Showing posts with label Small Skipper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Small Skipper. Show all posts

Friday, July 4, 2025

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.


Thursday, June 19, 2025

Marbled Whites are Back in Toft Wood

  As I had seen one or two elsewhere, I thought perhaps the Marbled Whites had forsaken Toft Wood Meadow but today there were more than a dozen newly hatched males flying around and nectaring. First recorded in the wood as a newcomer to the area on July 11th 2012, they spread through England as the climate has gone warmer and appear earlier each year. Also lots of Skippers now and other moths and butterflies plus the usual quota of plant bugs and flies (ID sheet included).

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Life in an Ancient Wood

I eventually found time to walk up to my local woodland at Hardwick - a bit more strenuous than previous seasons as the field verges have not been cut which is very good for the wildlife but makes heavier going for walking. I was rewarded with sunny lit glades full of butterflies enjoying this year's abundant bramble flowers!! Not a lot of Silver-washed Fritillaries about but getting late in the season. Also Ringlet, Comma, Green-veined White, Peacock, Red Admiral, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Small Skipper (also seen Large and Small Whites). Dragonflies flies - Southern Hawker and Common Darter, and Band-Eyed Brown Horsefly.