Flora at Park End Moss In the extreme heat I thought upon butterflies, wondering if it suited them. I'll never know because 33 degrees didn't suit us and we couldn't face an uphill slog in full mid-afternoon sun on Tuesday 19th July.
After an overnight shower, Thursday was refreshing. Raindrops lingered on vegetation and the morning was still and warm. Young sparrowhawk were food-begging in the canopy, a heron flew over the catchwater. A dragonfly flew to and fro before us, otherwise all seemed quiet.
After an overnight shower, Thursday was refreshing. Raindrops lingered on vegetation and the morning was still and warm. Young sparrowhawk were food-begging in the canopy, a heron flew over the catchwater. A dragonfly flew to and fro before us, otherwise all seemed quiet.
So we focused on flowers and searched for Herb Paris. In spring, we had found an abundance of flowers and now we looked for the fruit, the single black berry. The plant was harder to find in rank vegetation.
Over drifts of hemp agrimony and purple loosestrife we searched the shadows of the woodland fringe for silver washed fritillary. Micro-moths flitted in the grasses, no larger butterflies. Yellow loosestrife looked lovely, en masse and in detail. Within the yellow corolla the gynoecium was ruby red and beautiful in structure.
Over drifts of hemp agrimony and purple loosestrife we searched the shadows of the woodland fringe for silver washed fritillary. Micro-moths flitted in the grasses, no larger butterflies. Yellow loosestrife looked lovely, en masse and in detail. Within the yellow corolla the gynoecium was ruby red and beautiful in structure.
Raindrops stood proud on vegetation, the morning was cloudy and humid. Few insects were flying but we spied a damselfly on a flowering grass stem. A delicate creature, all translucence and transparency and a palette of soft blues and lilac, its abdomen tipped with turquoise- aquamarine. Raindrops clung to the flowering grass and the damsel dissolved in a blur of watery light, then came into focus. An arc of intersecting stems, flowers of grass releasing fine threads and pale pendent seeds. The image is cool green, the gift of a summer woodland.
A female damselfly, I knew. Beyond that, I needed an expert opinion so I called upon Ian Brodie who always gives precise detail.
'Your great picture is a Blue-tailed Damsel form violacea which occurs in immature females of the species and with a colouration usually more like a male. This species can have 5 colour variations in the female. '
He added that he had not seen many dragonflies but had found the species he would expect to see.
Close-ups show the intricate detail and beauty of the Blue-tailed Damsel but lose the composition. So I give both. Violacea- hues of violet. Blue-tailed - blue does not catch the subtle colours of the damsel but the tip of its abdomen is its most striking feature.
I like the images because they tell of the season, the quality of the morning and of something ephemeral.
A female damselfly, I knew. Beyond that, I needed an expert opinion so I called upon Ian Brodie who always gives precise detail.
'Your great picture is a Blue-tailed Damsel form violacea which occurs in immature females of the species and with a colouration usually more like a male. This species can have 5 colour variations in the female. '
He added that he had not seen many dragonflies but had found the species he would expect to see.
Close-ups show the intricate detail and beauty of the Blue-tailed Damsel but lose the composition. So I give both. Violacea- hues of violet. Blue-tailed - blue does not catch the subtle colours of the damsel but the tip of its abdomen is its most striking feature.
I like the images because they tell of the season, the quality of the morning and of something ephemeral.
A catch-water flows below the wood and we sat on a bridge admiring a mass of meadowsweet and greater willowherb. Returning through the wood, we saw meadow brown and green veined white. We had given up hope of silver washed fritillary when we left the wood and the large orange butterfly flew out of the shadows, across our path, around one bramble bush and back to settle briefly on another. I had seconds for a photograph but here he is, a resplendent male, five black androconical streaks visible on the upper wing.
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