Day 4 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Azure Damselfly is one of two very common blue species in the UK. There are some rarer ones too. This one at #RSPB #Otmoor near #Oxford in May. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography
Day 2 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Broad-bodied Chaser is easy to spot in early summer - they're large, they like to sit in the open to sunbathe and mature males are bright blue. This immature male (so the colours look like a female but the abdomen's not as broad) was at #RSPB #Otmoor in May. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography
Four from #RSPB #Otmoor near #Oxford at the start of the week. Michaelmas Daisy, Fleabane, Sneezewort and a Common Darter #dragonfly sat on a seed head. #WildflowerHour #Oxfordshire #Bloomscrolling #botany #plants #flowers #wildflowers #photography
Day 24 of the 2023 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Ruddy Darter looks rather like Common Darter, the most obvious differences being darker colour and black legs. Also doesn't fly as late into the autumn. Like Common Darter they live pretty much everywhere in the UK. This one in September at #RSPB #Otmoor near #Oxford. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #Oxfordshire #wildlife #insects #wildlifephotography #invertebrates
Day 16 of the 2023 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Willow Emerald is a new species to the UK in the last 20 years. It's longer & thinner than the Common Emerald and flies later in the summer. This male at the wonderful #RSPB #Otmoor in September. They have spread across the UK quite rapidly, starting from Suffolk, now as far west as Oxford & as far north as the Humber #Oxfordshire #DragonflyAdventCalendar #wildlife #insects #wildlifephotography #invertebrates
Let's have a #damselfly, shall we? Only a few years ago, I'd have had to drive hours eastward to see Willow Emerald. Now there's a small colony at #RSPB #Otmoor. Longer and thinner than the Common Emerald, and the males lack the blue markings. #Oxfordshire #insects #wildlife #wildlifephotography #odonata
It's #dragonfly time again. This is a Ruddy Darter, at the #RSPB reserve at #Otmoor, #Oxfordshire, a few days ago. There were large numbers of this species, with very few of any others. #insects #wildlife #wildlifephotography #odonata
A few from #RSPB #Otmoor earlier in the week. Fleabane (plus hoverfly), Red Bartsia, Sneezewort and Yarrow (with what I think is a Helophilus sp Sun Fly). #Oxfordshire #WildflowerHour #Bloomscrolling #botany #plants #flowers #wildflowers #plantscience #photography
Lovely walk around #RSPB #Otmoor today. Lots of highlights including Great Spotted Woodpecker & grass #snake but biggest one for me was seeing a Brown Hairstreak #butterfly for the first time. #butterflies @savebutterflies @RSPBEngland
A picture to show you a view of RSPB Otmoor in Oxfordshire from this afternoon. Its a rural wetland, in the heart of the 'shires' (but no hobbits to be seen).
Inspired by the birds at #RSPB #Otmoor, here's that #PaperMache #fieldfare I've been working on. She's now varnished & looking for a home....
I absolutely LOVE making paper mache thrush species - or indeed any bird with such gorgeous spots & speckles!
More about my paper mache birds, and more #birds here: https://janetomlinson.com/artworks/paper-mache-birds/
Last week we went to RSPB #Otmoor to see the starlings. However the star of the afternoon turned out to be an unusually confiding #fieldfare (Turdus pilaris). Hopping about in the hedge, just a few metres away from us, we were able to observe it's fabulous markings and subtle colours. I couldn't resist making a #papermache one.
All that cutting & sticking is fun, but the best bit is #painting in all the speckly bits.
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