A quick drop in to @northcavewet.bsky.social this afternoon produced a fabulous view of the Black-crowned night heron!!!
Steven Oliver
@steven-oliver.bsky.social
Recovering public health academic (retired) Now mainly: natural world | history | prison education | research ethics
Willow Emerald damselflies out in number @northcavewet.bsky.social. Elsewhere: Black-crowned night heron in flight 😀
Damselflies still about @northcavewet.bsky.social, this female Blue-tailed (Ischnura elegans) was on the dining phase of their ‘eat/fly/mate repeat’ cycle. Elsewhere: Common Blues, Small Red-eyed, Willow Emeralds
Lots of hawking dragonflies @northcavewet.bsky.social, but took most of the day before one came in camera phone range. Worth waiting though for this lovely male Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) 😀 Elsewhere: cattle egret
💚💚 Emeralds 💚💚 A male and immature female Emerald damselfly (Lestes sponsa) in the rushes surrounding Goathland Tarn today
A morning on North Yorkshire peat, hunting acid-loving 🧪 dragons. Finally rewarded with this female Black Darter (Sympetrum danae) by Goathland Tarn 😀
Conveniently at eye-level for once 😀 a Purple Hairstreak (Favonius quercus) at Askham Bog today. Elsewhere: Southern & Brown Hawker Dragonflies @yorkswildlife.bsky.social
A venerable Royal Fern (Osmunda regalis) flourishing at @yorkswildlife.bsky.social Askham Bog. Startling to imagine this might have been a prothallus when Henry VIII was a lad 😀
Blue-tailed damselflies (Ischnura elegans) are common in the UK & can be found from Ireland east as far as Japan. There were plenty @northcavewet.bsky.social today, including this smart male.
After many snaps of recently vacated sticks & leaves @northcavewet.bsky.social today, one male Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) finally held a pose 😀. Elsewhere: Emperors and Brown Hawkers
Best I could do to capture any of the, now very numerous, Common Darters (Sympetrum striolatum) @northcavewet.bsky.social - a mating pair, alighting briefly.
An Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator) on west path @northcavewet.bsky.social today. Allowed me to get quite close, wondering if the dark marks on thorax mean past injury? @britishdragonflies.bsky.social Elsewhere: Common Darters ++
A lovely day to see ‘Ecclesiastical Pear’ (Pyrus communis ssp. sativa) in fruit beside Hexham Abbey, #136 in #treehunting. 36 of 1000
Ruddy Darters definitely predominating @northcavewet.bsky.social today. Elsewhere: Emperors, Brown Hawkers and Black-tailed Skimmers
A chance to check I can tell ‘Large’ from ‘Small’ when it comes to Red-eyed Damselflies (neither are ‘Big’ 😂) This male is definitely a Small Red-eyed (Erythromma viridulum) resting briefly @northcavewet.bsky.social today. Elsewhere: Bitterns plural
Robert Baker (1803–1880) was a pioneering public health reformer, factory inspector and the first doctor appointed to the Factory Department. Born in York, he trained as a surgeon before moving to Leeds, where the cholera epidemic exposed him to the grim conditions faced by
My first chance to get a picture of a Broad-bodied Chaser this year, a female at Allerthorpe Woods
A female Banded Demoiselle in the sun at Allerthorpe Woods today
A brief glimpse of a Hummingbird hawk-moth feeding on our lavender - slowed down enough to see!
Enjoying landscape within sculpture within landscape at YSP.
A trip to explore Skipwith Common today. Too hot to stay long though 🥵Lots of dragonflies on the ponds: Emperors, Broad-bodied Chaser, 4-spotted Chasers and plenty of Ruddy Darters like this male.
A hot day for volunteers @northcavewet.bsky.social 🥵, but a pre-work wander revealed a very cool Marbled White 🦋
A very smart female Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) in the ☀️ @northcavewet.bsky.social today
West path @northcavewet.bsky.social is always my best hope for Willow Emerald damselflies (Chalcolestes viridis), missed my first of the year this morning - this one was having a snack, so hung around 😀
A Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) keeping an eye on Main Lake @northcavewet.bsky.social today
August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof, 18th C naturalist & painter, is memorialised in the naming of Roesel’s Bush Cricket (Metrioptera roeselii) - this female was certainly posing beautifully for a portrait @northcavewet.bsky.social today 😀
Ruddy Darters (Sympetrum sanguineum), like this female, were about in force today @northcavewet.bsky.social, along with other 🐉. Elsewhere: Emperors, Brown Hawkers, 4-spotted Chasers & Black-tailed Skimmers
On this day 5th July 1948 the NHS was born. (The Nurse, 1963 Artist: John Berry)
