mesosa nebulosa. It seems unlikely that it is one as they are rare in Southern England and apparently the adults are nocturnal but I have not found anything else that looks like it.
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| White-clouded Longhorn Beetle Mesosa nebulosa |
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| White-clouded Longhorn Beetle Mesosa nebulosa |
I could hear Chiffchaff singing and a Nuthatch (120) called from a fair way away. I came across a very pretty micro moth Alabonia geoffrella. It really was a little beauty.
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| Alabonia geoffrella |
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| Alabonia geoffrella |
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| Alabonia geoffrella |
Scorpionflies were resting up here and there before flying on hunting sorties. I came across one that had less banding on its abdomen than I have seen before.
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| Scorpionfly |
A Treecreeper (121) was working its way along by spiralling up the trunks of the trees before dropping to the base of the next one. A Heath Fritillary was resting up and its underwing pattern looked lovely in the sunshine.
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| Heath Fritillary |
Blue Tits, Great Tits and Coal Tits were calling away from various trees as I made my way along a couple of Grey Squirrel were chasing each other round. A Norfolk Hawker was on the wing and settled nearby allowing some good views even though it was against a very bright background so I struggled to get the exposure right. They are lovely dragonflies.
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| Norfolk Hawker |
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| Norfolk Hawker |
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| Norfolk Hawker |
I came across what I think is a blue form female Variable Damselfly going from the bar between the eyes, the shape of the pronotum and the size of the blue on S4 and 5.
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| Variable Damselfly |
I started to make my way back and stopped to admire a female Broad-bodied Chaser with the light streaming from behind through its wings. As I moved past it I was able to see it from different angles and it gave some superb views. What a beauty.
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| Broad-bodied Chaser |
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| Broad-bodied Chaser |
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| Broad-bodied Chaser |
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| Broad-bodied Chaser |
I had a look around the car park area. The advantage of it being closed was that the Dragonflies there were able to hunt and rest up without disturbance. I could hear a Tawny Owl (122) calling in the distance which was a welcome sound. Another Norfolk Hawker was resting up and allowed some good views.
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| Norfolk Hawker |
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| Norfolk Hawker |
Hairy Dragonflies were on the wing and, again, allowed some very good views while resting up. They are striking and beautiful dragonflies and it was nice to be able to see both male and female.
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| female Hairy Dragonfly |
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| female Hairy Dragonfly |
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| female Hairy Dragonfly |
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| Male Hairy Dragonfly |
I finished the visit watching Wood Ants around their nest moving sizeable pieces of vegetation with often 2 or 3 appearing to work together when a piece proved to be too big for just one.
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| Wood Ants |
It had been a very enjoyable time spent.
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