Even though many of the insects disappeared in September there was still wildlife to see down our lane and this time of year the Spiders seem to be more visible although I find they are very quick to disappear if you try to look their way! Of course when we get a chilly morning with the dew it’s then you can spot the many different kinds of webs. I’m not too familiar with all the Spider species and their webs, perhaps next year I shall learn a little more about them.
I was surprised to see all these Dock Shield bugs, probably because September has been quite warm, this group were not fully adult as they go through stages of development before adulthood.
After not seeing many insects I was pleased to see this Scorpion Fly, one of my favourites it’s only when you look at them close you see the beauty of the wings.
When we get to the bottom of the lane we go into the little spinney of trees and stay for a while looking at the river, there is a fairly wide bend and there is always something about. There is a Moorhen living in the undergrowth, we hear rather than see it most of the time, it’s very shy. When the water is clear, with a good light on it we can see what’s below the surface and there are a good head of Chubb swimming about, not large fish but there are quite a few medium sized fish.
We are not seeing so many Damsel and Dragonflies as the month goes on, the odd Brown Hawker and this White Legged Damselfly that pitched below us on the edge of the river and there has been a male Common Darter and a Southern Hawker patrolling the lane.
When we are there we often hear or have a glimpse of a Kingfisher always hoping he will land close to us one day. One day we spotted a lot of movement in the water, hoping for an Otter but no it was a family of Swans they came right up to us near the bank, there were five Cygnets and an adult, it was difficult to take a picture with my long lens they were so close. When they realised we didn’t have anything for them they slowly made their way up the river. Last year the nest was washed away in the floods so it was good to see this family.
