Late July insects

Chalkhill Blue, Barnack Hills and Holes

Common Blue, Barnack Hills and Holes

Six-spot Burnets, Barnack Hills and Holes


Ruddy Darter, Fermyn Wood



Silver-washed Fritillary, Bedford Purlieus



Brown Argus, Bedford Purlieus


Cinnabar caterpillars, Fermyn Wood

Garden dragonflies

Southern Hawker (female)

Migrant Hawker

Southern Hawker flex

Gullage

I will make a few attempts at gulling over the next few months, in order to at least try to stave off my reputation as a 'numpty' when it comes to gull ID. This beast photographed at Dogsthorpe Tip, Peterborough, today is what I would call a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull (though if anyone knows better, please comment). There were a few around this morning, but the line between them and other juves is a bit fuzzy for me and I need to read more (this one seemed a good start)...

Non-White Admiral

This White Admiral was at Fermyn Woods, Northants last Sunday (11.7.10). I am not sure it is one of the unusual aberrant forms or just rather worn, but you can see it lacks the black and orange colour (though it did have an angle-dependent shimmer) and the white colouring is very poorly represented.
Any ideas?

More butterflies 5

Purple Hairstreaks, Bedford Purlieus, Cambridgeshire

More butterflies 4

White-letter Hairstreak, Bedford Purlieus, Cambridgeshire

More butterflies 3

Marbled Whites, near Bedford Purlieus, Cambridgeshire

More butterflies 2

Purple Emperors, Fermyn Wood, Northamptonshire

More butterflies 1

SIlver-washed Fritillaries, Bedford Purlieus, Cambridgeshire

River Warbler

I left very early this morning with Will Bowell (driving) for Thorpe-next-Haddiscoe in west Norfolk. It was the last morning of public access to view the River Warbler which has been singing there. We got great views, but perhaps even better was the sound of its rhythmic insect-style song. Great stuff. These shots were the best I could muster by distant digiscoping.

The Fox & Hedgehog

Bedford Purlieus butterflies

Bedford Purlieus is a slice of ancient woodland not far from Peterborough. This weekend was lovely and hot and the butterflies were out in great numbers. There were very good numbers of Ringlets, Meadow Browns and Large Skippers, but the stars of the show were Silver-washed Fritillaries, White Admirals and White-letter Hairstreaks, all in good numbers. I also saw a Hummingbird Hawkmoth, but wasn't quick enough to get the shots...

Small Whites and a Comma feed on horse dung



Silver-washed Fritillary



White Admiral




White-letter Hairstreaks