April Butterfly and Dragonfly Survey

 Today was our first Butterfly and Dragonfly survey of 2025 at Paxton but the cool weather meant sightings of the former were limited to a very few species and individuals though we did record a few Grizzled Skippers, along with Brown Argus, Orange tips etc. Only a handful of Damselflies mostly just emerged. There were a number of very curious (even ugly) bugs around including a Beetle - Platyrhinus resinosus Scarce Fungus Weevil which lives on the black knobbly fungus - Alfred cakes and a larva of a micromoth Coleophora pennella Bugloss case-bearer.

Life on Comfrey and Alkanet

The Alkanet and White Comfrey are in full bloom in the garden and provide home and food to a very large variety of species. Here are a few. The Rhingia rostrata has very impressive mouthparts for slurping up nectar!

Bugs, Bees, Beetle and Butterfly

As the cooler moist air arrived yesterday afternoon, a lot of insects became active especially various leaf bugs - some new to my list for the garden!!. Still lots of Bees and Wasp species plus a very small beetle, first Comma butterfly and a large number of Hoverflies!

Life in a Barley Field

It was cold and breezy for out RPS Nature Group visit to Strumpshaw - not ideal for dragonflies or flying insects so we struggled in the morning to find good subjects for our macrophotography. In the afternoon some of us visited a local barley field which was sheltered from the wind and full of insects. here a few more successful images among quite a few more!!