Neil Freeman

Wurzel · Post by **Wurzel** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 9:50 pm

Looking forward to seeing dome more great shots!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Neil Freeman · Post by **Neil Freeman** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 2:33 pm

Saturday 26th May - Norfolk part 2.

After chilling out for a little while later on Saturday afternoon, I decided to take a little walk around just outside of the site. I had spotted a lane leading down to some fishing lakes and thought it would be worth having a look.

Just before getting to the lakes there was a meadow area and it was not long before I had found a nice little colony of Brown Argus with around half a dozen individuals flying, mostly males.

: Brown Argus - Burgh Castle 26.05.2012

I also spotted this mating pair and was just about to line up another photo when another male tried barging in

. After a minute or so of attempted interuption he gave up and flew off.

: Brown Argus mating pair - Burgh Castle 26.05.2012

: Brown Argus - attempted interuption

: Brown Argus - still trying

I also saw quite a few Peacocks, both around this patch and elswhere around the local lanes. Some of these were fairly 'tatty' but some were in surprisingly good condition still considering how long they must have been around.

: Peacock - Burgh Castle 26.05.2012

Also seen were large numbers of 'blue Damselflies', I believe the one below is an Azure Damselfly but could be wrong.

: Azure Damselfly? - Burgh Castle 26.05.2012

The area was also patrolled by a Broad Bodied Chaser that I did not get a photo of and a Four Spot Chaser that I did

.

: Four Spot Chaser - Burgh Castle 26.05.2012

More photos to sort through still,

Bye for now,

Neil F.

Wurzel · Post by **Wurzel** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 5:24 pm

Alright Neil? I had a look at your damselfly and I think you got it right- Azure Damselfly. I borrowed the Collins Conplete Guide to Insects from the library the other day and the section on damselflies is really good with sketches of the second abdominal segments which are used to differentiate the little blue damsels. The "U" on your on isn't stalked making it an Azure. Cheers for providing me with an educational 20 minutes

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Neil Freeman · Post by **Neil Freeman** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 1:38 pm

Thanks Wurzel, I have got the Collins book, a present from one of my sons last month

, that was where I got the ID but wasn't quite 100% sure I was seeing the marking right on the photo.

Monday 28th May - Norfolk part 3, Strumpshaw Fen.

Although seeing a Swallowtail was not the primary reason for going to Norfolk, considering that I was there at the end of May,it would seem remiss of me not to make the attempt

I had seen on the Strumpshaw Fen website that the first one had been reported there on the previous Wednesday and as this reserve was only about 30 minutes drive from where we were staying I though that, given the good weather for the following few days, some more may have emerged.

I checked the weather forecast and as it looked like a change was on the way from Tuesday, decided that Monday would be my best bet.
So it was that around 10.30am on that morning my eldest son and myself pulled into the RSPB car park at Strumpsaw Fen. We went into the visitor centre where we were informed that a Swallowtail had been sighted that morning by the Fen Hide.

Having read previous posts on UKB last year on where the best locations were I decided to walk along the lane past the Doctors garden and check out the bit of wasteland just past there before continuing on the trail around the fen.

Just before we got to the doctors garden there is a bit of an open area on the right hand side amongst the trees and this was where we saw our first Swallowtails, 2 of them very actively flying around each other.
We were soon joined by a few other people and stood watching for a while as they disappeared and returned a few times. Occasionally one would settle very briefly before taking off again and I managed to get a couple of photos, not that good but a first for me

: Swallowtail - Strumpshaw Fen 28.05.2012

: Swallowtail - Strumpshaw Fen 28.05.2012

After a while we decided to continue on, passing the doctors garden where there was a solitary Peacock on the flowers and check out the wasteland in the corner just past there. We saw 2 Swallowtails here and believe that they were the same 2 from before and that they were flying between the 2 areas.

We then entered the fen and continued round the trail seeing numerous damselflies and some Hairy Dragonflies along with a number of Orange tips and Brimstones.

: Strumpshaw Fen - trail approaching north corner

: Strumpshaw Fen - A mating pair of Hairy Dragonfliees

About half way along the trail from the North corner to the river we saw another 2 Swallowtails. These were again very active and during the time we watched them neither of them settled once.

We continued around the trail, seeing loads more Orange Tips, Brimstones, a few Peacocks and a solitary 'tatty' Small Tortoiseshell, eventually completing the full circle and then carried on back around to the area where we had seen the first pair of Swallowtails earlier that morning.
There were quite a few people there by now who told us that the Swallowtails had been seen on and off for a couple of hours including when we saw the other 2 on the fen trail which makes me believe that we had seen 4 different individuals in all.

Also seen on the fen trail was the dragonfly below, I am not sure but think it may be a female Black Tailed Skimmer.

: Strunpshaw Fen - Black Tailed Skimmer, I think.

And for the bird experts, is this a Reed Bunting?

: Reed Bunting? - Strumpshaw Fen

Although I only managed the 2 record shots of the Swallowtails, watching them in flight and skimming over the tops of the reeds in the fen was an absolute delight.
We also saw a pair of Marsh Harriers performing over the fen, heard the calls of what I was told were Cetti's Warblers and saw a load of other birds, most of which were new to me.
Oh yes, and a Grass Snake along the trail by the tower hide.

All in all a really good day

Bye for now,

Neil F.

Nick Broomer · Post by **Nick Broomer** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 2:40 pm

Your Dragonfly could also be a Black-Lined Skimmer, could be wrong. And your Bunting is definitely a Reed Bunting as you suggested.

All the best,

Nick.

Neil Freeman · Post by **Neil Freeman** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 3:30 pm

Hi Nick,

I have just done a bit of googling and it seems that Black Tailed Skimmer and Black Lined Skimmer are both common names for Orthetrum cancellatum.

And thanks for the confirmation on the Reed Bunting.

Cheers

Neil Freeman · Post by **Neil Freeman** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 6:42 pm

Wednesday 30th May - Norfolk part 4.

The other species that I had hoped to see during our stay in Norfolk was Wall Brown. I remember these being quite common where I grew up in the Midlands but they seem to have disappeared, apparently the last one was recorded in Warwickshire in 2007.

Following advice given to me by a couple of people at Strumpshaw we took a drive up to Horsey where I had been told I should be able to find a Wall Brown on the path behind the dunes, although numbers here were apparently down on what they used to be.

We arrived at around midday just as the clouds were clearing with some nice blue sky heading our way and my eldest son and myself started out along the right hand path from the car park.

: Horsey Dunes - right hand path looking towards car park

It was not long before we saw some Small Coppers and Small Heaths.

: Small Heath - Horsey Dunes 30.05.2012

Walking a little further along the path I saw some movement to one side and there he was, my first Wall Brown for years

: Wall Brown - Horsey Dunes 30.05.2012

: Wall Brown - Horsey Dunes 30.05.2012

This turned out to be the only Wall Brown that we saw although we didn't go much further as we had left my wife reading a book back at the car with my other son. Even so, I was a happy chappy as this meant that I had seen both the species that I had hoped to see whilst in Norfolk

.

We also saw quite few of these, some kind of sand wasp perhaps? something else for me to look up

: Sand Wasp? - Horsey Dunes 30.05.2012

Bye for now,

Neil F.

Neil Freeman · Post by **Neil Freeman** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 9:37 pm

Wednesday 30th May - Norfolk, the final part.

We left Horsey after a couple of hours and as it had turned into a decent sunny afternoon we decided to do a bit of a detour on the way back and call in at How Hill.

We arrived at How Hill just before 4.00pm and after parking in the car park we all walked across the grass and down the track towards the little shop by the river.

Just before we got to the shop we spotted a Swallowtail flapping its wings and nectaring on a clump of small pink flowers.
This made my wife's day as she had now seen a Swallowtail herself after hearing my son and myself talk about them after Strumpshaw. Unfortunatley, before any of us could get our cameras into action it flew off over the river.
We went into the shop and told the gentleman behind the counter of our sighting and he told us that just one other had been seen earlier that day.

We spent a little while at How Hill and saw a few Orange Tips, a Brimstone and a Peacock but no more Swallowtails.

Continuing on our way, just before we got to Great Yarmouth, we turned off past the racetrack to check out the dunes along the front to see if we could find anything of interest.

We parked up on the road along the front and whilst my wife and no.2 son stayed at the car reading their books, no.1 son and myself went for a look.

We had only gone about 20 yards when we spotted some Common Blues basking in the early evening sun. The more we looked, the more we saw, and all along the stretch of dunes that we looked we found them in various size groups.

: Common Blue male - GT Yarmouth north dunes

: Common Blue male - GT Yarmouth north dunes

: Common Blue female - GT Yarmouth north dunes

: Common Blue female - GT Yarmouth north dunes

: Common Blue underside - GT Yarmouth north dunes

: Common Blue mating pair - GT Yarmouth north dunes

By the time we left the butterflies were taking up roosting postitions for the night.

: Common Blue - formation display team

Thats it, the last update from our week in Norfolk. Thursday was cloudy so we went and did did some shopping and touristy stuff and Friday we came home.

Bye for now,

Neil F.

ChrisC · Post by **ChrisC** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 9:03 am

great last shot of the display team

Neil Freeman · Post by **Neil Freeman** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 1:05 pm

Thanks Chris

I have been reading with interest the comments on other threads on UK from those who have bought the Panasonic Lumix FZ150.

For a number of reasons, not least being the articulated screen, but also the fact that my eldest son has been showing an interest in taking photos of butterflies and other 'little critters', I decided to treat myself and splash out on a FZ150 and pass the trusty FZ38 on to him.

I am expecting my photos to remain at about the same standard but, like others have said, hope to find it a bit easier to take some of them, my joints have begun to creak a bit lately

I took the new camera out with me yesterday to the Wyre Forest to try out. No close up lens fitted as yet, I need to get a new adapter.

Monday 4th June - Wyre Forest

Not having managed to see Pearl Bordered Fritillary yet I took a drive over to the Wyre Forest. I knew that they had been out here for some time but was hoping they would still be around plus hopeful that Small Pearl Bordered may have started to emerge.

I parked in the car park at the end of Dry Mill Lane and took the path that follows the other side of Dowles Brook, starting at Knowles Coppice and looking in the meadows between there and just passed Coopers Mill where I crossed the brook and came back along the old railway track.

: Wyre Forest - meadow along Dowles Brook

During the next few hours the initial cloud eventually gave way to some decent sunny spells and I managed to see a fair number of PBFs in varying condition plus a few nice fresh SPBFs.

: Pearl Bordered Fritillary - Wyre Forest

: Pearl Bordered Fritillary - Wyre Forest

: Pearl Bordered Fritillary - Wyre Forest

: Pearl Bordered Fritillary - Wyre Forest

: Some were more faded than others

: Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary - Wyre Forest

: Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary - Wyre Forest

: Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary - Wyre Forest

Also seen were a Brimstone, a very faded Speckled Wood, a few Common Blues, loads of Chimney Sweeper Moths, A couple of Burnet Companions and Mother Shiptons.

Bye for now.

Neil F.

ChrisC · Post by **ChrisC** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 1:49 pm

well they are pretty darn good without a close up lens

Debbie · Post by **Debbie** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:03 pm

Great pictues

Debbie

Pauline · Post by **Pauline** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:21 pm

Some really good shots there Neil and I am sooooo jealous of your Swallowtail pics - had hoped to see them myself this year for the first time but don't think it's going to happen now.

Neil Freeman · Post by **Neil Freeman** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:32 pm

Thank you very much for your comments Chris, Debbie and Pauline.

We were a bit early really for the Swallowtails this year Pauline, they had only been around for a few days and were full of newly emerged vigour

Given the unsettled weather over the past few days, I would think that they will be emerging for a while yet.

Neil.

Neil Freeman · Post by **Neil Freeman** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 8:07 pm

Wednesday 6th June.

A day of heavy showers and some sunny spells. I had a few jobs to catch up with both in the house and garden so was in and out like a yo-yo between the showers.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I had seen a female Orange Tip lay an egg on a Cuckoo Flower in the back garden and not having checked on it since before going to Norfolk I had a look today.
During the past couple of weeks the Cuckoo flower had been swamped by other plants that have sprung up like a mini jungle around it and I could not see any sign of egg or larva without running the risk of accidently pulling up the plant.

There are some clumps of Garlic Mustard also in the garden and searching these I was pleased to find four small Larvae, one to a stem.

Taking photos of these was tricky with the breeze that was rocking the stems about like they were on springs but I managed a couple of shots that I was quite happy with

I had to give up the seach when the heavens opened again, this time with a heavy downpour that lasted some time and ended my outside activities for the day

: Orange tip larva on Garlic Mustard - Coverdale Road 06.06.2012

: Orange tip larva on Garlic Mustard - Coverdale Road 06.06.2012

The weather is looking dreadfull for the next couple of days, fingers crossed that the little fellas can hang on. At least the weather should keep the predators in hiding as well.

Bye for now,

Neil F.

Neil Freeman · Post by **Neil Freeman** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 1:18 pm

Saturday 9th June.

Following on from a couple of days of appalling weather, along with a few others it would seem, I was feeling the need to get out for a couple of hours. My son was also keen to get out and try out my old FZ38 that I have given to him.

Saturday started off fairly grey and cool but the forecast at least said it should stay dry, so early afternoon we decided to head down to Bishops Hill. I had been there a few weeks ago to see Small Blue and as my son had not seen them yet I suggested we went to see how they were looking after the bad weather.
Also this area contains a small local reserve called Yellow Land that has hard paths and benches so my wife could come with us as we would not be wandering off too far from her

By the time we got there it had warmed up a bit and although still mostly cloudy, there were a few brighter spells with the sun breaking through occasionally.
We spent a couple of hours here and saw loads of Common Blues, around a dozen or so Small Blue, a couple of Grizzled Skippers and Small Heaths and a couple of very faded Dingy Skippers. Moths seen were a few Burnet Companions, a couple of Silver Y and a Yellow shell.

: Bishops Hill looking down towards Yellow Land reserve area.

: Common Blue male - Bishops Hill 09.06.2012

: Common Blue female - Bishops Hill 09.06.2012

: Small Blue female - Bishops Hill 09.06.2012

: Small Blue male - Bishops hill - 09.06.2012

: Small Blue male - Bishops Hill 09.06.2012

There were also a large number of Common Blue Damselflies,

: Common Blue Damselfly - Bishops Hill 09.06.2012

and some like the one below. Is this an immature Common Blue Damselfly? it looks different to the females that I saw.

Edit; I think I have identified it now as a White-legged Damselfly, possibly immature.

: White-legged Damselfly - Bishops Hill 09.06.2012

A very pleasant couple of hours that blew the cobwebs away somewhat after the past few days

Bye for now,

Neil F.

Wurzel · Post by **Wurzel** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 6:35 pm

Cracking shots the Wall and the Swallowtail

I'm really struggling with the Damselfly - it looks too different to be the same species - it even has an extra White/yellow line down the thorax? Sorry I can't be more help, the Collins Guide just isn't up to it.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Neil Freeman · Post by **Neil Freeman** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 7:53 pm

Hi Wurzel,

Many thanks for your comments.

I have just spent some time on google and I now think the Damselfly is a White-legged Damselfly,

http://www.british-dragonflies.org.uk/s ... -damselfly

cheers,

Neil.

Neil Freeman · Post by **Neil Freeman** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 6:56 pm

Sunday 10th June

A pleasant bit of sun for a change on Sunday morning that actually lasted for couple of hours has tempted a couple of nice fresh second brood Speckled Wood out to play in my back garden

From about mid morning two males staked out territories, one at each end of the garden, and spent their time intercepting anything that flew close, including each other when they would spiral high into the sky before breaking off to their respective ends.

The photos below are all of one individual as the other one had chosen basking posts that were more inaccessible.

: Speckled Wood male - back garden 10.06.2012

: Living dangerously - basking on the bird table.

The photo below was taken with the butterfly on a garden bench looking into the shadow of a bush behind it.
I quite like the way it has turned out, just a shame about the blurred bench in the foreground.

: Speckled Wood male - back garden 10.06.2012

Back at work this week and the weather is not looking good for a while so who knows when I will be able to get out again.

Bye for now,

Neil F.

Goldie M · Post by **Goldie M** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:14 pm

I love your Swallow Tail Photo's. I was in Dorset third week in May and every day I chased after this Wall who wouldn't settle for more than a sec, never did get him

lovely Pics of yours though

Goldie

Neil Freeman

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