Blogtober Eighteen

Before our holiday in Rutland, I had browsed through the iRecord website and a couple of ID guides to see which species of dragonfly and damselfly might still be on the wing in mid-October. There were four possibilities, the most likely of which was Common Darter. We saw these small dragonflies at most sites we visited, including Rutland Water, Stanwick Lakes, Fineshade Wood and the RSPB's The Lodge.

A female on the wall of a hide at Rutland Water

Another late season dragon is Migrant Hawker, and we were very fortunate to find a male and a female roosting together near a pond at Rutland Water. He is showier in his blue finery, whilst she is camouflaged in brown and yellow, more to avoid unwanted attention than anything else. Clearly, in this instance, she was tolerating the male's presence. A couple of males even put in an appearance outside the log cabin on my birthday.

Damselflies are scarcer towards the back end of the flight season, but we did manage to find a few Willow Emerald Damselflies. Here's a male perched high up on the end of a twig, which allowed for a very uncluttered background. The female of this species lays her eggs into willow stems over water, and once the eggs hatch, the tiny larvae drop into the aquatic realm below.

We were also fortunate to see a male Southern Hawker, which was scouring the water's edge of a pond, searching for a mate. Eventually, he roosted close to the ground, so that we were able to appreciate his sky blue and apple green colouring.

Just outside the Visitor Centre at Rutland Water was a wooden gate in full sun, half a dozen Common Darters were basking on the warm surface, and this female allowed me to film close up to her. 

And finally, some short snippets of mammals, beginning with a Grey Squirrel which was very reluctant to show itself, whilst foraging in a tree.

And then a brief view of two of three Otters seen at Stanwick Lakes.

Then lastly, the merest glimpse of a Weasel which was hunting through piles of cut rushes and reeds at Rutland Water. This moment is actually slowed down about 10x to give some appreciation of how fast the little blighter was!