Pondlife at Mapperton, Dorset

Yesterday morning, we visited Mapperton Gardens on our way to Kingcombe and spent a long while photographing the various animals on and under the water including Water Boatmen sculling around, a Diving Beetle larva and  Pondskaters on the surface. Most of the time it was trying to catch the newts as the came up to the surface- both Palmated newts and Smooth Newts plus a large number of Toad tadpoles 

Macro Insects from Paxton Pits (May 7th)

A bit out of sequence, but here are some of the insects from the Lower Meadow Survey last Sunday, starting with a very well camouflaged Tortoise beetle, followed by a new species for me, a Sawfly whose larvae feed on buttercups, certainly the predominant flower at the moment.

Beetles in Crete

Continuing through the insects etc photographed in Crete in mid-April, here are some Beetles, including a pair of Tiger beetles, a difficult species to find and photograph in the UK but present in their hundreds on one of the stony hillsides that we visited.

Toft Churchyard Insects

Really warm day on Monday (20th) brought out quite a few insects including two hoverfly species and an Early Bumblebee along with Honey bees and pollen beetles. Both hoverflies are migrant species so wonder if brought in by the warm southerlies.