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Birds, Insects & Bats in flight (outdoors) Page 44
Image Taken on 16 Mar 2009
at 17:38 Image of day on 02 Apr 2009
The females often keep going until none but the fittest male is
left. Here the male at the rear is beginning to tire.
.jpg)
Ref: 20090402_db1_20090316_1738_046 mallard female and 2 males in flight at sunset(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 09 Apr 2008
at 16:02 Image of day on 25 Apr 2008
... and now Her ...
.jpg)
Ref: 20080425_da1_20080409_1602_020 mallard female in flight(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 09 Apr 2008
at 16:02 Image of day on 25 Apr 2008
The Mallard duck pairs often take off together, but not so far
close enough for a satisfactory 'pair of ducks in flight' pic. So
here they are one at a time having panned from one to the other.
First Him ...
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Ref: 20080425_da1_20080409_1602_015 mallard male in flight(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 30 Apr 2016
at 10:01 Image of day on 05 Jun 2016
A Male Mallard duck flies by making his soft quack as he goes.
Those lovely colours will soon be moulted away into the summer 'eclipse'.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20160605_df3_20160430_1001_006 mallard male in flight 1 of 7 (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 30 Apr 2016
at 10:01 Image of day on 05 Jun 2016
A Male Mallard duck flies by making his soft quack as he goes.
Those lovely colours will soon be moulted away into the summer 'eclipse'.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20160605_df3_20160430_1001_006-009 mallard male in flight 1-4 of 7 (close spaced montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 25 Mar 2010
at 16:34 Image of day on 25 Apr 2010
The same bird decided the photographers (on their way to chuck
some food into the pond) were altogether close enough, and off he
went.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20100425_df1_20100325_1634_176-180 mallard male in flight passing trees 06-10 of 14 (accurate montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 17 Jul 2017
at 09:49 Image of day on 31 Aug 2017
We have 2 types of 'wild rose', a pink variety which flowers first, and then this
white petalled type here adorned with a couple of nicely symmetrical
Marmalade Hover-flies typically 12mm (under half an inch) in length.
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Ref: 20170831_df3_20170717_0949_004 2 marmalade hover-flies on white wild rose flower(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 15 Jul 2019
at 15:50 Image of day on 04 Sep 2019
A pleasingly symmetrical arrangement of Marmalade Hover-flies on a single Thistle flower.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20190904_df3_20190715_1550_029 5 marmalade hover-flies symmetrically arranged on thistle flower (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 15 Jul 2019
at 15:50 Image of day on 04 Sep 2019
In this closer view of one of the Marmalade Hover-flies you can see detail of the
flower's centre and a scattering of pollen on the back of the insect to hopefully
fertilise another plant's flower.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20190904_df3_20190715_1550_029 5 marmalade hover-flies symmetrically arranged on thistle flower (crop 2)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 09 Jul 2021
at 11:14 Image of day on 17 Aug 2021
The Marmalade Hover-fly stops on this buttercup, only a bit bigger than the insect.
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Ref: 20210817_d73_20210709_1114_089 marmalade hover-fly feeding on buttercup flower(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 11 Jul 2021
at 12:13 Image of day on 17 Aug 2021
Another Marmalade Hover-fly, this time hovering over
the much larger Rose of Sharon flower.
As well as drinking nectar they eat honeydew and pollen,
so this one is above a feast!
.jpg)
Ref: 20210817_df3_20210711_1213_025 marmalade hover-fly hovering over rose of sharon flower(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 22 Jun 2018
at 09:58 Image of day on 05 Aug 2018
A Marmalade Hover-fly stops off for a feed at this Oxeye Daisy flower.
.jpg)
Ref: 20180805_d72_20180622_0958_023 marmalade hover-fly on oxeye daisy(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 30 Jul 2013
at 15:56 Image of day on 19 Sep 2013
One of the Marmalade Hoverflies ... err ... hovering.
 in flight (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20130919_df1_20130730_1556_095 marmalade hoverfly (episyrphus balteatus) in flight (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 22 Aug 2008
at 16:54 Image of day on 11 Sep 2008
The 1st of two new raptor identifications over our patch.
We wouldn't have known what they were without the photos.
On the 22nd August this Merlin did a single brief flyby.
 female in flight (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20080911_dc1_20080822_1654_009 merlin (q) female in flight (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 24 Apr 2010
at 15:47 Image of day on 27 May 2010
A few buzzards identified a thermal that included these 2 not so
immediately identified birds climbing with them. Turns out they
were a 'pair' of Merlins. The female on the left is said to be
bigger than the male on the right, but they were also climbing in
the thermal and taken about 1 minute apart, so don't take the
relative sizes literally.
 & male in thermal also being used by buzzards (montage scaling unknown)(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20100527_df1_20100424_1547_117+1548_148 merlin female (left) & male in thermal also being used by buzzards (montage scaling unknown)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 05 Sep 2010
at 14:30 Image of day on 31 Oct 2010
This Migrant hawker dragonfly female was hunting over our North boundary
on a chilly but sunny day and this was taken as she flew by into the wind
slowing her progress enough to follow it with the camera.
Note how the legs are neatly folded underneath - something you don't see
in our indoor pictures because the insect hasn't had time to pull them up.
.jpg)
Ref: 20101031_df1_20100905_1430_119 migrant hawker dragonfly adult female in flight(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 22 Aug 2015
at 18:11 Image of day on 23 Oct 2015
Perseverance sometimes brings its own 'luck' - here we caught
this moment of a Migrant Hawker Dragonfly just failing to catch
an insect. Read the montage left to right, all of this taking about
half a second:-
- Dragonfly starts the swerve toward the insect.
- Dragonfly starts to lower it's legs to make a catch net.
- Insect almost caught in net.
- Missed it. Oh well, there are thousands more to try for!
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20151023_df4_20150822_1811_407-410 migrant hawker dragonfly circles to catch but drop insect 4-7 of 8 (accurate montage mirrored)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 13 Aug 2014
at 12:31 Image of day on 22 Oct 2014
A couple of hours later a female Migrant Hawker dragonfly was hunting back and forth over
the warm concrete, and we got this unexpectedly sharp image as she glided by.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20141022_df2_20140813_1231_215 migrant hawker dragonfly female immature in flight 1 of 5 (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 17 Sep 2022
at 13:29 Image of day on 27 Oct 2022
.jpg)
Ref: 20221027_df3_20220917_1329_393 migrant hawker dragonfly female in flight(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 20 Aug 2019
at 12:54 Image of day on 10 Oct 2019
One of several Migrant Hawker Dragonflies feeding over the meadow.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20191010_d73_20190820_1254_077 migrant hawker dragonfly female in flight (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
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