21 August 2022 - Hollingworth Lake

« Newer   |   Older »

Teal, Redstart, Grey Wagtail, Common Darter

A number of Teal have started to gather on the nature reserve now, perhaps a dozen or so on good days.  They're all still in eclipse (or female) plumage and mostly feeding at the back of the lagoon, but occasionally you can see one or two closer to the path.  A Grey Wagtail dropped in again briefly in front of the hide, against the sunlight.

There were very few small birds around, so I was pleasantly surprised to see a female-type Redstart flitting among the bushes and fence at the back of the horse paddock near Turnough Farm.  It showed a few times, but always distant, and quite elusive but I managed a couple of record shots.

As I walked down past Bib Knowl wood, there were three or four Common Darters coming to rest on the stone wall; at first only females, but eventually I located a male.

Back in the garden, I found a whitish spider which may be Metallina segmentata, and a few 'greenbottles', which are probably Lucilia sericata, though these apparently need microscopic examination to separate from other Lucilia species.

Teal, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 400 (view full size image)

Grey Wagtail, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 500 (view full size image)

Redstart, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 250

Redstart-, 1/640 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 250

Common Darter Female-, 1/500 sec, f/16.0, 500 mm, ISO 800 (view full size image)

Common Darter Male, 1/640 sec, f/16.0, 500 mm, ISO 1000 (view full size image)

Metallina Segmentata, 1/640 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 6400 (view full size image)

Lucilia Sericata, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 320 (view full size image)