Wolves Wild

Moorhen chick, now grown to full size or thereabouts, and big enough to be allowed out without close parental supervision. strolling around near the West Park lake.

Another banded demoiselle damselfly, this time resting on a nettle flower. It was only a few yards away from where the other male was resting.

This is a forest bug on a bunch of rowan berries. Forest bugs are described as common, but as far as I’m aware this is the only one I’ve ever seen. The picture was taken back in 2010, but I’ve only just got around to posting a copy on the iNaturalist website to get a proper ID.

Demoiselles (sometimes called agrions instead) are the most flashy damselflies. Their bodies come in various shades of electric blue, green or bronze. The males can be seen mush more often than the females. Sometimes flying near the edges of rivers, canals and ponds, often resting on nearby leaves, hoping to attract the attention of a female.

Another old picture I never got round to posting at the time. The only time I’ve ever seen a poplar hawk moth was around this time of year, but back in 2011. Quite big for a flying insect, but its subdued colours make it hard to spot when resting up for the day.

The blusher, a summer mushroom which sometimes appears in the same place year after year, as here on a front lawn I pass quite often. They are normally one of the larger mushroom species, with caps three inches or more across, and correspondingly tall. But not this year. So far, there’s only three fruiting bodies, where usually there’s at least twice as many. And the ones which have appeared are a lot smaller than usual, barely standing above the short grass of the lawn.