Butterfly Walk at Trumpington Meadows

Joined a butterfly walk at Trumpington Meadows, a Cambridgeshire  Wildlife Trust Reserve. We eventually found the three target species, the Small blue, Purple Hairstreak and White-Letter Hairstreak along with lots of other species. This Copper photo was my favourite along with the Small Blue. A small fly took my eye - Eliozeta pellucens - which looks to be quite rare in the area. Species iID list at the end.

Butterflies etc at RSPB Sandy

Wednesday stayed cloudy till lunchtime so any butterflies we found were resting like this delicate Essex Skipper with its ink-dipped antennae When the sun broke through the lavender revealed Large Skipper and Small Skipper along with Brown Argus. Wonderful to see Gatekeepers and Large Whites in good numbers along with an obliging Purple Hairstreak on an Oak branch and two moths - a Mint Moth and a Scarlet Tiger. There were also lots of Emperor and other Large Dragonflies - too fast to capture in the lens and so I finish on two Blue-tailed Damselflies from the morning's dull and sometimes rainy conditions.

Fermyn Woods

After several warm sunny days, we had high expectations of lots of butterflies, including the Purple Emperor , on our visit to Fermyn Woods on Sunday. In contrast, it was cool, breezy with occasional drizzle so not ideal for butterflies! Ken managed to photograph an Emperor on the ground near the entrance but the rest of us contented ourselves with good views of a Purple Hairstreak (first image focus-stacked), lots of Large Skippers, Ringlets and Plant Bugs and Spiders (Nursery Spider guarding young in the web tent). A couple of Buzzards gave a great display under grey skies.

Butterflies Fermyn Woods

The RPS Nature Group visited Fermyn Woods yesterday hoping to photograph Purple Emperors. I saw one but, unfortuately for it and me, being carried away by an Emperor Dragonfly too fast to get in the lens. We did see lots of other butterflies, including Silver Washed Fritillaries, White Admiral and Purple Hairstreaks and enjoyed a great day with them in the sunshine.