Damsels here, damsels there

Yesterday I went for a drive around the Forest of Bowland, partly hoping to spot a flycatcher of the pied variety and maybe a dipper or grey wagtail on one of the streams for future reference and a return with the big lens when (if) it gets sorted out. It was unusually dry up there, the upper becks being little more than rocky gullies with a light trickle of water running down them. None of the target species were seen, and few birds of any sort to be honest. Plenty of young rabbits around, and two squashed stoats on the narrow lanes coming down from the fells.

In the evening I went for a wander by the canal looking for interesting insects and found some. A blue-tailed damselfly obliged, as did (what I now know to be) a Grypocoris stysi feeding on a fly. My proper macro technique is still wanting, but I'm not too bad on the close-up stuff.

Blue-tailed damselfly

Grypocoris stysi

With less wind than yesterday it felt even hotter as I ventured fellwards again, this time more locally. Parking up by a small mill lodge I walked round a rough field below the dam wall and followed the outflow stream back up, where I spotted a dipper perched on a rock under the culvert. I missed a shot of it with the camera. Mind you, it was dark under there and a photo would have been rubbish anyway.

One side of the lodge is boggy and rushlined, worth a look for damsels and other insects. So it proved and I managed a reasonable shot of a common blue, then it caught its supper and perched obligingly while it started devouring it, allowing me to get in close and take enough shots to ensure a keeper or two.

Common blue damselfly

Leaving the lodge I headed past a known spotted flycatcher haunt, failing to see one for the second time, and up to the start of the moors. I followed a path that stayed on a level and followed a stream at a distance. There were meadow pipits to be seen, feeding young judging by the beakfuls of insects. A couple of jays flew along the ridgeline, and as I approached a lightly wooded area a flock of great tits broke cover from the bracken and into the trees.

On my wanderings with the 70-300 I've started taking along the 35 in case anything appears which would benefit from a wider view. Heading along a bilberry covered section there was a lone tree set against the bright blue sky. I also happened to have a polariser with me, so I tried a few shots. This was a case of working towards teh best one by eliminating things and getting in closer. I think an even wider lens would have made a better pic, but I'm happy enough with the one below.

Moorland tree

Coming down the hill I followed the stream back to civilisation, the light being poor under the tree canopy that shades the path and with the sun dropping below the hills the camera was now redundant.

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