News From The Bog!

Excellent news from Birk Bank from a trusted and reliable source, is that the current record stands at a spectacular 22 Keeled Skimmer as at Tuesday 14 July.

Keeled Skimmer Birk Bank 16 July. Pete Woodruff.

On Thursday, I spent an enjoyable and rewarding 2 hours at Birk Bank, but based on the chances of my equalling the current record let alone beating it, I did find at least 14 Keeled Skimmer in the first 5 minutes there. Quite surprisingly all were male, though by the end of the session I had seen two females egg laying.

The next best thing, was the 2 Golden-ringed Dragonfly sightings, neither of which had stopped off for photographs!

Four-spotted Chaser Birk Bank 16 July. Pete Woodruff.

Four-spotted Chaser seen, this one an immature with wing spots not very apparent, and were mostly on the wing, and all were immediately seen off by the male Keeled Skimmers.

I hadn't noticed the insect at the time, only when I came to process the footage did I see it face to face with the chaser, and I wondered if it had escaped with its life, but I reckon it was living dangerously.

Being a novice in the game, I can only assume this female dragonfly is egg laying, you can see its abdomen under the leaf on the bog, in which case it is making heavy weather of the exercise.

I have no idea of the fate of this unidentified dragonfly. The behaviour added to the bleached appearance which is probably caused by the stark sunlight....All things considered, something of a mystery. 

Azure Damselfly Birk Bank 16 July. Pete Woodruff.

Three Azure Damselfly seen, and something of a surprise was a Blue-tailed Damselfly, it not being a common sight around acidic waters, I don't recall ever seeing one at Birk Bank before. It was good to see the Emperor Dragonfly again this year if only on a brief fly by.

Birds & Butterflies.

It was an icing on the cake moment when I found a pair of Stonechat as I came away from the bog, the male was seen with a grub in its bill....obvious breeders for me. Vocal interaction by a pair of Willow Warbler, and a Buzzard overhead.

Butterflies were a little thin, but one or two escaped ID as they whizzed by....no good for a learner like me! Three Ringlet, 2 Red Admiral and a Meadow Brown.  

Red Alert!

A wander along the Lancaster Canal about 10 miles south of Lancaster was one of the best decisions I've made this year, and if I'm honest I don't remember the last one to come anywhere near it in recent years.

For some reason I had Water Lilies on my mind, and as I soon came across large patches of them by the canal side, a feeling of excitement was beginning to build.

Blue-tailed Damselfly. Pete Woodruff.

It was just the one male Blue-tailed Damselfly, but it was a precursor to something much better. In just a few hundred metres along the towpath, I came across large areas of Water Lilies, and soon remembered why they had been on my mind....

Small Red-eyed Damselfly Lancaster Canal 11 July. Pete Woodruff.

Within the 30 minutes I spent here, I had noted at least 30 Small Red-eyed Damselfly...A Mega for the little black book! 

Mating by the Small Red-eyed Damselfly usually occurs on floating plants, and in the case of canals, on floating Water Lilies. 

The Small Red-eyed Damselfly was first found in Britain 27 years ago, on the Essex coast in July 1999, and had become locally abundant in south-east England 3 years later in 2002. There appears to be a range expansion taking place today, and the species is now present at Middleton NR in North Lancashire, were there is a feeling of colonisation expressed by some observers there.  

The Bees That Weren't!

In my last post Thursday 9 July, I featured a photograph of supposedly Common Carder Bees pairing....well isn't that what they are? Well actually no, in fact this was an error which left egg on my face, but who cares, I'm not some know-all who never gets it wrong!

Merodon equestris. Pete Woodruff.

It's an image of a pair of the best bumblebee mimics in the land, the hoverfly Merodon equestris....Well who'da thought!

The Garden Bees.

The bees in the garden have kept me entertained recently, one found on Tuesday was particularly entertaining, and developed into something quite interesting.

A Wool Carder Bee Anthidium manicatum was on the bee hotel, not very active, and when I returned a few minutes later it had gone.

Wool Carder Bee 7 July. Pete Woodruff.

This is a large cosmopolitan genus with several hundred described species, but only one in Britain. Their nests are often to be found in dead wood or walls, but can often be in bee-hotels which is where this bee was seen today. Not necessarily nesting there, but if it was, it is interesting that Yarrow was below our bee hotel, this is one of the flowers from which the female Wool Carder Bee collects from the furry leafed surface of the Yarrow to plug and close the nest hole.

Yarrow Achillea millefolium. Pete Woodruff.

An excellent record for our garden in N.Lancashire. The Wool Carder Bee has become more frequently recorded since the first was found 35 years ago at Hornby in 1992, but since 2000 it has expanded its range northwards, from being a species found more often in southern England, to being seen nearer my home town in Lancaster and being recorded about 6 miles west at Heysham.

Wool Carder Bee. Martin Jump.

Martin found this bee in his own garden in 2025, his quality image is of a far more attractive specimen than mine. Thanks for this Martin, much appreciated.

Common Carder Bees.

Common Carder Bees. Pete Woodruff.

The next entertainment by the bees, came in the form of a pair of Common Carder Bees I found paired in the garden. This was the first and most amazing experience I ever expected from a pair of insects.

This guy sounds like someone using a chainsaw at 3,000 revs a second and it is brilliant....Pump up the volume!

 

Mason Bees.

I'm not seeing much of the Mason Bees now, their fight season will have finished before the end of July.

Red Mason Bee. Pete Woodruff.

The Mason Bees have blocked off at least 20 holes in their hotel....

Blue Mason Bee. Pete Woodruff.

This Blue Mason Bee was taking a look out whilst deciding when to make a start to block of the hole. It's been a joy to watch these small bees this year, and the antics they get up to.

Thanks to Paul Ellis for his image of the Common Terns on Conder Pool 5 July, including two of the latest fledged birds ringed as 454 & 455....Couldn't resist this one!  

Conder Pool Wednesday 2 July.

This time my header image is that of the first Common Tern to fledge on Conder Pool this breeding season, it took to the wing on 2 July. I'm grateful to Howard Stockdale for the excellent image of this bird, and for some of the stats in the post that follows regarding the Common Terns on Conder Pool.

Common Tern With Young Conder Pool Raft 1 July. Pete Woodruff.

I can't pretend not to be disappointed that the juvenile Common Tern decided to wait until the following day of my visit to Conder Pool to fledge. I had seen four young Common Tern on the raft on Wednesday, one was wing exercising, no doubt this was the one that fledged the following day, hence my disappointment. 

On the morning of 28 July, there was 25 Common Tern nests, 22 pairs were incubating, with 3 nests and 6 chicks.

Up to 30 Common Tern were on the raft on Wednesday, adults and 4 young. I made no count of any terns that may have been off the raft, though I'm told birds breeding on the islands had failed due to predation and had relocated to the raft.

The outlook for the future of this years breeding Common Terns on Conder Pool is looking good and positive....Alleluia! 

I made no counts of adult Avocet, but noted 2 young and a well grown juvenile which was rewarding. There was a good count of 12 Mediterranean Gull, including two 1st summer, and three 2nd summer birds. A lone adult Little Ringed Plover gave good views, and at the back of the pool, 11 Black-tailed Godwit and 7 Bar-tailed Godwit were lined up along with 5 Greenshank. A Little Grebe and 9 Canada Geese were noted at the west end of the pool.

Over in the creeks and on return passage, 2 Common Sandpiper, and a Ruff seen high tide roosting with Redshank.

Saltcote Pond.

Blue-tailed Damselfly. Pete Woodruff.

Saltcote Pond was near deserted by the dragonflies, but a pair of Blue-tailed Damselfly in cop are being recorded as an immature male and a female of the rufescens-obseleta form, also 3 Common Blue Damselfly. A Swift was over, with 2 Chiffchaff and a singing Sedge Warbler. 

Canal Glasson - Conder Green. 

Lancaster Canal Looking East. Pete Woodruff.

In search of dragons on the canal, hardly July 1 weather. The view looking east towards the Forest of Bowland was grim, and pleased I hadn't decided to go on to Hawthornthwaite Fell today, it's under a cloud of drizzle in this view.

Common Blue Damselfly. Pete Woodruff.

There was no more luck with the dragons than at Saltcote Pond for a walk along the canal towpath, with just 8 Common Blue Damselfly seen, but I heard 4 Sedge Warbler. Butterflies on the day were, 6 Ringlet, 4 Red Admiral, and 2 Painted Lady. 

Garden Activity.

There was a first for me in the garden on Friday, when I found 6 Long Tailed Tit, four of which I had the chance to view before they moved on, they were young...A moment of birding magic for me.

Long tailed Tit. Pete Woodruff.

It is also good that the list of young in the garden continues to grow, with Dunnock, Blackbird, Great Tit, and good numbers of House Sparrow over the past weeks, all having had a good breeding season it seems. 

Dunnock. Pete Woodruff.

Blackbird. Pete Woodruff.