Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos

Tag: damselflies

  • 23rd July 2026 – Yeo Valley Organic Garden, Somerset

    23rd July 2026 – Yeo Valley Organic Garden, Somerset

    We feel we get very good value out of a number of annual subscriptions we have to bodies such as The National Trust, the RSPB (Royal Society of the Protection of Birds), the WWT (World Wildlife Trust) and, at this time of the year, to the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society).

    We were very excited when the RHS announced that, this year, they were going to replace the annual Garden Show at Hampton Court in London with a show much closer to home at Badminton House (famous for its Horse Trials). However, come the day earlier in July we were rather disappointed as we had chosen a day in the middle of a heatwave and didn’t enjoy ourselves as much as when we had visited the RHS Garden Show at Hampton Court a few years ago. This year there were long traffic queues to get there (at least at Hampton Court a lot of people were able to use public transport which was not really an option here in the heart of Gloucestershire); the popularity of these events also meant that there were huge number of visitors and the facilities were stretched to their limit.

    There is no doubt that the setting for the RHS garden show in front of Badminton House was very special

    We did enjoy seeing some of the “show gardens” but were not allowed to venture through them as had been the case at Hampton Court

    As close as I could get, fighting my way through the crowds

    An award winning “Cricket Pavilion” show garden – a six would have cleared the crowds of onlookers

    Everyone was considering drought tolerant plants

    Although there are no major RHS gardens near to us there are a number of “partner” gardens that we can visit with our RHS membership. One of our favourites is the Yeo Valley Organic Garden close to Blagdon Lake in North Somerset, south of Bristol.

    Our visit last week also corresponded to another very hot day but, at least, we didn’t have to contend with large numbers of visitors. There are some fabulous sections to this garden, which I have reported on in the past, but on our last two visits I have been fascinated that they have developed a new section (replacing “The Big Grass Bed”) which I would describe as the sort of terrain that you might see on the edge of a quarry or next to a building site. This “dry” garden is well suited to the hot conditions which we are enjoying at the moment and feature lots of plants which are drought tolerant. Clearly something all gardeners are having to consider in this part of the world as climate changes affect us.

    Salvias are doing well in my garden too this year

    A sneaky photo of a salvia in my garden before we set off on our trip to the Yeo Valley Organic Garden – they have been attracting bees in huge numbers.

    Quarry/building site?

    Gatekeeper butterfly

    Daucus carota – wild carrot

    Digitalis ferruginea – rusty foxglove

    Painted Lady butterfly on verbena

    Kniphofia – I like its common name of “torch lily”

    Painted Lady would be well camouflaged in the Knophofia

    The gravel garden is full of pollinators and butterflies

    There are great views of Blagdon Lake from the garden

    My only bird photo – very very distant cattle egret next to the lake

    Now there’s a thought if you have the space

    Interesting water feature surrounded by drought tolerant flowers

    Common blue damselfly

    Water feature to die for

    Southern hawker in the bronze garden

    Large white butterfly attracted by the verbena

    Flower bed in the Gravel garden

    Still loads more to see but the heat was getting more intense and the garden café was irresistible: the frittata and the zero degrees Goram IPA (from the local Butcombe brewery) are both highly recommended.

  • 25th May 2026 – Stoke Park Estate, Bristol

    25th May 2026 – Stoke Park Estate, Bristol

    Stoke Park Estate is only half a mile from our home but I have not been able to get here for over 6 months. Today was forecast to be over 30 degrees Celsius so this morning we decided to have a walk there before it was too hot.

    It’s a very pretty spot but since the 1970s it has had a motorway (one of the main arterial roads leading into the city of Bristol) passing through it. It’s quite amazing that it has been spared house building which has been quite intense on this side of the city.

    Duchess Pond in the Stoke Park Estate

    The M32 passes along the south side of Stoke Park

    The main attraction were swifts (and one house martin) which were swooping down on the pond for drinks. There were plenty of other birds to see such as Canada geese and their goslings, moorhens, coots, greenfinch, goldfinch, blackbirds, wrens , chiffchaff and a green woodpecker but the challenge for me (ambitiously with only a 70-200 lens) were the hirundines. I was pleased to photograph my first damselflies of the season too.

    Common swift

    Common swift

    House martin

    Large red damselfly

    Large red damselfly
    Azure damselflies

    Greenfinch in flight

    Common swift

    Common swift taking a drink

    Common blackbird

    Canada geese and their goslings on Duchess Pond

    Common swifts above the pond

    The short walk to the tunnel which passes under the M32 and into Stoke Park
  • 12th August 2025 – Stafford Barton Estate, Dolton, Devon

    12th August 2025 – Stafford Barton Estate, Dolton, Devon

    There’s another world out there!

    Photos from a slightly different morning walk on the Stafford Barton Estate in Devon before it got too hot for us with temperatures reaching 30C in the afternoon.

    The peacock joined us for our breakfast coffee

    Goldfinches waiting for their opportunity

    Speckled wood butterfly in the woods

    Scandinavian style log cabin under construction on the estate with its lovely sedum roof

    Emperor dragonfly

    Mid-air collision averted just in time

    Emperor dragonfly heading straight for me
    Must be great seeing the seasons change here

    Emperor dragonfly

    Don’t know much about these – water boatmen I presume

    Damselflies

    Fortunately plenty of shade on the way home

    Common buzzard showing us the way

  • 20th May 2025 – RSPB Ham Wall, Avalon Marshes, Somerset

    20th May 2025 – RSPB Ham Wall, Avalon Marshes, Somerset

    If you have followed my blog through the winter I generally have something to complain about on my visits here: too cold, too wet, poor light, wrong lens, wrong settings, my incompetence etc. Not today: it was just a joy to be here. I’ll let you judge for yourself …

    Scarce chaser

    Four spotted chaser

    Speckled wood

    Blackcap

    Four spotted chaser

    Great diving beetle

    Grey heron

    Great crested grebes

    Great white egret

    Great white egret

    Great white egret

    Great white egret

    Great white egret

    Great crested grebe

    Azure damselfly

    Red admiral

    Four spotted chaser

    Robin

    Marsh harrier

    Marsh harriers

    Marsh harrier

    Marsh harrier

    Little egret

    Scarce chaser

    Common brimstone

  • 15th May 2025 – Stoke Park, Bristol

    15th May 2025 – Stoke Park, Bristol

    We are very lucky that we have two parks very close to where we live in the middle of the city of Bristol: Eastville Park, a Victorian city park with children’s playgrounds, green spaces and a lake and a river where we regularly see common kingfishers and dippers; and Stoke Park Estate which is a local Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI) covering over 100 hectares. Stoke Park Estate is also designated as a Regionally Important Geological and Geomorphological Site (RIGS): an important place for geology and geomorphology. The site has species-rich grasslands, woodland, scrub, and ponds. It is home to wildlife like great crested newts, dragonflies and glow worms.

    I spent the afternoon wandering around the fishing lake which is also known as Duchess Pond.

    This is the annexe to the main fishing lake (Duchess Pond) with a view of the yellow Dower House, built in 1563 as a private stately home, but now converted to private flats.

    The main fishing lake (Duchess Pond)

    3 swifts passed over briefly but sadly didn’t reappear. However I was pleased to get some shots with the one chance I had.

    Common swift

    Common swift

    Common swift

    Common swift

    A kestrel appeared briefly but stayed in line with the sun (I’m sure to stop me photographing it).

    I caught a glimpse of a chiffchaff and was pleased to get some shots as they are quite elusive at this time.

    Chiffchaff

    Chiffchaff
    Chiffchaff

    There were plenty of carrion crows too (not so elusive!).

    Carrion crow

    Starling – don’t they look splendid with the sun on their plumage?

    There were lots of(Canada Goose) goslings, ducklings and coot and moorhen chicks.

    Coot and chick

    Ducklings

    Canada geese and gosling
    Moorhen

    Coot – look at the size of their feet

    Coot chick

    Black-headed gull (probably looking for ducklings or chicks)

    All around the lake there were dragonflies and damselflies which always prove a great challenge to photograph. I am not very knowledgeable with these and am only hazarding a guess at what was what.

    Scarce chaser

    Scarce chaser in flight

    Scarce chaser looking straight at me.

    Azure damselfly

    Large red damselfly

    Blue-tailed damselfly

    A common carder bee for good measure

    Stoke Park Estate and the Dower House

  • 15th August 2024 – Blakeney, Norfolk

    15th August 2024 – Blakeney, Norfolk

    Almost a non-birding day; except that on our walk this morning to Wiveton Hall we did see our first marsh harrier of the week across the marshes.

    A few years ago, on our first visit to Wiveton Hall, we had met the eccentric owner, Desmond, whose popular BBC programme “Normal for Norfolk” documented his adventures and the daily delights of life around the Hall, on the farm and in the café.  No such luck today. However, the coffee was very good and was worth the walk.

    From here we carried on to visit St Nicholas Church, Blakeney. I hope you agree that the inclusion of the visit is warranted here in that there was a wildlife aspect to our visit.

    St Nicholas , Blakeney famous for its two towers: one at the west and a curious, spindly beacon rising to the south-east of the chancel whose purpose is not really known.

    It seems that the church’s policy is having a good effect.

    Simon Jenkins in his book of England’s 1000 Best Churches says “the earliest and most interesting part of the interior is the chancel , dating from a Carmelite friary founded here in 1296”.

    “The rare stepped seven-lancet east window is unusual for this late date. The only other medieval seven-lighter extant is at Ockham in Surrey”

    The nave is Perpendicular
    The significance of Blakeney’s coastal position is well recorded here

    Most of the church is flint coated …

    … except the chancel is mainly covered in concrete.

    In the afternoon we visited NATURAL SURROUNDINGS, Norfolk’s Wildlife-Gardening & Wildflower Centre next to Bayfield Hall, just a stone’s throw from Blakeney.

    Small red-eyed damselfly

    House fly

    Definitely the stars of the show

    Red Admiral

    A very informative and enjoyable visit. Did I forget to mention that there’s a very good café with much too generous portions of cakes?

  • 8th June 2024 – Chew Valley, North Somerset

    8th June 2024 – Chew Valley, North Somerset

    This robin was very keen to join us for lunch

    I spent my teenage years in the Chew Valley and regret that, at that time , I had little interest in nature. I did enjoy the aesthetics of the pretty village cricket grounds and always enjoyed cycling the lanes. I do remember occasionally taking in the wonderful scenery of this beautiful part of the country; but I failed to show interest in the specifics and failed to learn any of the names of the flora or to spend time studying the birdlife. What a waste!

    However, I hope I have made up for it in recent years.

    This morning we crossed the city before most people were active to visit an amazing garden south of Bristol in the Chew Valley – the Yeo Valley Organic Garden near Blagdon.

    The view from the garden café

    The gravel garden

    It was a bit early in the day (and still quite fresh) to see the great variety of butterflies that we usually see here at this time of the year. We had to make do with a scruffy Painted Lady and lots of damselflies.

    Painted lady

    Common blue damselfly

    There were birds to be seen too; notably robins, blackbirds, goldfinches, chaffinches, chiffchaffs , pied wagtails, and swifts and house martins flying across Blagdon Lake.

    Pied wagtail

    Lots of pollinators in the garden
    The view to Blagdon Lake

    Canada geese over the lake

    Swifts over the lake

    … and a little closer

    The goldfinches were much closer still

    Chaffinch singing its heart out

    Common chiffchaff

    The birch grove

    Big grass bed

    The veggie garden

    This bed of alliums was probably my favourite area today

    The red and lime beds

    The bronze garden

    The bronze garden

    Glasshouse

    Despite the sun not appearing very often the garden still looked stupendous. I hope some of my photos do justice to this lovely garden.

    After a tasty lunch at the on site café we stopped off at the village of Ubley and had a quick visit to the local church.

    The garden café

    Ubley Church north façade

    Ubley Church south façade

    Sadly, our return journey across the city was rather tortuous as we got caught up in the traffic of people going Saturday shopping. If they only knew, they would have been much better off driving out into the countryside!

  • 6th June 2024 – Eastville Park, Bristol

    6th June 2024 – Eastville Park, Bristol

    Back to real birds and other nature photos today.

    Grey wagtail

    We had a stroll around our local park this afternoon. We had hoped to see a tawny owl and a pair of owlets of which we had seen reports but, although everyone we met in the park had seen them, we were out of luck.

    Grey heron

    A very shy grey heron

    A young coot (whatever they are called)

    There were plenty of new arrivals such as ducklings, cygnets and goslings but they are all getting larger (or smaller in numbers where they have been predated!).

    The last of a brood of ducklings

    2 swans and five cygnets

    Canada geese and goslings

    The best of the birds was a little egret which a few years ago would have been a real rarity.

    Little egret

    Little egret

    Plenty of damselflies too and beautiful and banded demoiselles in abundance.

    Beautiful demoiselle
    Female beautiful demoiselle
    Large red damselfly

    Beautiful demoiselle

    Azure damselfly

    Beautiful demoiselle

    A very handsome lesser black-backed gull
    Little egret

    Canada goose

    Greylag/pink footed goose (escapee?)

    Magpie (and why not?)