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Image-of-the-Day by Subject
Plants Page 97
Image Taken on 29 Sep 2011
at 15:14 Image of day on 12 Nov 2011
After initially fighting at one pond, two unexpectedly pristine
(for late in the season) male Southern Hawker dragonflies settled
to patrolling one pond each for hours on end for a few days - lovely to watch.
We brought one of them in for a little photo-shoot.
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Ref: 20111112_da1_20110929_1514_310+1450_253_ft1 southern hawker dragonfly male in flight with autumn hawthorn leaves (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 17 Sep 2010
at 13:39 Image of day on 04 Nov 2010
Hardly a nick in the wing of this beauty despite being almost at the end
of his life.
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Ref: 20101104_da1_20100917_1339_077+20100912_1444_080_ft1 southern hawker dragonfly male in flight with teasel head (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 15 Sep 2018
at 15:35 Image of day on 06 Nov 2018
This male Southern Hawker Dragonfly is sunning himself on a stem of great Willow
Herb. This is 2 different views of the same individual.
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Ref: 20181106_df3_20180915_1535_024+1536_038 southern hawker dragonfly male perched on great willow herb stem 1+2 of 2 (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 23 Aug 2024
at 12:55 Image of day on 10 Oct 2024
The first male Southern Hawker sighting this year 23 Aug 2024.
Here he is hanging from leaves of the Lodgepole Pine trees facing south.
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Ref: 20241010_d72_20240823_1255_182 southern hawker dragonfly male perched on lodgepole pine leaves (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 23 Aug 2014
at 12:49 Image of day on 02 Nov 2014
This male Southern Hawker dragonfly landed on this leaf of a
Sweet chestnut (not that we get a crop - the Grey squirrels take
them all before they are ripe) and was unusually tolerant of us
moving around him. He looks absolutely pristine and likely
emerged from the nearby Duck-shaped pond.
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Ref: 20141102_df2_20140823_1249_409 southern hawker dragonfly male perched on tip of sweet chestnut leaf (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 23 Aug 2014
at 12:51 Image of day on 02 Nov 2014
This male Southern Hawker dragonfly landed on this leaf of a
Sweet chestnut and was unusually tolerant of us moving around
him. He looks absolutely pristine and likely emerged from the
nearby Duck-shaped pond.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20141102_df2_20140823_1251_433 southern hawker dragonfly male perched on tip of sweet chestnut leaf (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 09 Sep 2009
at 17:14 Image of day on 19 Oct 2009
We saw this pair of Southern Hawker dragonflies land in this
'Wheel' configuration in a willow behind duck pond and spend
63 minutes hanging on there being blown around in the wind before
finally parting in two stages.
The male is at the top using his tail clasper to hold the female
behind the head. She brings her vulva opening up to the male to
pick up the sperm.
They were very determined - the wind was blowing them about from
this position to almost horizontal.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20091019_db1_20090909_1714_121 southern hawker dragonfly pair mating in willow behind duck pond & parting after 1 hr 19 of 36 (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 09 Sep 2009
at 17:39 Image of day on 19 Oct 2009
About 3 minutes before separating she has had enough and drops
into 'tandem'. Some species then go on to lay eggs in this
configuration, but not these.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20091019_db1_20090909_1739_157 southern hawker dragonfly pair mating in willow behind duck pond & parting after 1 hr 25 of 36 (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 09 Sep 2009
at 17:44 Image of day on 19 Oct 2009
The moment of separation probably and she flew off we know not
where. He flew off a few minutes later
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20091019_db1_20090909_1744_179 southern hawker dragonfly pair mating in willow behind duck pond & parting after 1 hr 33 of 36 (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 24 Oct 2024
at 10:27 Image of day on 23 Nov 2024
Some sort of Sow Thistle flower on the soil dumps to our south.
The unopened flower buds are dark red, the remains of which you can see
as red stripes down the outside of the outer petals.
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Ref: 20241123_d72_20241024_1027_004 sow thistle flower with red outside petal colour(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 24 Aug 2018
at 17:18 Image of day on 21 Oct 2018
A female Sparrowhawk perched in a large Willow tree 20m from the conservatory
window, so we both had a go at some photos. This is our first Sparrowhawk
sighting since January (on the meadow post 7 months ago).
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Ref: 20181021_df3_20180824_1718_161+1721_185+1723_191+d5c_1729_007 sparrowhawk female on willow branch @ frog pond 2+6+7+9 of 9 (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 16 Jan 2020
at 12:03 Image of day on 05 Feb 2020
We spotted this female Sparrowhawk on the stump of the Willow
tree on the other side of the main pond, staying for a few
minutes. On one occasion (top right and bottom left) she gets
knocked off balance by an unexpected gust of wind.
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Ref: 20200205_df5_20200116_1203_006+010+011+1204_016 sparrowhawk female perched on sunny willow stump 1-3+5 of 5 (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 29 Aug 2010
at 15:24 Image of day on 17 Oct 2010
The local Sparrowhawk doing one of it's high speed fly-bys.
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Ref: 20101017_df1_20100829_1524_025-028 sparrowhawk in flight over grass 1-4 of 4 (montage at about 7fps)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 12 Dec 2021
at 07:25 Image of day on 18 Jan 2022
At 07:25 a.m. dawn is only just arriving and this Sparrowhawk is already hunting in the near dark.
The bird's Irises are fully open hiding the normal bright yellow eye ring.
She must be really hungry to be out so early - as we type this 3 days later we saw her
flash by the Kitchen bird feeder only 15 minutes later than this, so these early outings
may be a regular event.
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Ref: 20220118_d01_20211212_0725_219-0730_229_fb6 sparrowhawk lands & 6 mins later leaves meadow post 30m pre-sunrise 1+5+6 of 6 (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 27 Feb 2020
at 12:26 Image of day on 20 Mar 2020
The Sparrowhawk flashed by the conservatory window but did not reappear on the
other side of the (once) 'miniature' conifer. Venturing quietly out with a
camera to see if he was still about, the bird spotted the cameraman
before the cameraman spotted him! The camera managed to catch these three
moments of the bird making his exit in front of the phone pole. A little
calculation based on the birds size and frame rate (about 7 fps) suggests about 15
mph - not bad for a standing start with a load in your Talons.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20200320_df3_20200227_1226_034-036 sparrowhawk male taking off from grass with prey in talons 2-4 of 4 (approx montage @7 fps)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 27 Feb 2020
at 12:26 Image of day on 20 Mar 2020
So what did the make Sparrowhawk catch? This is an enhanced version of the bird on
the right of the montage, and is certainly a small bird of some kind,
the bird's face between the orange specks and the white feathers.
Most likely it is one of our many Blue Tits, but it looks like it might be our
currently arrived Tree Sparrow.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20200320_df3_20200227_1226_036 sparrowhawk male taking off from grass with prey in talons 4 of 4 (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 26 Mar 2021
at 09:25 Image of day on 24 Apr 2021
A bit more detail of the start of the action.
The body and crown colour of this bird suggest a male, but the eye-stripe
and tail colour suggest a female.
But it is definitely a Sparrowhawk one way or t'other.
A friend obtained an opinion on the sex of this bird and one on his own site
that had taken a Pigeon - males are not 'supposed' to be large enough to
tackle Pigeons. The outcome was that both were probably females based on details
not mentioned in bird ID books.
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Ref: 20210424_df5_20210326_0925_006-007 sparrowhawk perched on willow branch launches in chase to left 2+3 of 7 (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 26 Mar 2021
at 09:25 Image of day on 24 Apr 2021
A sighting of this grey shape in the Pollarded Willow tuned out to be a Sparrowhawk.
Grabbing the camera just in time to witness a high speed launch towards a passing
and quickly really frightened Wood Pigeon.
The Pigeon was never 'in frame' and the chase disappeared into the trees.
A search a few minutes later didn't show any signs of a kill, but the chase
may have continue for hundreds of metres.
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Ref: 20210424_df5_20210326_0925_006-011 sparrowhawk perched on willow branch launches in chase to left 2-7 of 7 (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 30 Apr 2019
at 11:07 Image of day on 31 May 2019
In a shaft of sunlight in the woodland, both a Speckled Wood Butterfly (in
remarkably good condition after over-wintering) and a small Spider (unidentified)
warm themselves on an otherwise chilly day.
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Ref: 20190531_df5_20190430_1107_066+067 speckled wood butterfly and spider in leaf litter (acc montage for focus)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 18 Jun 2017
at 15:40 Image of day on 10 Aug 2017
Speckled Wood butterflies like the edges of our woodland rather than the
areas of full sun or shade.
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Ref: 20170810_da1_20170618_1540_489+1543_507_ft1 speckled wood butterfly in 2 flights + blackberry flowers (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
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