Week to 10th August

This week was comparatively quiet, there seems to be something of a summer 'plateau'.  Didn't see much except rain on Sunday, Saturday I was delighted by Hawker Dragonfly in Miry and even at the top of Watermills Road.

I am starting to notice disappearances as much as appearances.  The Four spotted and Broad bodied Chaser dragonfly have now gone, the Damselfly are still around, but are fewer.  The high spot of this week was seeing and capturing an image of a Migrant Hawker, a new spot for me.  These insects are gracious enough to settle every now and again this makes the would be photographer's life a little easier.

Migrant Hawker - Smaller and less restless than Common and Southern Hawkers.  The full length shot is here.

The beautifully coloured large Hawkers, however, mocked me in their usual way, I think they look forward to our Saturday sessions.  They hunt in a predictable circuit, hovering in a way suggesting you might photograph them on the wing.  After a couple of months, I still do not have a usable shot.

They seem to know just how long it takes a camera to focus and abort their hover moments before.  When you get wise, pre focus and wait, they change their circuit.  Then, when they fail to appear and you finally give up and lower your camera, a beautiful great insect is hovering right in front of your face.  You wonder just how long they were there while you were staring into a viewfinder oblivious of them just above the lens.

The birds

I am having no better luck with the birds than I am with the larger Hawkers.  A buzzard relocated, past the reach of my lens, when I spotted it and the Goldfinches seem keener to perch on unphotogenic TV aerials on the Apedale Road than they do on the tree tops.  Magpies that hardly seem bothered to get out of one's way on the pavement won't come closer than twenty metres in the open.  All the same, I am lucky enough to see all these birds, to start to become familiar with their calls and to begin to learn where to find them during my walks in the valley.

Habitat

Red eyed Damselfly, a recent visitor to Apedale, ovipositing among the lilies in Springwood Pool, July 2014.

I visited Springwood Pool and saw that the lilies, where the Red eyed Damselfly breed, were being dragged up and removed.  Apparently this is to 'clear the pegs' for fishing.  I admit to knowing nothing about the sustainable management of pools for fishing.  My subjective reaction is that it is a bit of a shame to destroy one creature's habitat for the convenience of man's hobbies.

Photos of the Red eyed Damselfly at Springwood Pool are here .  The start of the whole dragon and damselfly album is here.

Fruiting plants

Though around for a while, many fruits can be seen to be reaching maturity now.  I find the Guelder Rose, rose hips and the Apple to be particularly attractive.  The apples pictured below, from the country park near Watermills Wood are quite as large as a small dessert apple.  Others, including those in the hedgerow on the Apedale Road are much smaller.

Guelder Rose berries (left) look a lot like redcurrant, but are mildly toxic. Apple (right), I have not picked any of these so do not know what type they are.

Flowering plants

I like photographing plants, while they can bounce around in the breeze somewhat, they do usually attempt to stay fairly still while you focus.  Some straggly plants can be a challenge to frame, but on the whole vegetation is reasonably cooperative.

Teasel flowering in the verge and on the mound at the top of Watermills Road.

The number of new flowers opening are fewer in late summer.  That is not to say that there are fewer flowers around.  The Ragwort is really lighting the place up at the moment and much of the vetch, Tormentil and 'eggs and bacon' are still flowering.  Though covered in hips, there is still the odd flower on the rose and the delightful perfume is still on the air.

One new flower I spotted is Teasel at the top of Watermills Road, also found near the visitor centre.  Easily overlooked, the flowers are of a lovely subtle purple colour.  Their quirky flowering pattern reminds me a little of a monk's tonsure.

I note that kissing must be in season, as the gorse is in bloom. 

Rubbish

Fly tipping and litter has always been a big problem in Apedale.  I reported tipping here and in Church Walk Chesterton, to environmental health recently.  I was pleased to note that the biggest pile of rubbish at the bottom of Apedale Rd. has now been removed.  Various smaller sites, including the one in Watermills Wood remain.

It is somewhat disheartening, when returning from a litter pick, to see more litter than you can carry dumped here or there.  This happens often,  some users of Springwood Pool, especially, are in the  habit of bagging rubbish then tying it to the barrier or dumping it behind a rock when they leave.  Five or more bags can often be seen.  While it is not possible to keep pace with the litter in popular areas, it is gratifying that the more remote area in Miry and Burgess' Wood that I cleared a month or so ago, is still almost litter free.  Sometimes it is better to dwell on whatever you can achieve.