Although the original forecast was for cloud, it turned out fairly bright with the sun coming through at regular intervals. I hadn't made any plans to go out, but after completing some gardening jobs in the first part of the morning, the temperature seemed warm enough t look for my first dragonflies of the season. I therefore headed over to the Wiltshire wildlife trust reserve at Lower Moor Farm, which has a good range of dragonflies although I haven't visited it very much in search of them as dragonflies are a new interest for me.
As I walked down the path from the carpark towards the first hide, I spotted my first dragonfly. It settled in the hedgerow so I was able to get some photos, although I didn't know which species it was, only that it had green and blue colouring. I checked it against my reference book later and found it was a hairy dragonfly, which was a surprise as it was not in the list of species seen at the reserve. A close look at the photo shows the downy hairs on the thorax which distinguish it from other species.
I took my time to walk around the reserve, surprisingly few butterflies were around although I did find a female orange tip and later a brimstone. I explored a few new paths and had a look at the soon to open new visitor centre which looks very attractive with its position overlooking one of the lakes. The only other species I found were some common blue damselflies and a broad bodied chaser,
I mentioned surprises in the blog title.... when I was in the garden this morning I heard some cheeping coming from the willow tree which sounded like nestlings, but there was no nest to be seen. I then realised that it was coming from a small hole in one of the boughs of the tree, and I soon noticed a pair of blue tits going in and out. Some blue tits had used a hole in the trunk a few years ago, but it has since 'self healed' and is not a hole anymore. Then I realised there was some more cheeping coming from the cherry tree where I have a nest box. I hadn't noticed any activity and had thought it wasn't being used this year but there were obviously birds inside! It was too close to the willow tree to be another pair of blue tits, so I waited around and eventually saw great tits going in. It's the first time great tits have used that particular nest box.
hairy dragonfly
broad bodied chaser
female orange tip
new visitor centre at Lower Moor
path by a brook alongside a flower meadow
blue tits' nest hole in willow tree
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