Colourful World of Butterflies

My granddaughter, Meredith, was fascinated by the Butterflies at Butterfly World today. Unfortunately the weather was cool and damp so there were no native butterflies on the wing though lots of colourful flowers and other insects for her to explore and enjoy including the two large colonies of leafcutter ants. Here a main worker together with a small caste of soldier ants that rides on the leaves to fend off any intruders. The lady called them minions but I haven't found that term used in the information on the web yet.

Just Dogs Live Peterborough 2015

The East of England Championship Dog Show was held along with the Just Dogs Live at the weekend. all the usual pampering went on and a lot of caring exchanges. One fun competition was for a Brace of Dogs - some breeds performed somewhat better than others but just getting two Springer Spaniels to go in the same direction was an achievement.

Dogged Concentration in Flyball Contests

We visited Dogs Live at Peterborough Show Ground today and I spent a long while marvelling at the concentration powers of the dogs in the Flyball contests. This was only matched by the wonderful flapping of ears and the sheer joie de vivre of these canine canon balls.

Miscellany of Shropshire Wildlife

There were some amazing Grasshoppers on the Prees Heath Reserve. The pink and straw coloured insects are variations of the Field Grasshopper. I think the green one is a Meadow grasshopper. Good to see a Yellow Hammer in full song and a delicate Long-jawed spider. The final two images are of a very tame Bank Vole that lives on the bank is Peter and Jane's garden.

Amazing Insect Power - Wasps Excavating Nest

While staying with Peter and Jane, I attempted to photograph the German Wasps that were busy excavating a nest in a bank in their garden. They were bringing out large stones that they pushed and pulled to the entrance if large or flew away with if smaller. They were also collecting water from leaves etc  and making mud pellets which they then flew out with. Obviously some wasps died during these labours and they are then dragged out as in the final image. The first two were natural light; the others taken with the built-in flash on the Canon 7Dii - not ideal as it takes a while to recharge for each shot.

Silver-Studdied Blues at Prees Heathl Shropshire

I am spending a couple of nights with Jane and Peter near Church Stretton in Shropshire; many thanks for sharing your home and area with me. This morning we were up early to visit Prees Heath, a reserve near Whitchurch . The speciality there is the Silver-studded Blue and indeed we saw dozens of these beautiful little blues roosting in the heather. The males are browner on the underside and irridescent brown, purple and orange on the upper side. The males are blue washed on the bodies and the undersides. We also saw Small and Large Heaths and Ringlet.