07 Saturday Sep 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, autumn, insects, nature
I know the Large white butterfly is the bane of gardeners who like to grow their own cabbages, cauliflowers and broccoli but you can’t deny how lovely it is – or, rather, she is: the two spots and a dash on the upper forewings mean this is a female. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Large white with such black markings before – she must be newly hatched, which means she may be from a third brood. She was simply perfect!
04 Wednesday Sep 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature
Tags
#365DaysWild, British dragonflies, dragonflies, dragonfly, dragonfly eating wasp, Hawker dragonflies, Southern hawker, wasp
Today’s lunchtime snack for this Southern hawker dragonfly had a sting in the tail: it was a wasp. The dragonfly, though, started its meal from the other end, first devouring the head, then removing the wings, before steadily munching its way down the body.
This was obviously not good news for the wasp but it was good news for me, as this was the first Southern hawker that’s stayed still long enough this year for me to grab some photos.
03 Tuesday Sep 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, autumn, flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers
Tags
bees, Devil's-bit scabious, hoverflies, insects on scabious, Painted Lady, scabious, Small white butterfly
At this time of year, the delicate lilac tinge of Devil’s-bit scabious casts its imperial purple shadow across the meadows at Cosmeston and at Lavernock. I love it, and I’m not the only one.
It’s proving extremely popular as a late-summer early-autumn source of nectar for all manner of bees, butterflies and hoverflies. Here are a few I’ve seen in recent days …
02 Monday Sep 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature
Tags
#365DaysWild, British insects, cricket, Dark bush-cricket, meadow insects, Pholidoptera griseoaptera
I’ve been back to the field where I saw Friday’s ‘grappling grasshoppers’ to investigate the other interesting insects I noticed. This is one of them, a gloriously ‘armoured’ Dark bush-cricket (Pholidoptera griseoaptera).
According to the Buglife website, you ‘must creep up on them to see them properly’ but, luckily, I had my zoom lens, plus this creature was probably quite confident in its ability to out-leap me if necessary and was too happy basking in the sunshine to be bothered about me.
30 Friday Aug 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature
‘Aw, isn’t that sweet?’ I thought when I spotted this couple of Meadow grasshoppers today. ‘He’s got his arm around her.’
Of course, there was a bit more going on than that and, as I watched, another part of his anatomy swung around her body to make contact with her vital parts. No wonder he’s got a glint in his eye!
28 Wednesday Aug 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature
I am sometimes guilty of overlooking the ordinary but this photo, which I am very pleased with and now have as the desktop image on my laptop, reminds me of how truly lovely is the ‘ordinary’ Meadow brown butterfly. I tend to overlook it in favour of more colourful or unusual species, yet it is a butterfly that continues to grace the local meadows even now, when many of the other butterflies have gone for the year. I am rebuked by its beauty!
27 Tuesday Aug 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature, plants
Fog! I woke to whiteness and the silence fog often seems to induce – perhaps the morning birds were so shocked by this sign of the coming winter that they forgot to sing. It was still early but I stomped along to Cosmeston, thinking migrating birds might have been forced down, unable to see clearly their routes south. I did locate one Spotted flycatcher but what really caught my eye were the beautiful webs, some designed by spiders but others perhaps by different small creatures, all dripping with tiny droplets of moisture.
25 Sunday Aug 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature
The Migrant hawker’s name is somewhat misleading – it does still like to migrate away from where it was hatched and was once only seen in Britain when it migrated here from Europe. But, since the 1940s, ever increasing numbers have come here and this species does now breed in Britain, where its range continues to expand northwards.
I’ve seen a few of these dragonflies this year but today was the first time one has settled long enough for me to get a few photos. That was probably because, despite our high daytime temperatures, it is now quite a bit cooler at night, and, as I was out relatively early this morning, I found this little one still basking in the sun trying to warm up.
24 Saturday Aug 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature
The Wall butterfly (Lasiommata megera) used to be named Wall brown (and you do still hear some people call it that), one of the trio of browns along with the Meadow brown and what was the Hedge brown but has also been renamed, the Gatekeeper. Unfortunately, the Wall is not faring as well as its brown friends – though they are both thriving and plentiful, the Wall is seen much less frequently and in more limited locations than it used to be.
This Wall is only the fourth I’ve ever seen so I was delighted to spot it last week during a meander through the wildflower meadows at Arlington Reservoir and Nature Reserve in East Sussex.
22 Thursday Aug 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature
Tags
British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Malling Down Nature Reserve, Seaford Head Nature Reserve, Silver-spotted skipper, Skippers
I know my vision isn’t the best but I really don’t see the silver marks on these skippers’ wings as spots – they look more like squares to me. But maybe Silver-squared skipper doesn’t have the same ring to it!
I’m a big fan of the various skipper species so was very much hoping to find my first Silver-spotted skippers during my recent short break in East Sussex, and I was definitely not disappointed, seeing them at both Seaford Head Nature Reserve (just one) and Malling Down Nature Reserve (several).
Like the other skippers I’ve seen, these were very cute and rather cheeky, happy to perch and stare when not slurping away on wildflower nectar. Those at Malling Down seemed to favour pink flowers in particular, but that may just be coincidence.
earthstar 
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