Thursday 25 June 2020

Lockdown Day 94 - Cycle ride to Askham Bog

Another very hot and sunny day today, so while it was still bearable I cycled to Askham Bog for a walk round before it got busy.

Walking down through the reserve there was a Blackcap and a Chiffchaff calling. It was quite shady under the trees. A few minutes walk along the boardwalk is a small pond which is a superb place to watch dragonflies and damselflies, but they never stay still for long and so are really difficult for me to photograph!

There were at least fifteen, maybe twenty of these Azure Damselflies (Coenagrion puella) flying around the pond, only rarely alighting on the leaves of nearby plants. I think I may have caught a glimpse of an Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator) which the sign board said are present but it was too fleeting to be sure. 

Also near the pond, singing from a tree all the time I was there was a Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus). It was a very repetitive and quite loud song but the bird was obviously keen to stake out his territory!


It started to get quite busy so I headed out of the reserve and across the road to the wild flower area to see if there were any Six-Spot Burnet Moths but I think it is still too early for them. However, there were plenty of Meadow Brown and Small Skipper Butterflies flitting around the grasses, Ragwort and the Knapweed ((Centaurea nigra) shown below



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