Yellow Flag

Yellow Flag Iris pseudacorus, which is also known as Flag or more prosaically as Yellow Iris, decorates the borders of ponds, rivers and lakes from May to August throughout the UK, and is only absent from the Scottish Highlands. The name Flag may have originally come about when the iris was used as a symbol on the battle flag of Clovis, a 5th century King of the Franks, although this may be apocryphal. Yellow Flag seems to have had an amazing number uses to man over the centuries. Dye can be obtained from the the flowers and leaves and the roots produce a black dye used in ink called rather ominously Sabbath Black and roasted seeds can be used as a coffee substitute. The rhizomes were used to treat a variety of ailments including coughs, bruising, toothaches and ulcers and the powdered roots were used to be clear head colds. Irises were also hung over doors to ward of evil spirits in the Middle Ages.

The leaves of Yellow Flag provide food for some moth caterpillars including Water Ermine and Belted Beauty, as well as dragonfly larvae and large stands in Western Scotland form an important habitat for Corncrakes.

This photo taken in June last year at College Lake looks slightly like a studio shot, but the dark background which sets off the flower so well is actually shadowy water and vegetation.

Yellow Flag Iris pseudacorus

Migrant Hawker

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta is now a familiar sight at ponds, gravel pits and reservoirs in the southern half of England but up until the 1940's was only seen as a scarce migrant, hence the name. A small population established in the south east and spread rapidly north and west and now the large resident population is regularly boosted by big influxes from the Continent. This attractive medium sized Hawker is on the wing from late August until well into October and can often be seen in large numbers flying at tree top height in woodlands and parks and often visits garden ponds along with the larger Southern Hawker. Migrant Hawkers are slightly smaller than the other Hawkers and to me appear neater, flying with the abdomen conspicuously tilted upwards. They seem very inquisitive often flying quite close to investigate, hovering motionless for a few seconds before darting away.

I spent over two hours in the hot late afternoon sunshine at College Lake Nature Reserve last Friday photographing these colourful dragonflies with some success as they were frequently perching up on reeds, the leaves of Yellow Flag Iris pseudscorus and Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria which grow profusely at the waters edge. The picture below shows the diagnostic 'golf tee' marking on abdominal segment two, and the blue band at it's base.

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta. (03/09/2010)

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta. (03/09/2010)

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta. (03/09/2010)

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta on Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria (03/09/2010)

Its always a challenge photographing Dragonflies, but because Migrant Hawkers frequently hover, one of my aims was to try and take some flight shots, but frustratingly all my efforts came to nothing with the results either slightly out of focus or much too distant. So I have had a rummage in the archives for some slightly more successful pictures, taken at the same small pool at College Lake back in September 2008.

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta. (20/09/2008)

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta. (20/09/2008)

Dragons Teeth

Dragons Teeth Tetragonolobus maritimus is a perennial native to central and southern Europe found as far east as the Ukraine and north to Sweden, but is only found as an alien in Britain where it is naturalised in only a few locations in Kent, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Gloucestershire. Dragons Teeth is a member of the Pea (fabaceae) family which creates a dense mat which can carpet large areas of dry calcareous ground. The large yellow pea-flowers are marked by delicate brown veins and the little pods can be eaten when young. These photos were taken at College Lake Nature Reserve near Tring where Dragon's Teeth makes a spectacular sight growing profusely on the dry chalky banks.

Dragons Teeth Tetragonolobus maritimus (04/09/2010)

Dragons Teeth Tetragonolobus maritimus (04/09/2010)

Dragons Teeth Tetragonolobus maritimus (04/09/2010)

Dragons Teeth Tetragonolobus maritimus (04/09/2010)

Whooper Swan

If you come across a couple of Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus at the Tring Reservoirs complex don't get too excited, as chances are they are the feral pair that have visited the area periodically for the last three years. I am not sure of the exact provenance of these two birds, but they may have originated from a private collection in Bedfordshire. The photos below were taken on a dull, grey day in September 2008, but I saw what are probably the same birds a few days ago at Wilstone Reservoir. The pair were engaged in a raucous greeting or bonding display with entailed a lot of neck bending and stretching accompanied by loud honking and trumpeting. Wherever they come from it's good to have these elegant swans around for a few days and to hear their evocative calls echoing across the water, like the first breath of Winter.

Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus. Wilstone Reservoir 06/09/2008

Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus. Wilstone Reservoir 06/09/2008

Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus. Wilstone Reservoir 06/09/2008

Mint Moth

I came across this pretty little moth resting on some Thyme in my back garden on a sunny late afternoon a few days ago, grabbed my camera and managed to take this picture before it flew off. I had seen this species earlier in the year and struggling with the identity, mailed some rather poor photos to my friend Jeff Higgott for help. He soon identified it as a Mint Moth Pyrausta aurata. Incidentally if you are interested in moths check out Jeff's excellent website, UK Lepidoptera, (it's in the links), which contains a vast collection of photographs of the moths he has seen, many of which have been trapped over the years in his Suffolk garden, where he has recorded an astonishing 994 species to date.

Pyrausta aurata is tiny, with a wingspan of around 18 mm and flies both by day and night in May and June, and again in July and August. The larvae feed on members of the Mint family including popular garden plants such as Lemon Balm, Catmint and Apple Mint and the adults can be seen throughout England, Wales and southern Scotland. The Mint Moth can be easily confused with Pyrausta purpuralis as both have similar bright crimson and gold markings. They can be distinguished by the differing pattern of gold markings on the forewing, with Pyrausta aurata having a round golden spot near the costa, although this can be variable, and Pyrausta purpuralis having three marks that sometimes form a continuous band. Pyrausta purpuralis is less likely to be seen in gardens preferring chalk downland and dry grassland.

Mint Moths, when fresh have beautiful rich markings, but when worn like the individual below, fade to a duller brown and yellow colour.

Mint Moth Pyrausta aurata on Thymus (22/08/2010)

The photograph below, taken in early June is of a fresh Mint Moth, and clearly shows a richer crimson and gold colouration, although this individual has weaker gold markings on the forewing.

Mint Moth Pyrausta aurata on Thymus (06/06/2010)

Common Frog

Common Frog Rana temporaria

Wandering around Ashridge Forest early one damp March morning last year on my annual, fruitless search for Lesser-spotted Woodpeckers, I was happily diverted by hundreds of Common Frogs Rana temporaria that had gathered to breed in a tiny pond near Monument Drive. At times the water was a boiling mass of frogs, but the slightest movement sent them all diving under the surface making it necessary to lie perfectly still in the mud and wet leaves at the dark waters edge and wait for them to pop up again. Often one or two would swim closer to the bank and stare intently at me with large, curious eyes, and I was able to take these pictures, which I think convey something of the endearing and comical side to these wonderful creatures.

Common Frogs are able to breathe through their skin allowing them to hibernate in leaves or mud underwater, as well as in compost heaps and under logs and stones on land. In the early spring they travel to ponds to mate and spawn, often the same sites where they originally developed from spawn into adults. Interestingly Common Frogs have the ability to lighten and darken their skin to blend in with the surrounding environment and in Scotland completely red or black individuals sometimes occur.

I made a return visit to the same pond in early spring this year but was disappointed to find a much reduced number of frogs, perhaps as a result of the long, harsh winter.

Common Frogs Rana temporaria

Pair of Common Frogs in Amplexus

Common Frog Rana temporaria

Common Frog Rana temporaria

Common Frog Rana temporaria

Pair of Common Frogs in Amplexus

Snail Shell

This photo taken in March last year shows a Snail shell floating in Common Frog Rana temporaria frogspawn in a small pond near the Monument in Ashridge Forest. The shell may have belonged to a Ramshorn Snail Planorbarius sp., but it is hard to be certain which species as they are notoriously difficult to identify.

Possible Planorbarius sp. Snail Shell and frogspawn. (14/03/2009)