Dorset 18 Hooke Park - Final Location!

 Although not a great set of images as it was very windy and raining a bit so wide aperture/slow shutterspeed needed and no chance of focus stacking, this blog past records Hooke Park, close to Higher Kingcombe, as a great location for a future visit to Dorset. The Stilt Bug was definitely one of the strangest insect encountered during my 10 days!!

Dorset 17 When Camouflage Does Not Work

On the morning of our last full day in Kingcombe, we stayed around locally in the morning and were both delighted and dismayed to find a Peppered Moth (and a Lobster Moth) to photograph. Having recorded it on the window sill, I thought it would be good to show how well its camouflage worked on the wall but immediately a False Widow Spider shot out of a hole and in seconds had subdued it with venom and started to wrap it in silk. The fourth image is a focus stack at F22 which demonstrates what our eye sees and just how good the camouflage is. Rest of post shows a few more species recorded during the morning.

 

Dorset 16 Cerne Abbas and Minterne Gardens

On the Friday of our Dorset trip, we visited Cerne Abbas where I walked up to the Long Man. On our last visit in 2018 on an equivalent date, we spent the morning in the company of Marsh Fritillaries and Adonis Blue butterflies but, this year, there were none - hopefully because the season has been much earlier. The views were spectacular and we later visited the poppy fields. In the afternoon, we visited the gardens at Minterne, which was rich in wild flowers as well as cultivated species.

Dorset 13 Golden-ringed Dragonfly

 On our last visit to Kingcombe area, I missed out seeing the Golden-ringed Dragonfly so was delighted to photograph this one which had caught and proceeded to eat a beetle.

Dorset 12 Burton Bradstock

Parking at the National Trust Car Park, we walked over the cliffs to Cogden beach and along the beach towards Burton Bradstock. Lots of flowers, a few butterflies such as these Large skippers and some interesting insects including the amazing Tephrid flies with their picture wings and iridescent eyes. (Although now on the way home, I will be continuing my 'diary' of our CCC trip to Dorset for a few more days. We hope to return next year so this acts as a guide to places to visit and what wildlife was seen).