Butterfly Hunt at Trumpington Meadows

A very enjoyable day yesterday hunting butterflies at Trumpington Meadows with a group of Paxton Pits Friends. It was a bit breezy for the insects and certainly for very sharp photography but we found our target species (Small Blue and Green hairstreak) and also very obliging Brown Argus. lots of Common Blues and a couple of Painted Ladies

Garden in May

With the warm weather and then a bit of 'dampness', my wildlife garden is flourishing with its mix of native and naturalised plants. I collect seed in the autumn which I either spread around or grow as seedlings and plant out. This helps maintain a thick cover of vegetation to stop the soil drying out and obviously to attract lots of different insects and hence also birds - see my Merlin list from yesterday!!. 

Two aerial shots show how much more vegetation we now have compared with when we moved 'up the road' in 2000 and I started the work of creating as many habitats in one garden as I could - Meadow, Woodland, Sandy 'Mediterranean, Hedgerow etc

2000

2025

Also  Eurasian Blackcap - usually the loudest song but quiet on this morning.

Insect Portraits

A few portraits of some of Trumpington Meadows residents taken on an overcast but relatively bright day.

Heron Update

A few images of one of  Paxton's Heron families  - definitely three very boisterous teenagers now  competing to get food from the parent and beginning to trial jumps and flaps prior to their first flight. It was very contrasty light in the morning yesterday.