Insects Galore

A trip to Folly Farm and only a short walk from the main entrance down to the copse, up to the next gate and then an about turn and back to the car. What amazed me was that on the outbound walk I saw very little as I was walking into the sun, however on the way back it was a completely different story as the images below will show you. There are quite a few to ID, so there might be a few images without captions.

Looking back towards the copse.

Looking up towards Liddington Castle. Believe it or not there are a pair of Pheasants flying across the middle of the frame from right to left.

I'm pretty sure this is Dogwood and it was alive with Honey Bees and other insects.

Knapweed. I'll need to check later as to whether this Common or Greater!

A Meadow Pipit which......

.....was in no rush to move...

.....even when Benji decided that he had enough.......

.........of me taking photos of it. You can just see the Pipits head before it flew off.

One of 4 Buzzards seen today.

Not sure what these two are doing but every now and then one of them would fly upside down whist the one on top would stretch out his or her talons.

A pair of Ravens flew towards the Farm. In the bottom right hand corner a Swift leads the way.

A huge corvid.

Several Corn Buntings singing from the tree tops.

Now this is a pristine Small Tortoiseshell.

And a side on view.

Bit a huge difference with this one feeding on the same Blackberry Bush. This quite worn, possibly last years.

And here is a side on view, showing the wing damage.

It gets even worse, this is literally a white butterfly with just traces of black. When it opened its wings they were translucent and I would even begin to guess what this is.

A very large Bumblebee with a red tail, can only be a Red-tailed Bumblebee, Bombus lapidarius

White-tailed Bumblebee

Honey Bees. I don't think I've see so many on one shrub before. I'm sure they are collecting pollen from a Dogwood. However there were very few pollen sacs and they all seem to be in some sort of stupor.

Another Honey Bee coming into to land with a strange fly already on the flowers.

Signal Fly, Platystoma seminationis

Platystoma seminationis have quite large proboscis (hence the Latin name Platystoma, meaning "big mouth)

A fly sp.

Scathophaga stercoraria, commonly known as the Yellow Dung Fly or the Golden Dung Fly.

Flesh Fly

A male Broad Centurian, Chloromyia formosa

I have no idea

Blue Lacewing, Chrysopa perla 

Oedemera nobilis, male

Oedemera nobilis, male

Oedemera nobilis, female

Common name: Garden Chafer, also known as the Bracken or Garden foliage beetle.

Garden Chafer, Phyllopertha horticola

??

???

Golden-bloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle, Agapanthia villosoviridescens

Nettle Weevil

I've a feeling this a Harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) but there again!

Ground Beetle sp.

Most probably a Yellow Meadow Ant.

White-lipped Banded Snail

Copse Snail, Arianta arbustorum

Birds Recorded: 2 Red Kite, 4 Buzzard, Pheasant, Red-legged Partridge, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Wood Pigeon, 12+ Swift, Skylark, House Martin, Swallow, Meadow Pipit, Dunnock, Robin, 2 Common Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, 2 Raven, Chaffinch, Linnet, Goldfinch, Corn Bunting and Yellowhammer.

Butterflies recorded: Large Skipper, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown and an unidentified "White Butterfly".

Also: Honey Bee, Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius), White-tailed Bumblebee, Signal Fly (Platystoma seminationis), Yellow Dung Fly, Flesh Fly, Broad Centurian (Chloromyia formosa), Blue Lacewing (Chrysopa perla), Oedemera nobilis, Garden Chafer, Golden-bloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle (Agapanthia villosoviridescens), Nettle Weevil, Yellow Meadow Ant, White-lipped Banded Snail, Copse Snail (Arianta arbustorum snail), Possible Harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis), Ground Beetle sp. and at least 3 unknown species.

Daisy's Galore

A lovely walk around Stratton Wood this afternoon in the sun and with temperatures hitting 22°C it was very nice indeed. My mission was to find a few Marbled White's and with plenty of wild flowers out I thought it would be an easy task. I failed!! There wasn't a single one to be found and apart from 2 white butterflies, a Large White and a Green-veined, these were the only black and white butterflies to be seen. Apart from the Wiltshire Downs, butterflies in and around Swindon have been very disappointing this year.

However it wasn't all gloom and doom and here are a few images from today:

Daisy's as far as the eye can see.

Not many of these around but my first Small Heath of the year.

And also my first Meadow Brown

In fact all the butterflies and moths on this page are first for me. This a Large Skipper.

Common Blue

Such a beautiful colour

And the underwings of the Common Blue

A day-flying moth. This is a Grass Rivulets (Perizoma albulata) of which there were dozens of them flying about in the undergrowth.

There were also a few of this day flying moth as well. A Burnet Companion (Euclidia glyphica).

Another Burnet Companion showing the yellow on the wing.

It's not often you see Damselflies away from the water, but this Common Blue Damselfly seems quite at home in the woods.

Another view of this damselfly that has a pinkish hue about it.

Sawfly - Tenthredo arcuata

And another Tenthredo arcuata. This one is absolutely covered in pollen.

But manages to lose most of it on lift off.......

False Blister Beetles Oedemera sp. I tried to narrow it down further but ended up Oedemera virescens, Oedemera lurida or Oedemera monticola.
These beetles are found in meadows, gardens, on the edges of forests and usually on flowers, where they feed on pollen. The larvae develop in the soil, in wood or dry plant stems.

False Blister Beetle Oedemera sp.

A male Xanthogramma pedissequum

Green Nettle Weevil, Phyllobius pomaceus

A baby bunny, which having seen me approaching was soon off.

A bit of artistic flair as I attempted to light up this poppy against a dark sky. What I didn't realise at the time, there was a bug inside it.

This is what happens when you accidentally drop your camera in-mid shot. That's why I always wear a strap. My hurt the tum as it bounces off, but at least it won't smash on the ground.

Birds recorded: 2 Buzzard, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Wood Pigeon, 1 Collared Dove, Green Woodpecker (heard yaffling), House Martins heard over the wood, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 2 Garden Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 6+ Blackcap, 10+ Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, 20+ Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, 1 Jay, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Chaffinch, 4 Linnet, 2 Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Bullfinch and a Yellowhammer.

Mammals: Juvenile Rabbit and a Grey Squirrel

Butterflies: Large White, Green-veined White, Brimstone, Common Blue, Large Skipper, Small Heath, Meadow Brown

Moths: 6 Spot Burnet, Grass Rivulets (Perizoma albulata), Burnet Companion (Euclidia glyphica)

Damselflies: Common Blue Damselfly

Also: A male Hoverfly (Xanthogramma pedissequum), Green Nettle Weevil (Phyllobius pomaceus), Sawfly (Tenthredo arcuata) and False Blister Beetles (Oedemera sp.)