A sunny visit to Maple Lodge NR

I had a nice afternoon at Maple Lodge today - the sun shone for most of it which meant there were a lot of critters about for me to try and photograph

 

But first stop had to be at the Rotunda Hide to see the ever growing expanse of emerging Southern Marsh Orchids

 

Dave Simms count today was 2725 !!!! Which is pretty incredible when five years ago the count on 31/05/14 was just 438 !

 

 

There was a lovely Small Magpie Moth on a tarpaulin by the wildlife pond

 

 

And the fairly windless day meant there were a few butterflies settling for a photo shoot

Peacock

male Orange Tip showing the detailed underwing

male Orange Tip showing the upperwing

fresh Brimstone

tatty Brimstone

Along the Woodland Walk a cacophony of soft calls made me look up to see a small flock of juvenile Long-tailed Tits

 

 

There were several hoverfly species on the wing today but I only managed pics of two species

 

Episyrphus balteatus

 I'm pretty sure the hoverfly below is one of the Cheilosia species - possibly Cheilosia proxima

 

 

This tiny little critter below is a Nettle Weevil

 

 

As to be expected at this time of year there were hundreds of damselflies about

Below are female and male Common Blues

 

 

I think todays high-light was spotting this stunning female Broad Bodied Chaser in the Paddock

 

As always a very enjoyable few hours on site

 

 

 

New beginnings at Cranford Park

The forecast this morning was good for my weekly UKBMS butterfly transect but the wind was a little chilly so not many butterflies were on the wing

 

During the 75 minute walk I counted only 12 butterflies of 5 species

 

Green-veined White x 1

Orange Tip x 1

Common Blue x 5 (first of the season)

Holly Blue x 1

Speckled Wood x 4

 

Common Blue - female

The wildlife pond in front of the Information Centre has attracted three species of odonata

 

 

Large Red Damselfly

 

Common Blue Damselfly

Broad-bodied Chaser

That's not bad for a wildlife pond that is now in its second year plus a recent survey showed there were Common Newts there too

 

Nearly every buttercup contained a male Thick-legged Flower Beetle - only the males have the wonderful thunder thighs

 

 

There are quite a few young fledglings in the park now - I saw young Robins - Blue Tits - Great Tits and this juvenile Goldfinch

 

 

But the high light of my visit was accidentally finding a Nuthatch nest

 

I was taking photos near one of the apple trees when an alarm call made me look up

 

Looking down at me was a Nuthatch - I don't often see these in the park so I took a couple of pics and felt quite chuffed

When the bird didn't move I realised it was me it was alarm calling at and after looking around carefully I found I was standing right next to the birds nest hole

 

 

There was a tiny nestling Nuthatch peering out at me

 

Moving well out of the way I then spent a fantastic hour watching the adults bringing food to the nest

 

 

This is the first time I have ever seen a Nuthatch feeding young so it really has made my day

 

It will be interesting to see how big they have got on my next visit

 

 

 

 

May visit to Maple Lodge NR

Yesterday I went to Maple Lodge NR for a very overdue visit

 

The weather was fairly kind for the morning but by the afternoon it was very overcast

 

From the Teal Hide there was a pair of Canada Geese with four goslings

 

 

From the Clubhouse Hide there were two pairs of Stock Doves

 

and the resident Great Spotted Woodpecker

 

By the Shell Hide there was a flock of recently fledged Long-tailed Tits

 

and a very neat looking Gadwall

 

I enjoy this time of year when a lot of the critters are out and about

 

I found two species of hoverfly

 

Syrphus sp

Xanthogramma pedissequum

 and lots and lots of hoverfly larvae

 

 

There were Cardinal Beetles everywhere

 

 

and this tiny Froghopper

 

Red and Black Froghopper

 I think the beetle below is a type of Rove Beetle

Rove beetle ?

 

Soldier Beetle

As to be expected at this time of year there were plenty of ladybirds

 

7-spot Ladybird

Harlequin Ladybird

ladybird eggs

 There were plenty of other critters out and about

 

Dock Bug

 

Hairy Shield Bug

Damselfly season is now upon us - I had my first Large Red at Cranford CP last week and my first Common Blue at Maple Lodge NR yesterday

 

female Common Blue

But my favourite find yesterday (thanks to Chris) was this stunning female Banded Demoiselle

 

 

There were plenty of Scorpion Flies around too including this male with his bulbous tail

 

 

and several Nettle Tap micro moths

 

 

All in all a very enjoyable if overdue visit