How could I resist another visit to the meadows with such a sunny start to the day. There was certainly a noticeable change from yesterday, when I had several Ichneumon wasps, but today the best I could find was one Amblyteles armatorius.
However the lack of Ichneumon wasps was surpassed by the number of butterflies. Meadow Browns were everywhere with a few pairs mating, there were also 3 Speckled Woods in and around the woods, 5 Common Blues, a single Holly Blue and 4 Marbled Whites. Well I say 4 Marbled Whites!! I was hoping to photograph one of them but as it flitted about, an Emperor Dragonfly swooped down and took it in mid-air.
Also noted today were my first Thick-headed flies (Sicus ferrugineus) in the meadows. Previous to the two here I have only ever seen them at Church Ope Cove.
Here are a few images from this morning:
A pair of Meadow Browns mating.
One of several Common Blues on the wing, or resting in this case.
Now this is one of the 4 Marbled Whites I watched here this morning. Unfortunately this..............
.............Emperor Dragonfly had other ideas..........
..........and snatched one in mid-air.
A few seconds later the Marbled White was no more.
A close up of predator and prey.
Not for the squeamish but at the end of the video where I zoom in you can just make out the sound of those jaws working away. Hmm
Just the one Dock Bug seen and in the bottom left hand corner the larvae of a 7-Spot Ladybird.
Hairy Shieldbug
7-Spot Ladybird
A Large Rose Sawfly (Arge pagana). Sadly not in focus.
................to find its mate
A Tachinidae fly (Thelaira nigripes)
Crab Spider - Xysticus audax
This Mullein moth caterpillar is still in its usual spot............
..........as is its larger mate.
The flowers of the Dog-rose (Rosa canina) are well in bloom now.
Birds Recorded: Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, 2 House Martin, Dunnock, Blackbird, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Goldfinch.
Butterflies Recorded: 5 Common Blue, 1 Holly Blue, 3 Speckled Wood, 20+ Meadow Brown and 4/3 Marbled White
Moths Recorded: 6 Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella) and 1 Six-Spot Burnet moth (Zygaena filipendulae)
Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum), Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) and Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
Ichneumon Wasps Recorded: 1 Amblyteles armatorius
Hoverflies Recorded: 10+ Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) and 2 Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens)
Flies Recorded: 2 Thick-headed fly (Sicus ferrugineus) and a Tachinidae fly (Thelaira nigripes)
Bugs and Beetles Recorded: Lesser Thick-legged Flower Beetle (Ischnomera cyanea), Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis), 1 Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus), Hairy Shieldbug (Dolycoris baccarum) and 1 7-Spot Ladybird nymph (Coccinella septempunctata)
Slugs and Snails Recorded: White-lipped Banded Snail (Cepaea hortensis) and a Garden Snail (Cornu aspersa)
Grasshoppers and Crickets Recorded: Dark Bush-cricket nymphs (Pholidoptera griseoaptera)
Moth Caterpillars Recorded: 2 Mullein
Spiders Recorded: Crab Spider (Xysticus audax)