Swaddywell worth it!

Brian Stone is a decent sort, you know, and he once more took me on a lunchtime mission today (7.6.05), to Swaddywell (just ouside Peterborough and not far from Castor Hanglands), with the express task of searching for Mother Shipton moths (see my last Picos post). It was reasonably warm and sunny and a few insects were on the wing and several Bee Orchids were coming into bloom. We found a single Mother Shipton (see The Natural Stone blog, linked on the right), plus such interesting moths as Burnet Companion and Cinnabar.
Dragonflies included Four-spotted Chaser and a single Black-tailed Skimmer, plus Azure, Common and Large Red Damselflies.
Of the butterflies, there were good numbers of Small Heaths plus several Common Blues and single Red Admiral, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell plus one of the smaller whites.
Here are some photos – some of them are clickable for bigger versions, why not try them to see...
Bee Orchid

Small Heath


Common Blue


Grass Vetchling, a pea plant with leaves which look incredibly grass-like, blending into the background (apart from having these small pinky-red flowers).


Mating Helophilus sp. hoverflies (hey, it's spring, give 'em a break)

All Nikon Coolpix 4500