Friday 4th June saw me at my favourite nature reserve once again. Here is a selection of some of the wildlife that was on show.
Looking where another photographer was pointing his lens I saw banded demoiselles and damsel flies flitting about the greenery beside the footpath. In the right hand picture the emerald blue fly is a male and the out of focus one in the background is a female. I have yet to see any dragonflies.
A fellow birder reported a pair of little ringed plovers further into the reserve. Being about the size of a blackbird but with longer legs for wading they were hard to spot from a distance. The distinguishing feature compared with the common ringed plover is the gold eye outline similar to that of the male blackbird. I saw the pair but too far away for a clear shot.
A great white egret seems to have taken up residence at the reserve and I was glad to get some closer views until a grey heron decided enough was enough.
I heard this wren singing very loudly before I spotted it on top of a dead branch.
A pair of great crested grebe have built a very substantial nest in which to lay a clutch of three eggs. Here’s hoping they manage to rear all three youngsters.