Wednesday, 21 August 2013

Cricket

You can never have enough crickets, especially if they're spotted.


Thursday, 15 August 2013

Burnet Moth

The wonderful bright Burnet Moths are out on the thistles now. They are great to watch as they let you get really close without flying away. This looks like a six spot variety, rather than a five. But they are hard to tell apart as sometimes the spots are stuck together. 


And I found, just lying in the grass, a collection of egg cases from some insect. They had fallen off the underside of a leaf but were still stuck to each other. So regular and beautiful. If you look closely at the top left ones you can see they have an iridescent interior. 


Wednesday, 14 August 2013

Sunbathing

It's holiday season, everyone is out on the shore basking.


Thursday, 1 August 2013

Swallow-tailed moth

I love moths, there are so many and their variety is astonishing. They have entertainingly eccentric names, for example the Sandy Carpet, the Glaucous Shears or the Cream-spot Tiger. There were a pair of striking Swallow-tailed moths on the front door this morning. Apparently they are very common throughout the UK from June to August. This species particularly likes ivy. 


Tuesday, 30 July 2013

Pig


Great crested newt

Not much in the way of crests on this one but really fantastic to find one. 
They have lovely yellow spotted tummies and yellow spots on their toes. 
This one had made a home under a water butt.



Thursday, 25 July 2013

Dragonfly wing

There really couldn't be anything more beautiful or perfect, or complex.