Macro at Paxton

 Yesterday we had a Macro day at Paxton for Volunteers and were lucky with the weather - mainly bright and not too windy especially in the morning. Several wasp Spiders located - this one has a Dark Bush Cricket prey. Other favourites were the Vapourer moth caterpillar, the Green Leaf Hopper and the various stages of the Dock Bug. Large numbers of Migrant Hawkers on the wing and pleased to photograph for the first time a Small Red-eyed Damselfly

Sandy Heathland Insects

Each year I look forward visiting a site near Sandy and spending several hours recording the various insects that make their home in the sandy soils. Unfortunately (not the right word!!) this year the site has been more or less trashed with cans, litter, broken glass and the remains of BBQs everywhere over the area. So I visited RSPB Sandy heathland instead and relaxed for a couple of hours among the various insects that make their home there. There were limited numbers but a very good range as the following photos show from Beewolf wasps, Ornate-tailed digger Wasps and Epeolus cruciger Red-thighed Cellophane Cuckoo bee. There were also plenty of the Red-banded Sand wasps - this one relentlessly dragging a large caterpillar over long distances and large numbers of what I think is Hedychrum niemelai a cuckoo wasp that is relatively new to our shores.

 

Hickling Broad

A very enjoyable day at Hickling Broad yesterday - amazingly we must have seen around 20 different Swallowtails and only one other butterfly - a Speckled Wood. Emperor moth caterpillars were every where together with Wooly Bear (caterpillars of Garden? Tiger moths. Lots of other insects and also birds including flying Bitterns and Cranes.

Burgh on Bain Lincs Insects

We spent the weekend in a very comfortable AirBNB at Burgh on Bain in Lincolnshire which had large areas of wet meadows that I explored in the early morning. Here a few dew-covered creatures

Garden Insects etc as 'Autumn' Starts

Most of my rose bushes, especially the wild dog rose shoots, are full of Sawfly larvae now able to thrive as the various tits and other small birds have fledged. Here two different species. Yesterday was a mix of sun and showers gradually getting warmer throughout the day - ideal for insect hunting and for cleaning mouthparts as this Rhingia campestris shows - amazing how it can fold that back into the rostrum. Still trying to get that 'perfect' flower spider image