dave broome wrote:

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Hi Tim, it's likely to have been a Large Red Damselfly, an early emerging species

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thanks Dave. Looking in my dragonflies book and reading the entry that is indeed what it was - almost bang on the average emergence date. The thorax was black with an iridescent sheen and the wings had a shimmering newly unfurled quality. I read they hugely increase their weight during their brief lives - males by 14% and females by 66%. Acid soils and ditches are favoured so I imagine they are common on the moss and the SSSI

Tony Darby and I had a very small orange-abdomened Dragonfly today in the line of wood off the feeding track off Rindle Road this afternoon. It was possibly a Common Darter but seemed smaller. Incredibly early either way

Creeping Corydalis in Flower Other things Scarlet Elf Cap, Zebra Spider, Saldula saltatoria Common Shore Bug, crab spider Xysticus cristatus, and two basking Common Lizards Lacerta vivipara.

Besides the Clouded Yellows mentioned in the bird thread
Loads of Common Blue, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, 2 Small Copper, Large White, Black Darters, Emerald Damsels, and a small patch of wild Pansy, Viola tricolor on waste land

Male Banded Demoiselle on the old carrot field on Astley Moss SSSI this afternoon.

Good views of two hunting Stoats this afternoon along the Rindle road feeding track. Also seen on various parts of the mosses was another Stoat, Grey squirrel, plenty of Rabbits, 2 Toads , Common Frog.

10.30-13.00

1 Stoat on the former feeding track.

1 dead Common Shrew on the path by the mossland info board.

A Stoat was hunting along the feeding track at Rindle road this afternoon

Good numbers of Broad-bodied Chasers, Four-spotted Chasers and Large Red Damselflies at Astley Moss, along the edge of Rindle Wood and the SSSI this morning.
All that was missing was a Hobby to come along and chase them.

A couple of Black Rabbits were beside Rindle road yesterday evening, they were very alert as they watched the hedge next to the road.

Astley moss this evening,

Hedgehog in Rindle woods was a nice find especially as it seemed to be in good condition.

A Fox ran down the path in front of me next to the SSSI.

5 Rabbits.

I have just seen a Mink next to the small stream near Moss Brook stud and Moss lane on Astley moss. Water voles beware!!!

Astley moss this afternoon,

7 Brown rats including 2 young on the feeding track, they don't mind the birds but do react to any bird giving out an alarm call.
Grey Squirrel in Rindle woods
Water vole swimming down the full length of the ditch.
Small Shrew seen in the grass
Toad and 4 adult Frogs near the SSSI

I watched a Stoat dancing in the snow this afternoon. It was at the edge of the potato field near to the path next to the SSSI and when I first saw it jumping about I thought that it was hunting nearby prey. I have seen Stoats before try to mesmerize Rabbits by jumping about , while getting closer and closer to the Rabbit before the attack. This was very different in that the Stoat crawled on its belly in the snow,then rolled over a couple of times, them jumped and ran about and then back to rolling about in the snow. It danced about for about 4-5 minutes and it did seem to be enjoying itself.

Also there was plenty of tracks in the snow around the mosses this afternoon including;

Rabbit, all over the place
Small dog, along the paths
Stoat, in three areas
Squirrel, Rindle woods
Brown rat tracks at the feeding track
and some that I did not recognise.

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 7th of June 2014 06:21:09 PM

Blue coloured dragonfly flew across Lower Green Lane near to Bodens yesterday afternoon.

Stoat near green sheds on Astley Road. A juv Pied Wagtail was mesmerised by it until some lads came along on scooters and the stoat scarpered, only to reappear when they had passed.
A few dragonflies also

16.00-18.00

Circular walk along the edge of Astley Moss from former Rindle Road feeding

station.

1 Light Emerald moth and 1 Snout moth. 1 Large and 3 Small Skippers and

4-5 Meadow Brown butterflies on the meadow. 5-6 Small Tortoiseshells

along the hedgerows.

A few big hawker dragonflies on Bedford Moss, but none seen over Astley.

Clegs out in force.

1 small frog.

The nettles on the North West corner of Astley Moss scrapes are

covered in Peacock butterfly caterpillars.

-- Edited by John Williams on Tuesday 10th of July 2012 06:11:58 PM

Astley moss this evening
Plenty of Rabbits

Chat moss
Stoat hunting around two piles of bricks opposite Red Challis farm.

Also on Saturday [12/5] evening a Buzzard was perched on a fence post beside field 69. A couple of young Rabbits were feeding on the grass close by. One Rabbit got too close to the Buzzards post and the bird just dropped on the rabbit and very quickly killed it and carried it off to the trees beside the rail track.

17.30-21.00

2 Brown rats
Plenty of Rabbits
9 Pipistrelle Bats

A quick look on the way back from Pennington flash this morning turned up a Stoat in the field next to the feeding track.

Astley moss this evening,

Water vole, my first of the year
2 Brown rats
5 Rabbits
A Weasel ran in front of my car as I went down Moss lane

I know it's not quite Astley Moss but an unidentifed hawker type dragonfly flew over a Astley garden today! Is it me or is that very early?

17.30- 19.45 this evening on Astley moss

6 Brown rats all under the feeders on the Rindle road feeding track including 2 which had a disagreement and started a fight, lots of jumping about and I was able to get very close to watch.

5 Rabbits in f69
2 Pipistrelle bats over Bedford moss
3 small rodents caught by a pair of Kestrels following the plough in f67
Plenty of Frogs and two Toads on Rindle road.

This evening wandering around Astley moss with a big torch

4 Brown rats along the Rindle road feeding track.
A Stoat seen running beside the ditch between the potato fields.
What sounded like a Elephant running towards me on the track next to Rindle Hedges and nearly gave me my 2nd Heart attack of the evening when a large Hare ran past me at speed.
Lots of Frogs and 5 Toads found, some of which were crossing Rindle road.
A large Beetle with a light green colouring on its back on the remains of the wood chip path.