Winged Wonders

In spite of the non summery weather and particularly the lack of sunshine, Banded Demoiselle damselflies have emerged on the River Aln near Lesbury, at roughly the same time as last year

Having spent 2 years as Larvae living in water and breathing through gills, there are now adults of both sexes, who have emerged from the water and taken on wings to breathe the same air as us

Their life expectancy as adults is between 2 and 8 weeks, just enough  time to breed and continue the cycle of life

They truly are winged wonders

Nocturnal

A late evening visit to Beanley Moor proved very productive,as I sat taking in the sounds of Owls hooting and Grey Herons croaking as they flew over like something out of Jurassic Park, I slowly began to hear other things 3 Cuckoos calling from different places at the same time, the calls were mainly he familiar "cuckoo" but also a bubbling trill which would indicate a female. This went on for sometime before silence reigned once more, then as a final flourish just as I was about to leave came the unmistakable churring call of a Nightjar, all was silence apart from this one weird yet wonderful sound.