Wildlife from Wolverhampton and nearby
A bracket fungus, quite small though possibly not yet at its full size. It was growing on a tree trunk conveniently at a little below my level. That made it a little easier to get pictures both of the pores on the lower surface, and the view of the upper turning brown.
I’ve seen very few gatekeeper butterflies this year, but this one landed very obligingly om some water mint flowers just yards from where I was standing, then started feeding.
A large bracket fungus near the base of the trunk of one of the trees by the drive in Bantock Park. Below the fungus, a spider’s web has caught lots of the spores it shed.
Some dragonflies are much easier to photograph than the hawkers. Tis is a male common darter. They’re a species which spend more time on sunny days resting on the ground or some other convenient perch near to water. This one kept taking off, flying briefly, then landing back on the path. Every time, it was a little closer to me.
The flowers turning to seed, and turning delicate colours in the process, a common reed by the edge of a canal.
Early this month, a sunny day. Hot by mid-morning. On the canal between Wightwick Mill Lock and Compton, three different species of dragonfly.
Although I tried, I didn’t manage to get any pictures of the first species. Large and brown, they were continuously on the wing, flying both fast and erratically. They may have been brown hawkers.
The one pictured here was also continually on the wing, and is another hawker. Its flights patrolling its territory were a little more predictable. Some of my efforts to get its picture were once again featureless blurs. But sometimes I managed to get the panning right.
Very little detail could be grasped by the naked eye as it flashed past: an impression of blue. The camera has caught more. Its one of the migrant hawkers, but there’s still not enough information to decide which one.
Growing in one of the flower beds where Wolverhampton ring road is joined by Snow Hill, a many flowered rose. The petals on the flowers look like they stayed in place and faded instead of shrivelling and dying.
Not all insects attracted to the ivy are therefor the flowers. This damselfly is a banded demoiselle. The green colour shows it’s a female.
She’s resting on leaves in the sun to attract a male. She keeps shifting her position slightly. Possibly she’s wafting out pheromones to advertise her presence.
Another very common wildflower species which was new to me. Another of the plants which was thought to have medicinal properties because of a supposed resemblance of one of its bits to some part of the human body. In this case, the flower buds and nipples.
A picture focussing on the leaves for IDing the plant.
Another hoverfly attracted to ivy flowers. This one’s a hornet mimic hoverfly. There were three or four of them around, but this one was cooperative in staying within camera range. They are easily taken for big, threatening hornets. But they lack stings.