#oedemera lurida

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Flower Beetle

A false blister beetle sitting amongst raindrops on a sunlit geranium flower.

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15/05/2023-Lakeside and home 

Photos taken today in this set: 1. A lovely green tree out the back in the sun. 2, 3 and 8. Glorious sunny green views at Lakeside at lunch time and on the way. 4. My first Azure Damselfly of the year, a very beautiful insect to pick up in the grasses of the bowl, what a few days I’ve had for damselflies. 5. Mallard at Lakeside. 6. Great Crested Grebe on a nest at Lakeside. 7. Holly Blue along the northern path at Lakeside, it was a very pleasurable few minutes towards the end of the walk taking in this ocean winged beauty seeing two I believe. Top moments with a stunning species. 9. Woodpigeon in the garden I’ve enjoyed seeing them at home today and of late. 10. Sky out the back this evening. 

In an insect fest at lunch time what led me to seeing the damselfly was following a bright orange and brown butterfly which I was delighted to see in the sun, my first Small Heath of the year. The first time since 2013 I’ve ticked this species for the year at Lakeside and it’s been one of the minor working from home lunch time and evening walks butterfly revelations in a fair few I’ve had since 2020 so it felt smashing to see this target today. I also enjoyed Green-veined White and brilliant views of a broken but attractive red Peacock along the northern path. An epic view and hearing it sing of a Whitethroat at the bowl, Swifts and Swallows circling through the air, a Moorhen with something in its bill which was nice to see, nice views of Great Tit and Blackbird and hearing the high pitched calls of Green Woodpecker and Ring-necked Parakeet as well as Wren were good bird moments on the walk. I liked seeing crane fly at Lakeside and Oedemera lurida beetle there on a daisy. It was good to see Lesser Black-backed Gull on the way with House Sparrow, Jackdaw and Magpie nice to see from home today. My first water dropwort of the year a distinctive white aquatic plant, vetch, speedwell, hawthorn, green alkanet and yellow iris and buttercup building up nicely the latter covering the southern fenced off meadow nicely were standout plants. 

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False Blister Beetles, Oedemera lurida canon 7D EFS 60 2.8 f/ 2.8 1/250 iso: 250 Celakovice-Jirina Czech Republic June 14, 2023

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Some past entomological ventures from the meadows around my home town

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Beetle, Oedemera lurida, on Ox-Eye Daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare.

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False Blister Beetle

A false blister beetle on a sunlit Endres cranesbill flower.

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Sunlit Flower Beetle

A false blister flower beetle sitting on a sunlit geranium flower.

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Flower Beetle

An oedemera lurida flower beetle sitting on the pink petal of a geranium flower, in the garden.

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False Blister Beetle

A false blister beetle sitting on a sunny ox-eye daisy flower in the garden.

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False Blister Beetle

A false blister beetle, sitting on the edge of a geranium flower, in the garden.

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Five of my favourite flora and fauna photos I took in May 2024, five of my favourite landscape photos I took in May 2024 and month summary

The photos are of; Red Grouse at Lochindorb, Red Squirrel at Dell Woods, Marsh Fritillary at Magdalen Hill, Azure Damselfly and sorrel at Lakeside Country Park, views at Strathdearn and Cairn Gorm, sunset at home and views at Magdalen Hill and Pig Bush in the New Forest.

May was another epic, packed and brilliant wildlife watching and photo month for me. Beginning in the midst of our sensational Scotland adventure many of the bird highlights of the holiday were about to unfold in May's early days seeing Black Grouse, precious Dipper, wonderful Golden Eagle, exquisite summer plumage Slavonian Grebe and Ring Ouzel with stars of the trip first seen inside April on the trip and before that enjoyed again such as White-tailed Eagle, Osprey, smashing views of stunning summer plumage Black-throated Diver, Pink-footed Geese, Red Grouse, Common Sandpiper, Goldeneye, Redstart and Willow Warbler. It was very busy for birds when we returned home to Hampshire this month with Swifts at a few locations, Garganey, Reed Warbler, Whimbrel, Garden Warbler, Hobby, Spotted Flycatcher, Tree Pipit, Roseate Tern and valuable chances to see Stone Curlew again on a guided walk added to my year list mixing migratory species I needed to see and stardust birds; another epitomising this the amazing times I saw Cuckoos this month in Hampshire a bird I heard so much throughout the Scotland trip it's always a privilege to see them and I had some breathtaking experiences with them. Whitethroat, Yellowhammer, Sedge Warbler, Great Crested Grebes, Moorhen including chicks seen well with Greylag and Canada Goose goslings enjoyed a lot on patch at Lakeside Country Park and Red Kite were other stars across the month in what was a fantastic month of birds.

May is one of my busiest months of the year as I've still got plenty of bird species to look for and the butterfly season really gets going. It was an incredible butterfly month for me with dynamic and colourful species seen including Large White, Dingy Skipper, Duke of Burgundy, Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Grizzled Skipper, Painted Lady, Small Heath, Brown Argus, Green Hairstreak, Marsh Fritillary, Small Blue, Common Blue, Adonis Blue, quite early Meadow Brown, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Peacock, Orange Tip and Speckled Wood getting my butterfly year into a great place. It was a great moth month too with loads of species seen including The Streamer, Garden Carpet, Mint moth, Burnet Companion, Brown Silver-line, Common Heath, Common Carpet, Pale Prominent, Yellow Shells, Hook-streaked Grass-Veneer, elegant Mother Shiptons, Speckled Yellow, Silver Y and Five-spot Burnet seen.

It was a top dragonfly and damselfly month with some super species seen to get me started including Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Banded Demoiselle, Beautiful Demoiselle, Hairy Dragonfly and Broad-bodied Chaser and thrilling moments seeing my first ever Downy Emerald at Bentley Wood. It was a real awakening of beetles for me this month with Violet Oil beetle, Green Tiger beetle and Dor beetle seen in Scotland and at Bentley Wood for the green tiger and many Swollen-thighed beetles and Red-headed Cardinal beetles, Oedemera lurida, Cantharis rustica, Cryptocephalus aureolus, Common Malachite, Woodland Dor beetle, Black-striped Longhorn beetle and Garden Chafer enjoyed once home. It was a really good mammal month with Red Squirrel, Red Deer, Brown Hare (seen in Hampshire too) and Stoat seen in Scotland, Roe Deers seen nicely across the month, Fallow Deer and New Forest Pony foals and cattle at Lakeside charming seasonal sights.

It was a wonderful month of plants again with special flower species seen as they took over meadows and other areas including wood sorrel, coltsfoot, oxeye daisies, yellow rattle, buttercups, greater celandine, spurge, early purple orchid, common twayblade, white helloborine, common spotted orchid, burnt-tip orchids, speedwell, forget-me-not, yellow iris, eyebright, lousewort, wood avens, meadow crane's-bill, grass vetchling, foxgloves, crimson clover, red clover, white clover, black and spotted medick, comfrey, cuckooflower, tormentil, bugle, yellow pimpernel, silverweed cinquefoil, sainfoin, fox-and-cubs, mignonette, common rock-rose, hemlock water-dropwort and bird's-foot trefoil. I took in some mesmerising views and sky scenes this month. Have a good June all.

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My Great British Wild Year: Part 3 of 5-Dragonflies, damselflies and other wildlife

I had a dazzling year of dragonflies, from perfect moments by a stream at Nant-y-Pandy (The Dingle) on Anglesey seeing a colossal Golden-ringed Dragonfly to Keeled Skimmers in Pig Bush, New Forest’s boggy areas I had so many wonderful moments. Four-spotted Chaser was a star of my year with enchanting times seeing them at RSPB Valley Wetlands and Cors Dddyga as well as Hickling Broad, with brilliant Broad-bodied Chaser a key species enjoyed too. Emperors in all their masterful glory including one seen egg laying, eye catching and bold Southern Hawkers and marvellous manoeuvring Migrant Hawkers were ones I enjoyed fine views of locally and further afield so many times through the year. Hawkers dominated my year with gripping moments seeing distinctive Brown Hawker and also a fantastically fresh new species for us the Norfolk Hawker a key moment in my year on July trips to Norfolk and Rutland. Black-tailed Skimmer was a shining constant on my Lakeside walks in summer weeks, passing on the baton to scintillating Common Darter as well as Migrant Hawker as the season and year went on, the Common Darter another I had a great year for also seeing some mating. Delicate Ruddy Darter and Hairy Dragonfly were good to see too. A pivotal moment in my dragonfly year and an enchanting spectacle came at Thursley Common in late September when I was amazed to see so many slick, dainty and fabulous Black Darters.

Norfolk Hawker at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen

Black-tailed Skimmer at Lakeside in June

A Common Darter that was magical to see at Lakeside in August

It was an Azure Damselfly year for sure with especially at Lakeside Country Park and also at RSPB Cors Ddyga these splendid damselflies seen well. Especially at Lakeside Blue-tailed Damselflies were a strong theme of my year seeing so many, with strong showings from Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle this year. Pinnacles of my dreamy damselfly year perhaps were at at Hickling Broad when we saw a precious Emerald Damselfly, seeing them again twice in the September week off at RSPB Minsmere and Thursley.

A Blue-tailed Damselfly I enjoyed seeing at Cors Ddyga too.

I enjoyed immersing myself in other parts of nature I am less familiar with again this year especially other insects with some epic things seen both new and that I had before. Beetles playing a big part in this with tremendous views of Green Tiger beetle at Bentley Wood again, a striking Rose Chafer beetle seen at South Stack, Chrysomela populi at Newborough, Cardinal beetle, Swollen-thighed Beetle, Oedemera lurida, Black-and-yellow Longhorn beetle at Lakeside, oil beetles, bold Bloody-nosed beetle, Black Clock beetle and Violet Ground beetle on the Norfolk and Rutland July weekends respectively, many splendid Common Red Soldier beetles in the summer and Black-spotted Longhorn beetle at Bentley Wood. I did well for caterpillars this year too with Oak Eggar, Fox moth, Yellow-tail moth, Peacock butterfly and Garden Tiger moth ones standouts. Common Field Grasshopper, Roesel’s Bush-cricket, Long-winged Conehead and giant Great Green Bush-cricket a sensation to see on an insect fest at Durlston made it a strong cricket/grasshopper year for me. As well as a fair few Hornets themselves I had a really good year for seeing Hornet Mimic Hoverflies in the summer again and my first ever Lesser Hornet Hoverflies, truly appealing insects. I had great moments seeing Long and Marmalade Hoverfly this year too. One of my greatest wild moments of the year came in early August when I was euphoric to fulfill a goal of a seeing a Wasp Spider in the grass of Lakeside Country Park. An outstanding arachnid, and another was a treat to see a few times this year beautiful Nursery Web spider in a strong year of spiders I had with Long-bodied Cellar spider another key species especially in autumn. I got excellent views of Common Lizard and Slow Worm in 2023.

An eyecatching Chrysomela populi

Grammoptera ruficornis and Black spotted Longhorn beetle at Bentley Wood

Hornet mimic hoverfly on hemp agrimony at Winnall Moors

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Oedemera lurida #AmazingBeetles #Coleoptera #macro #MacroHour #entomology #beetles #insects #insectphotography

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Oedemera Lurida by Oliver Andrews Via Flickr: A small oedemera lurida flower beetle on an ox-eye daisy flower.

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09/06/22-Insects, birds and more at Lakeside and home 

I enjoyed seeing the rose petals scattered across the front garden floor again as I went out for my lunch time walk, taking the first picture in this photoset of of this with a rose on the bush in shot too which was beautiful to see.

I had a brilliant Lakeside walk of insects at lunch time. As a little bit of sun just poked through making it quite humid on an otherwise overcast day in the eastern meadows and area north of the steam railway station I enjoyed seeing four species of butterfly, the lovely Meadow Brown in the second picture in this photoset the first I’d taken of one this year a year tick here last Friday, a Small White I believe, Common Blue and north of the railway station a dashing Small Tortoiseshell my original favourite butterfly and one I have a strong history with at Lakeside. 

Fluttering through the grass too was a relatively petite dragonfly, and when it settled I saw the absorbing colour of a charming female Common Darter. I took the third picture in this photoset of this. I was amazed to see it, I was after dragonflies today especially but I didn’t expect to see this one as I associate them with a few weeks later in a year as their beginning a staple summer species. But they are out around June and this is my earliest ever sighting of one in a year beating last year’s 14th June sighting at Lakeside the previous earliest for me, what a few days I have had for dragonflies. I also liked noticing two bees on my entire lunch time walk, bumble bee on white clover on the way to Lakeside on the green areas out the front and a possible tree bumble bee going down the northern path in Lakeside. The first ever kidney vetch I recall seeing at Lakeside a key flower seen today near the visitor centre a flower I know quite well and like from seeing them at other reserves in Hampshire good for flowers and butterflies and I saw well in Pembrokeshire earlier in the year had on it a oedemera lurida beetle the first I recall seeing a nice little one so I enjoyed seeing that and took sixth picture in this photoset of them. 

Other flowers I really enjoyed seeing on the walk today was my first Lakeside viper’s-bugloss this year after some at Stackpole in Pembrokeshire in April with the season ahead of here, my first agrimony of the year a yellow one I love seeing at this time of year with a quirky shape I saw some without the yellow out the front this week, white clover absolutely everywhere at Lakeside and from home it really is in bloom well lately, broad-leaved clover, knapweed or thistle I believe both just beginning, herb-Robert, black medick or lesser trefoil, lovely little mini crane’s-bill, hogweed, cleavers, sorrel, more lovely orchids, oxeye daisy, scarlet pimpernel, roses and buttercup, daisy and dandelion including all looking lovely together which I took and tweeted a photo of. The seventh picture in this photoset south of Kornwestheim lake shows a bit of meadow coming on amazingly in terms of flower it looked stunning I am looking forward to more multi coloured scenes like this as we go further into the season. It was also nice to see the mushrooms in the fourth picture in this photoset north of the steam railway station. I took the fifth and eighth pictures in this photoset of views here today. 

Bird wise at Lakeside a Wren calling which I saw was a stunning sight and it was nice to see the Tufted Ducks well again on Concorde lake. Where it was lovely once again to watch the Great Crested Grebe family, I am in aw of the cute chicks and attentive parents and it was so precious to view and take photos of them with my big lens and DSLR camera today. I enjoyed seeing some moments when the father brought food in. Captivating moments, I can never tire of seeing these lovely young birds. I took the final two pictures in this photoset of these birds.

I had a great young bird moment after work this evening when seeing a young Starling and House Sparrow lined up well in the buddleia bush out the back which shows hints of colour now like the one out the front, this made for a great photo opportunity. I liked seeing a group of Starlings in the air and then landing among the white clover which is adorning the green out the front to pick around on the ground, a beautiful sight this evening. 

Wildlife Sightings Summary: My first ever oedemera lurida beetle, my first Common Darter of the year, one of my favourite birds the Great Crested Grebe, one of my favourite butterflies the Small Tortoiseshell, Tufted Duck, Greylag Goose, House Sparrow, lovely Goldfinch on the balcony, Starling, Wren, Woodpigeon including well on the balcony again tonight and streetlight, Collared Dove with one well on a street light too, Common Blue, Small White, bee and a nice spider at home.