11 Sunday Jun 2023
Posted in flowers, wildflowers
This lovely wildflower was another new find for me last Thursday, growing along the roadside on the walk to and from Charlton King’s Common near Cheltenham. I couldn’t help but notice these glorious, bright yellow flowers that looked superficially like the many buttercups all around them but their leaves were quite different, slim, oblong and quite hairy. You can read more about the Common rock-rose (Helianthemum nummularium) on the Naturespot website here.
10 Saturday Jun 2023
Posted in insects
Thursday was a special day. I met my very first Duke … Duke of Burgundy butterfly, that is. The Duke (Hamearis lucina) was once thought to be a species of fritillary but the UK Butterflies website explains: ‘This is the only European representative of a family known as “Metalmarks”, evidenced by the distinctive clear cut band of white marks running parallel down the underwing.’
The Duke is not present in Wales; I found this little beauty at Charlton King’s Common, just outside Cheltenham, in Gloucestershire. And he was little (something I hadn’t really registered, despite reading about him before my search), about the same size as the Dingy skippers and Small heath butterflies that were flitting about nearby. I only managed to get a few quick photos before the Duke flitted off, and I couldn’t find him again. I’m already planning to visit the site again next year, but a week or two earlier, when these handsome little butterflies should be more abundant; I’d left my visit a little late and was very lucky to see even one.
09 Friday Jun 2023
Posted in insects
The UK Moths website entry for the Yellow shell (Camptogramma bilineata) begins: ‘A very variable species, with examples ranging from bright yellow through to dark brown….’ And variable it most certainly is, as you can see in this series of images, not the sharpest of photos but a selection of the various Yellow shells I’ve seen over the years. These moths fly by day, and the adults are active from now through to August.
08 Thursday Jun 2023
Posted in birds
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Canada goose, Canada goose goslings, Canada goslings, Parc Penallta
This pair of Canada geese and their four well-grown goslings were living on one of the fishing ponds at Parc Penallta when I visited recently.
There were several men fishing at the adjoining lake but, fortunately, they seemed to be leaving the birds – there were Mallards and Moorhen swimming about as well – to occupy one lake while they fished the other. Long may that sharing and consideration continue!
07 Wednesday Jun 2023
Posted in insects
Another day, more beauty. This time they’re even named beautiful, Beautiful demoiselle, that is. Indeed, their scientific name, Calopteryx virgo, reflects how gorgeous their namer thought them: Calopteryx is a combination of the Greek words for beautiful, kalòs, and wings, pteryx.
With their glistening metallic bodies and intricate lace-like wings, these damselflies really do live up to that name. The male, shown above, boasts an iridescent blue body and dark wings. The female, below, is an equally showy bronze-green with a brownish tinge to her wings. Truly, a beautiful couple!
06 Tuesday Jun 2023
This Crab spider seems to have decided not to bother with camouflage as it sits on this gorgeous Japanese rose flower, or perhaps it can’t manage to colour itself bright pink.
05 Monday Jun 2023
Posted in insects
It’s three weeks since I saw my first Painted lady of the year and I’ve not seen another since then. Apart from a sighting in early April some years ago, I don’t usually see them until the summer. Considering this beauty had flown across to south Wales from Europe, battling wind and weather along the way, it was looking remarkably good – a little faded on the wings perhaps, a couple of small snippets missing along the edges of its wings where birds had tried but failed to grab it. I’m looking forward to seeing many more Painted ladies as the summer progresses.
04 Sunday Jun 2023
Posted in flowers, wildflowers
Tags
British orchids, Common spotted orchid, native orchids, orchid, Pyramidal orchid, Southern marsh orchid, Twayblade
Wherever I walk now, I find orchids beginning to appear, and it’s truly wonderful to see these beauties. Here are the latest …
Common spotted orchid, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park
Twayblade, Lavernock Nature Reserve
Southern marsh orchid, Grangemoor Park
Pyramidal orchid, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park
03 Saturday Jun 2023
The dragon with the golden rings – that sounds like something out of The Lord of the Rings; reminds me of the dragon sleeping on its huge horde of gold under the mountain. But no, this particular dragon is a dragonfly, and the golden rings are the marks that encircle its body. Hence its name, the Golden-ringed dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii). This is not a dragonfly I see locally but was a stunning surprise during a recent visit to Parc Penallta, a park on a former coal tip in the Welsh Valleys.
02 Friday Jun 2023
Posted in birds
I don’t often venture to the lakeside nearest the entrance to Cosmeston Lakes Country Park (too many people), which is perhaps why I didn’t see these two broods of Mallard ducklings when they were younger (or their mothers may, previously, have been keeping them safely hidden in the reeds). One mother and her three youngsters were enjoying a snooze in the sunshine. The other, with her six ducklings (well done that mother!), was being a little more adventurous, perhaps hoping visitors would sprinkle some seed in the water for them all to feed on.
earthstar 
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