10 Jun 2014

10 June 14 - Sand Lizards

It's getting into the Summer doldrums for birds locally at the moment. But living in Dorset, there is never a quiet time, providing you are happy to look at other wildlife. There are so many diverse lowland habitats locally, which means providing the weather is OK, your always going to see something of interest. This would be even more true, if I could get interested in flowers, but I've never got beyond Orchid photography. But I've always had an interest in wildlife that moves, starting with Butterflies & Amphibians when I was a kid. Now I'm happy to look at most other groups, especially where there are good field guides to help me with identification. Today I had the chance to have a quick look at the DWT reserve at Higher Hyde today, near Bovington. This was my first visit, but it won't be my last. Near to the car park is a reasonable sized lake & hide (or should that be hyde?).
The Higher Hyde lake
This is only a short walk from the car park & en route there was this very showy male Broad-bodied Chaser.
Broad-bodied Chaser: Male. The broad body, yellow-orange edges & dark bases to the wing rule out the other Chasers
Following the Broad-bodied Chaser, I came across a great use for old tyres. I guess they heat up quickly being black.
Sand Lizard: Male. I had to get a new tyre recently for the car. It had various classifications of energy efficiency, water clearance, but I don't remember a Lizard rating
Sand Lizard: Female (au naturale)