Kestrel

I thought I'd missed my chance - I saw a pair of kestrels squabbling and went after them. I knew one had landed nearby I blundered along only to spot it taking off from a fencepost almost next to me - camera, of course, wasn't ready - drat. Then it landed in a tree, drat again:

I persisted and eventually it settled in full view. When it took off, then hovered, I was ready with the camera. Only when I downloaded the pictures I knew I was exceedingly lucky. What a great day. 

Blackcap mix up

Great to learn something new every day and realise when you'd been getting things wrong. Below is a blackcap, a male. The females have brown heads. What I'd thought had been a Blackcap is either a Willow tit or a Marsh tit. They're apparently very similar and hard to tell apart. 

Real Blackcaps are quite a bit bigger and have longer beaks. 

Here's a Marsh tit, or, er, is it a Willow tit?

Cherries

What could be better on a hot day? Cherries straight off the tree.

Insects

There are many more insects about now because of the heat. Clouds of midges, craneflies and flesh flies, who are remarkably hairy, as you can see below. 

Foxglove at sunset

Tortoiseshell butterfly

I found this butterfly yesterday. It was so bright and perfect it must have just hatched out. Great to see a few more butterflies about now that the weather has warmed up. There have been so few in comparison to this time last year. 

Horse fly

I spent a hideous amount of time sitting in traffic jams today. 

So I thought I'd treat everyone to a horse fly.