Until I reached the car park on Thursday, I hadn't realised it was 12 August. I had driven into Bowland to find the barrier down at Rigg Lane, and a notice saying 'ACCESS AREA CLOSED TODAY SHOOTING IN PROGRESS'.
I decided to take a deep breath, went under the barrier in the hope nobody would come after me with a loaded gun, walked 1/4 mile to the bog below Birk Bank, to do some shooting myself.
I spent a pleasant and rewarding 2 hours, noting at least 24 dragonflies, taking 60 piks/videos, to salvage the ones below for the blog....All the piks and videos - View Full Screen - are Pete Woodruff's.
Common Darter
Pacing up and down on the boardwalk for 2 hours, it was virtually impossible to get any accuracy, but in the end I arrived at a count of at least 10 Common Darter female and 6 male....
....and this pair copulating.
The 4 Black Darter seen were all black males.
A Black Darter briefly joins a Common Darter
Keeled Skimmer
Stars of the show were 2 Keeled Skimmer males which made a few appearances during my stay, including this one briefly on the boardwalk. A close second best was the Golden-ringed Dragonfly that settled close by me on the boardwalk, but didn't stay long enough for a pik.
I also had sightings of 4 Common Lizard....
....and several sightings of the smart looking, but unpleasant Flesh Fly Sarcophaga sp.
The only bird noted, was a Raven over, with in its deep repeated 'korrp-korrp' call. And with the exception of several Large White, I saw no other butterflies.
Access Area Closed Shooting In Progress.
I'm making no other comments on the notice board at Rigg Lane, but my piece on the 'The Glorious Twelfth' in a previous post, is firmed up Here
It's good to see a post from you featuring a nice selection of dragons, Pete. That header is super.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that I would not have risked passing that sign, for fear of being shot. One gets the impression that some shooters will shoot at anything that moves, just for the 'fun' of it.
Best wishes - - - Richard
Nice to see you dragon hunting again. You were brave going under that barrier. Who knows what could have happened. Perhaps you could have shown them the real meaning of shooting wildlife. Take care.
ReplyDeleteRichard....Thanks for this. To be honest there was no chance of me getting shot at. I reckon there was no shooting with 10 miles of where I was, if anywhere at all. You Take Care too.
ReplyDeleteMarc....Good to see you hunting too. Really pleased you finally found the Golden-ringed Dragonfly in Kent at last. Take Care.
Hi Pete I have been in that exact position by the barrier post 12 Aug in previous years. I did what you did on the premise if they are driving Grouse around the Bog they really are getting desperate! Cheers Steve
ReplyDeleteThanks for this Steve. Driving Red Grouse around the bog at Birk Bank....Now there's a thought.
ReplyDelete