Woods Mill

2022
 
 

18 August 2022

Main Pond, Woods Mill
 

31 May 2022
A visit to Woods Mill marred by a rain shower failed to be photogenic under the dark clouds. A Great Spotted Woodpecker, visiting its noisy young in the distant hole in a tree, was the highlight. One Mute Swan had three cygnets in tow. A Fox visited a meadow with lots of flowering Yellow Rattle.
 

2021

10 November 2021
A brief visit produced nothing newsworthy in the fading light.
 
 

2019
 

5 June 2019

Yellow Water Lily, Amphibious Bistort
Main Pond, Woods Mill

Two dragonflies darted rapidly to and fro over the Yellow Water Lily, Nuphar lutea,which covered main pond at Woods Mill, with no inclination to pause for a photograph or come close enough to make identication definite. One was unmistakably a male Broad-bodied Chaser  but the other one was slimmer with a brown and black appearance and I best guess this dragonfly as my first ever Four-spotted Chaser, Libellula quadrimaculata. Beautiful Demioselles were frequently seen but they were very active as well, appearing like a dark butterfly fluttering between the plants on the pond margins. Azure Damselflies were seen around the pond margins. The most interesting view was a solitary 3-spined Stickleback in breeding livery amongst the water lily leaves. Amphibious Bistort, Persicaria amphibia, in the main pond was added to my local flower list.

19 April 2019

Main Pond, Woods Mill

A motorised trip to Woods Mill produced my first ever sight of the huge eggs of the Mute Swan on its nest. There were a few restless butterflies in the sun including my first male Orange-tips of the year, a tatty Peacock and a very lively Brimstone Butterfly. One Orange-tip stopped on a Cuckoo Flower for just a second. A pair of Mallards had ducklings in tow on the main pond. A Goldfish and a Rudd were seen in the main pond.

Mallard, Robin
 Cuckoo Flower, Mute Swan on its nest

27 February 2019

Main Pond, Woods Mill

2018
 

15 May 2018

Beautiful Demoiselle

On the big pond, the pair of Mute Swans at Woods Mill had seven cygnets in tow. The Little Grebes had young as well, mostly in the middle amongst the lily pads. Scores of bright blue Azure Damselflies, Coenagrion puella, occasional Large Red Damselflies and frequent Beautiful Demoiselles, Calopteryx virgo, skirted the vegetation of the fish less ponds and streams of the Nature Reserve.  A female a Broad-bodied Chaser, Libellula depressa, patrolled incessantly over the still water.

Mute Swan and cygnets

19 April 2018

2017

12 October 2017

Woods Mill, Small Dole

10 May 2017


 


Woods Mill, Small Dole

Woods Mill Gallery
flickr