Willow Emerald Damselflies

From tom: On my last visit to the Egham ponds, I had noticed a large emerald damselfly high up in the willow canopy but failed to get a photograph- could this be the willow emerald? I returned to find out. 

The willow emerald is recent colonist to the UK. One of four UK emerald damselfly species, it first became established in Suffolk and Norfolk in 2009, and is new to me. 

Ruddy darter. Also seen were a few migrant hawkers (the brown hawkers weren't flying), common blue damselflies and a few red-eyed damselfly sp. 

A willow emerald damselfly doing what willow emeralds do- sitting awkwardly high up in willow canopy.

Note the small pale-green spur colouration on the thorax differentiating the species from the common emerald.

My favourite photo.

Egham toad ponds: a post-dissertation visit

Following dissertation submission Tom quickly returned to the ponds by Prune Hill/RHUL sports centre:

 It was nice to get out, for the first time in a few weeks, and even better to find so much life. The invasive water fern has spread far substantially, creating some spectacular colours on the ponds. I initially went to find willow emerald damselflies (to be posted in another post), however the highlights were a wasp spider (another blog) and a variety of adult bush-cricket species. 

The furthest pond with water fern.

Water fern (Azolla filiculoides)

Water fern (Azolla filiculoides) with a couple/few duckweed species- that I may take the time to ID later if I get really bored.

An excavated wasp nest.

Alder leaf beetle.

Dark bush cricket and Roesel's bush cricket.

Long winged cone-head.

Long winged cone-head with spectacular antennae.

Late summer moth trap

Some very pretty moths on Tuesday night! 

Antler 1; centre barred sallow 1;  copper underwing 1; common rustic 4; common carpet 2; common marbled carpet 1; July highflier 2; goldspot 3; frosted orange 1; lesser yellow underwing 7; large yellow underwing 11; lesser swallow prominent 1; mother of pearl 1; rosy rustic 8; small phoenix 2; square spot rustic 1. 

Anter moth.

Centre barred sallow. 

Copper underwing.

Frosted orange.

Goldspot.

Lesser swallow prominent.

Rosy rustic. 

Water lilies - fused glass

A while back we walked round Derwentwater, when the water lilies were spectacular click here . I had been wanting to create a fused glass wave based on them for a while.....using powders rather than solid glass for the reflections worked and I also used powders between the petals to highlight the shadow. 

The inspiration.

Before fusing....

Fused....

Detail ....

Waverton Sunflowers

Crummock Bank farm, near Waverton in North Cumbria has planted a field of sunflowers that you can visit in return for a donation in aid of the air ambulance - it's quite a spectacle - open daily 12 - 4 pm at the moment. So here are a few photos......

Souther Fell

A new Wainwright for me, but not the dog - and what a nice little fell this is! An easy and gentle track leads ot a summit ridge with good views - the views would have been better with a higher cloud base though! I ended up taking photographs of the sheep....

Looking across to Great and Little Mell Fell.

Swaledale.

Across to St John's in the Vale. 

Herdies......

I love the colours in the deer grass at this time of year. 

On the top....

ArtyBird Exhibition Farfield Mill

A trip down to Sedbergh to see this inspirational exhibition by ArtyBird students...I have many, many ideas! So here are a few of the pieces that caught my eye.

'Fellside Tumble'  -  Val Forshaw.

'Deluge' by Teresa Clark. 

'Along the Coastal path' (detail)  - Ronalda White.

'Iona Tideline' (detail) - Rachel Battersby.

Cushion by Pipp Mobbs.

'Transformation' by Hilary Porter.

'Seeping through the Cracks' by Helen Heard.

Helen Weighill's beautiful and clever feltwork.