The Safari picked up CR and we headed north up the motorway to our favourite private nature reserve. The clouds looked ominously full of rain as they had been for the last week or so but we needn't have worried because as we turned westwards the weather improved into what was to become a rather pleasant day. This was good as our main target for the day were reptiles.
Once on site we wandered down to the stream past the 'Adder' wall. "Look how overgrown it's got since our last visit, we're not going to see much in that!" said CR. But only a few steps through the gate our beady eyes spotted something that looked out of place and sure enough there was the first Adder of the day basking in the weak sunshine on top of a moss covered hummock. Tricky to get pics of through the intervening overgrown vegetation but there it sat for several minutes looking very gravid. We had a white t-shirt on and it probably saw us move when we went another pace or two down the track to see if we could get a better shot. It slithered away into a hole in the bank.
We'd not got far over the bridge when JG from the Southside Gang appeared. They'd arrived at last and it was great to see them all again. But we could only regale tales of the
Adder as it hadn't reappeared - they'd dipped and it was all our fault!!!
Together we set off along the rickety boardwalk and across the moss. It was deadly quiet, not quite warm enough for invertebrates or reptiles yet. At this time of year although the woods are full of birds they keep very much hidden as they moult prior to migration or getting ready for the winter. We hoped for a Cuckoo to show but had to 'make do' with a Buzzard. A Black Darter rose up from the bog by the track as we passed and settled in a nearby dead tree making for a rather arty pic.
Over the second bridge we scanned through the woodland edge for any deer that might be lurking but our searches were fruitless. It wasn't until we got to the stream that we heard any birdlife at all, a
Sedge Warbler gave the briefest snatch of song to reveal its presence in the bankside rushes. An
Osprey called a it flew over too. Continuing round and onto the next boggy area another dragonfly was found. At the time identified as a teneral
Common Darter but back home later that evening CR was sorting through the days images and dicovered it was in fact a female
Keeled Skimmer, a new species for all of us. Top detective work from CR.
The track became, shall we say "more interesting", as we neared the stream and a section of boardwalk adjacent the stream further on was only 'passable with care' both sections gave extreme risk of very wet and muddy boots, thankfully we all survived a ragained terra firma at the bridge. Calamity avoided it was now full steam ahead back to the car park and the butties/pies. Passing the wall again we saw the
Adder had reappeared and everyone was able to get a good look at her.
Once again she slithered into the undergrowth and was gone. It was then that we saw something shiny a few feet away, looking closely wit hthe bins revealed it to be a piece of shed
Adder skin. JG cajoaled/coerced us to go a few steps off piece to grab a abit for her collection...ever one to oblige...if you look closely you can make out some of the scales.
Moments later a
Golden-ringed Dragonfly landed really close by. These are impressive beasts that deserve to be photographed from all angles!
Once again it was only looking through images back at Base Camp later that we saw it was tucking into some lunch. It was chowing down on what looks like an
Ichneumon Wasp.
Our attention was dragged away from this beast when one of its lesser cousins, a
Common Darter, landed on the fence by our shoulder.
We think they're like
Bottlenose Dolphins - no matter what they're thinking they always look like they're smiling. Walking back through the reserve yard we took the opportunity to get some pics of the
House Martins nesting in the eaves of the Warden's house for our Photo Challenge. The adults were back and forth far to quickly for us but ever eager to be fed nestlings regularly appeared at the opening, obviously trying to see if their next meal was about to be delivered - #143
More
Ospreys appeared while we were having lunch but we failed spectacularly to get any pics. Then CR spotted a
Red Deer hind come out of the small patch of trees below us, followed by a second and two youngsters. We failed to connect camera and 'Bambis' so here's one of the adults.
Not quite as close as last weeks shots of this species.
After lunch it was time to climb the 'hill of doom' but we hadn't even got to the car park to divest ourself of all the luncheon paraphernalia when one of the team spotted this Slow Worm basking at the base of the wall. A good find, although they are numerous here we don't often see them.
Slightly behind us to our left is a large Howeed plant in full flower and now in the sun. It was timing with insects. Mostly they were
Drone Flies,
Eristalis sp but we also saw one of the big
Bog Hoverflies that did a bunk before any of us could lay a camera on it and this small, but even more gorgeous,
Leucozona glauca having a wash and brush up.
Wildlife interlude over we had to climb that hill. To be fair it's never quite as bad a feared, it's just the thought of starting up it straight after a hearty lunch...Not much to be seen along the track although with it warming up a bit with some sunshine butterflies were coming out to play, mostly in the form of
Gatekeepers. Probably the most intersting thing we found was this anthill which had been dug by a
Badger.
Our destination was the pond by the entrance gate but to get there we had to pass Little Grebe Alley, the large tarn on the side of the road. As ever several were on show but as usual all were on the far side of the sizeable tarn.
At the pond we immediately set about looking into the water to see what aquatic goodies we could find. Not a lot the view in was much obscured by reeds and Lily leaves now but above the surface there was a lot to see. An Emperor Dragonfly patrolled below us refusing to stay still enough long enough for the auto-focus to lock on. Also buzzing about were lots of damselflies including several Emerald Damselflies shimmering in the sunlight. Common Darters egg laying in tandem further out over the Lily pads completed the Odonata scene.
The area around the pond held much of interest too. A Dor Beetle stumbled and staggered along a grassy track
Their undersides are spectacularly blue, even better when you show an in focus pic of one that's not wriggling around trying to right itself - like the one we had but manage to accidentally wipe off off the SD card - - what a numpty!
A
Common Darter was expertly rescued out of the wet grass holding it firmly to the ground by JG.
And then came the best action of the day and certainly the most bizarre. A tiny
Common Lizard was seen at the base of a tree. Once it realised it had been seen it darted into cover. While waiting for it to come back into view all mannner of creatures started to climb the tree starting with a
Grasshopper that had been jumping around in the grass by our feet.
This was followed by a tiny
Common Toad. It was like an all-comers race to the top.
But the toad decided to have a snooze a metre or so into its climb.
Even a Harvestman joined in for a while but spent more time going round the trunk than upwards. After a while the lizard did reappear although there was some discussion as to whether or not it was the same individual as the earlier one was said to have had a brighter more colourful pattern.
It even looked as if it was going to join the tree climbing race.
Our final finds here were unusual. A Gatekeeper with a single white spot on its upperwings but sporting gtthe 'normal' double white spots below. Can't say we've ever noticed one like that before.
And the other was a cracking looking red and black
Ichneumon Wasp, later found out to be one of the
Dusona species.
And even later discovered to be either quite a scarce beastie or terribly under-recorded. There are only 169 records for this genus on the NBN Atlas of which none are in England north of a line between Lancaster and Scarborough and then only one confirmed and one unconfirmed record in the whole of Scotland - so a new dot on the map for Cumbria courtesy of the Safari and gang.
With time now pressing it was time to make our way back to the car park and say our goodbyes to the Southside gang. But not before another look at the
Slow Worm and
Adder...of which there were now two out basking a few feet apart.
Then right at the end of the day we got our
Osprey shots...and there were two...just like the
Adders.
Always a little high but hey beggars can't be choosers and what a brilliant end to a brilliant day, lots of fun, lots of laughs and lots of wildlife - top banana!
Where to next? We've got a bit of a boaty ride coming up next week - watch this space.
In the meantime let us know who's winning the Inter-species Tree Climbing Championships in your outback
