Gamlingay Wood 19.11.13

An autumn stroll around one of my favourite woods was a perfect diversion on a bright sunny day. Its a bit late in the season for fungi now so didn't see too much diversity, but the spotting of a really tiny mushroom (pic 3) was a nice find. Much of the conifers here are being removed, which will be great for the biodiversity in the coming years. 

Gamlingay Wood main ride

Common Spangle Gall

Tiny Mushroom

Autumn Oak Leaf

Clent Hills 3.11.13

A nice walk on the Clent Hills turned up hundreds of Amethyst Deceivers, many more than I've ever seen. Also saw a Peacock Butterfly over a field :-)

Amethyst Deceiver

Amethyst Deceiver

Candlesnuff Fungus

Cavenham Heath Woods 26.10.13

A nice walk in the woods next to Cavenham Heath, which is actually quite diverse for Fungi. Also saw a beautiful Minotaur Beetle, and several Dragonflies and a Noon Fly were still flying. 

Cavenham Heath Woods

Spiny Puffball

Minotaur Beetle (m)

Beechwoods (Cambridge) 23.10.13

A short walk in the woods to see what Fungi might be there. I was hoping for more but still got a couple of nice shots. Come on Mushrooms let's be having you!

Strange spiky fungus?

Grafton Wood 31.8.13

Another new butterfly for me! I was very fortunate to catch Brown Hairstreaks in their flight period, and at a great wood. The management here is absolutely spot on to my untrained eyes, so hats off to everyone involved with looking after the wood. Its also in beautiful surrounding countryside, so I heartily recommend a visit! I was actually fortunate to see the ones I did, as a friendly fellow enthusiast found one along the hedgerow on the west side, and we then spotted some others. 

Species seen - 

Brown Hairstreak
Small Copper
Large White
Green-veined White
Small White
Peacock
Comma

Common Darter
Striped Hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus)
Tachina fera Fly

Brown Hairstreak

Striped Hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus)

Monks Wood 23.8.13

A quick morning visit to see what was flying in the meadows on the South side of the wood, and also check if the Violet Helleborines were out. I just caught them before they went over, so no further chances to get them in better lighting conditions, but I still like the effects I got. Also observed what I took to be parasitic wasps visiting them frequently, but could have been a type of fly. I also saw a Hornet have a nectar from them. 

Species seen -

Common Blue

Meadow Brown

Silver Washed Fritillary 

Common Blue

Violet Helleborine

Violet Helleborine

Arnside Knott 10.8.13

A place I had wanted to visit for a long time, for its rare butterflies and for the beautiful views of the Lake District and the Coast. It is one of only two places in England where Scotch Argus flies, and luckily was able to visit with family and get photos of a new butterfly. It was great to walk about with family and enjoy the butterflies and views, and there are so many trails to explore all over the hill. 

Species seen - 

Scotch Argus
Grayling
Gatekeeper

Scotch Argus

Grayling

Arnside Knott

Godmanchester Riverside 7.8.13

I had some time to wander around the riverside in Godmanchester, haunt of my youth, and see how the Demoiselles and other things were doing. Also saw an interesting Hoverfly, Myathropa florea, which was very tame and kept coming back to the same leaf to sun itself in the late afternoon warmth. 

Banded Demoiselle

Myathropa florea Hoverfly

Myathropa florea Hoverfly

Bedford Purlieus 1.08.13

A late afternoon cycle ride from Wansford over to Bedford Purlieus was rewarded with a new Butterfly for me, the White-letter Hairstreak. I got really lucky with the timing as there were loads flying about on the Ragwort, Marjoram and Hemp-agrimony. The activity of the Silver-washed Fritillaries was superb also, the looping over each other as they race down the ride is so impressive. 

Species seen - 

Brimstone

White-letter Hairstreak

Purple Hairstreak

Silver-washed Fritillary

Comma

Ringlet

Pyrausta aurata Moth

Volucella inanis Fly

Phaonia tuguriorum Fly

Oak Bush-cricket

Brimstone

Pyrausta aurata Moth

Silver-washed Fritillary

Comma

White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak

Woodwalton Fen 30.07.13

This is still my favourite local site, the range of things to see and the unique landscape, it really is special. Its hard to identify everything seen, some things are just too quick! But I did see for myself something reported by others and which I'm really surprised at - Purple Emperors near the Rothschild Bungalow. Exciting to think they might be resident next year. 

Species seen - 

Blue-tailed Damselfly

Common Blue Damselfly

Black-tailed Skimmer

Ruddy Darter

Purple Emperor

Red Admiral

Peacock

Green-veined White

Large Skipper

Gatekeeper

Meadow Brown

Dark Bush Crickets

Hornet

Several types of Bee

Blue-tailed Damselfly

Gatekeeper

Bee

Black-tailed Skimmer (thought this was impressive as it flew about completely fine)

Ruddy Darter

Castor Hanglands 27.07.13

A quite astonishing amount of insects here, superbly managed by Natural England. The little compartments creating exactly the right types of habitats at different rates of density, it was literally swarming with insects and is a throw back to how things used to be. Having said that I came to see Silver Washed Frits and only saw a few, but I think its usually good for them. Also only a glimpse of a White Admiral, they are being elusive, at least to me, this year. 

On the thistles there were so many Peacocks it was fantastic. Also some of the walks are so dense but open at the top, so you can wait right by a flower and have a Butterfly feed just centimetres away. 

Species seen - 

Silver-washed Fritillary

Peacock

Gatekeeper

Small Skipper

Large White

Small White

Green Veined White

Common Blue Damselfly

Xyphosia miliaria Fly

Striped Hoverfly

Syrphus torvus Hoverfly

And some friendly Horses, one of which ate my apple :-)

Common Blue Damselfly

Small Skipper

Gatekeeper

Fermyn Wood 13/07/13

A superb trip to Purple Emperor central in these parts. Tried a new section of the woods and we saw easily 10 individuals, and had lots of really nice interaction with them swooping around us (and landing on my sweaty shoes ;-) Such a magnificent insect, I recommend tracking them down if you've never seen one. Long reign Iris. 

The day before my birthday, and having a pub lunch and swim at Wadenhoe later, it was a fantastic day!

Purple Emperor (male)

Purple Emperor (male)

Ringlets pairing