Thursday 26 August 2010

Rutland visit

This is the first chance Ive had to properly catch up with the blog since returning from our week away, which started with a couple of days in Rutland, Leicestershire followed by a few more days in Norfolk. This was a return visit to Ashgate Annex in Oakham, Rutland where we enjoyed yet another relaxing weekend in Isabel & David's lovely self catering luxury accomodation. Its such a great place to stay, ideal for exploring Rutland Water & the surrounding countryside. Here follows a few sightings from the Rutland portion of our trip.

Just after arriving I spotted this female Common Blue on the driveway feeding on Lavender flowers.  



Despite the overcast weather at times, we still enjoyed some great sightings. We dropped into Egleton reserve at Rutland Water Nature Reserve and watched this Kingfisher appear in a flash of blue, disappear and reappear once more where it sat for a good 5 minutes.




We sat it out in this hide during a downpour, where even the Hebridean sheep decided to congregate while the heavens opened. Apparently they were introduced to the reserve back in 2001 to help control coarse grasses around the edges of the water.



Through the binoculars we had a good view of the Ospreys, we watched as an adult consumed its share of a fish whilst sat atop platform on the left, before depositing it on the nest on the right for the juveniles to finish off.


During this visit we ventured to some new sites that we'd found via the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust website. One of the most interesting was Prior's Coppice, to quote the website "is an ancient ash-maple ash-wych elm woodland, probably a relic of the wildwood which covered all of Leicestershire and Rutland before prehistoric peoples started to clear it".

Here's a couple of pics of the wide rides that contain woodland marshy grassland surrounded by lush canopies, it was a treat to explore and well worth a visit.

On entering Priors Coppice we were amazed to see well over 50 Common Blues, I'm used to seeing them singly or maybe in two's if I'm lucky, so this was a rare treat for me. Here are a few favourites.







There were lots of dragonflies around and about, zipping above our heads following the rides, occasionally we spotted one or two resting on nearby vegetation, I think these two are immature Male Southern Hawkers, but I'm happy to be corrected.




There were plenty of Damselflies too, they really stood out against the foliage and stems, I think these are Common Blue Damselflies, single stripe on side of thorax, mushroomy mark on segment two.

8 comments:

  1. Beautiful place.
    Amazing photographs.
    Costas

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  2. You seem to have packed a lot in and provided some cracking images

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  3. What a great place for wildlife that Prior's coppice is. A paradise indeed :-)

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  4. Looks like a beautiful place, that last shot of the Damselflies is stunning.
    Pam

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  5. Great fun exploring a new location Linda especially when it produces such rare treats.

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  6. Hi Linda, What a lovely set of pictures you have here. The kingfisher must have been great to see and the butterflies and dragonflies are outstanding. I'm trying to catch up after been off line a little while. Hope to be blogging again soon.

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  7. Looks as though you had a grand time in spite of the weather.

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  8. Thanks Costas, it was a lovely trip & delighted with our sightings.

    Ta Ciybirding, its taken a while to get round to posting them.

    Its a lovely gem of a spot Warren.

    Thanks Pam, there were lots of sights to see and such a beautiful and peaceful place to visit.

    Hello Frank, it was a lovely spot, great fun indeed.

    Hello Emma, thanks very much, its always nice to have you drop by. Hope you're well and look forward to catching up with your postings soon.

    Hello John, we did very well despite the dodgy start to the weather, its always a delight to get out and about and explore new places.

    Thanks for dropping in and posting your comments which are more appreciated. Best wishes & enjoy the rest of the Bank Holiday weekend. Linda

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