Friday 12 June 2009

Poxy Canal

Black-tailed Skimmer (c) 2009 Vince Cowell
Swallow
Mute Swan
Roach
Pike
Large Red Damselfly
Fly
Wrens
The bird life was rather poor along the canal today. The highlight was a Barn Owl present at 10 & 11.30 am; whilst the most unexpected was an Oystercatcher, which flew over calling loudly. The only other waders seen were a pair of Lapwings. Also seen were a pair of Bullfinches, and a family of Goldcrests being fed in their nests. There were several Yellowhammers either side of the canal, plus a similar number of Reed Buntings. Warblers present included: Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Whitethroat, and a single Sedge Warbler. The most numerous member of the tribe were the Reed Warblers dotted at various points along the route. A Brimstone butterfly was the best butterfly present. In the morning a large hawker dragonfly was sighted whilst in the afternoon there were several fragile-looking blue damselflies and a single Large Red Damselfly. Not the most exciting venue visited this term!

2 comments:

Dale Forbes said...

Hi Michael, what camera setup did you use for the damselfly shot?

It is a lovely species, does it have a proper name? or is actually called "large red damselfly" and I am just an idiot for not realizing that.

Happy birding
Dale
http://alpinebirds.blogspot.com

Michael Flowers said...

Hi Dale,

It is actually a species called a Large Red Damselfly, and is the 1st one to emerge each year in these parts. I took it with my Canon 40D+ with Canon 100-400 zoom. I think it was on 400mm. You can get some quite good macro shots without having to keep changing lenses

Cheers