Lark Rise Farm Barton (Countryside Regeneration Trust)

 Lots of butterflies around for our morning visit with Marbled White by far the commonest species. I was looking for butterflies and other insects in good condition and on attractive perches away from other vegetation to try for some pictorial images. The wind was the greatest barrier to achieving this but here are a few that I liked plus a species sheet for those seen in the 90 minutes we spent there

Lark Rise Farm Barton

Although the insects were far fewer than last year, we did find a good variety of species some like the Beetles on the Carrot seed heads were numerous. Here a few 'portraits' of the more attractive species (depending of course on your appreciation of the insect world!!). The minute Tephrid flies (4mm) with their irridescent eyes were a particular challenge as they didn't stay still for long

Local Spiders

This year is an exceptional one for wasp spiders (Argiope bruennichi) in our area but there were several more species during recent visits to Barton and Paxton including Araneus quadratus, the Garden spider (Araneus diadematus), Pardosa sp. and Tetragnatha striata

New Year Walk at Barton

We took a walk round the fields at Barton hoping to photograph a Hare or two. We briefly saw one retreating so here a miscellany from the morning. Several very smart -looking Reed Butings. There are a couple of very strange scarecrows - the one with dolls' heads is enough to scare anyone let alone a Crow. 

Barton Dragonfly Pools

I paid a brief visit to the dragonfly pools at Barton yesterday morning - there is a lot less water than previous years as the vegetation has grown up. There were Emperor, Southern Hawkers (no photo) and Common Darters. Just a few hurried shots plus a retreating Hare and a Heron.