Friday Woods is a favorite haunt. There's a long walk over open grasslands that are left wild as a conservation area and due to the important Roman remains just below the surface. Then a private road down to a gateway, a walk through woodlands, and then Roman River flows through the middle of it. Today we were hunting dragonflies and damselflies, but the weather wasn't with us. It was very windy, something that made them more skittish than normal, and even when they were landing the waving grasses made it challenging to take photos. And the sun kept disappearing. Everytime it disappeared behind the clouds, so did the insects! But I still got a few shots to share.
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| Male stag beetle. |
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This stag beetle wasn't too grateful about being rescued from the middle of the road. Those 'antlers' at the front can give you a nasty nip, and he was all for trying it!
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| Damselfly |
Now, there are an awful lot of damselflies in the UK, and I'm no good at identifying them. If you want to take a shot at this one, feel free. For me, it's catching the photo that's the bonus. And I got an extra surprise with this one. As I was kneeling with the camera to take shots, I heard a rustling. Out of the corner of my eye, a little brown mouse came scampering toward me, skipped across both my knees and carried on without the slightest fear at my presence. Maybe it's just because I was keeping still, but I've never had such a close encounter before. It put a smile on my face.
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| My littleist explorer |
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| Crossing the bridge across Roman River, hubs spotted this toad |
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| Demoiselle taking flight |
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| Beautiful Demoiselle Male. No, that isn't just a compliment - that's its name! |
We also had a close encounter with a couple of dogs, one called Pippa! Unfortunately (for me) Pip and Pippa are quite common pet names, but I don't mind - much. The canine Pippa was only 8 weeks old and kind of cute. :-P
So what do you do when you aren't writing/reading?
Lovely pics! Looks like a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteIt was fabulous. :)
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