Dragonflies, Damselflies, Fish and Clogged Lake
Posted: 17 July 2014
It was another warm sunny day and I took a tour of the grounds with my camera shortly before 11:00. There were plenty of large dragonflies about and as I walked behind the cottages I found this female Emperor laying eggs.
In a second shot I caught a damselfly flying past and although not a crisp I liked the way that the shadow of a passing damselfly seems to catch your eye before the creature itself does.
I then realised that I hadn't been taken any photographs of the Damselflies this year. Looking back, it seems that I only posted about them once last year, though they had quite long period when they were to be seen round the grounds. This one was seen on the lilies behind the cottages.
Moving round the grounds I took a series of pictures of the lake beyond the peninsula. This area has been allowed to become considerably overgrown, making it impossible for any fishing to take place. I am not clear yet what benefit this has for other wildlife. It's maintenance is something that needs to be discussed with the cottage owners.
The first picture is a view towards the peninsula from within the grounds of Ruston House. Lilies and pond weed completely choke this area. To the right of the picture is the small island where the geese made their nest this year, that was, eventually, abandoned. Swinging the camera 90 degrees you see behind the small island, where it is a mix of reed and pond weed.
Walking further round the lake I then took a view of the tip of the peninsula where people often choose to fish. To the left of the picture is the is the channel towards the goose nest island.
This year I haven't seen any of the pike that I saw last year, but there are plenty of smaller fish about. Those seen today in a small school at the end of the peninsula all appeared to be between four and six inches long.
To finish today's report the conventional picture for comparison of the state of the lake behind Ruston House, taken around 08:15 this morning...
It shows how work has begun on clearing the excess of lilies in the middle of the lake, though there is still a great deal more to do. You'll see that the white lilies are now in flower in the clump close to the decking. To their right, nearer the dinghy, what had been a good show of the pink variety last year, do not seem to be doing so well. As last year they have grown well above the water level, but this year there are far fewer flowers and those that are there are hidden amongst the leaves. The other thing that has been missing are frogs and toads. Last year we saw such things several times.
