Bradfield Woods - Life in the Undergrowth

Using my Fuji compact with a close-up attachment gave a great feel of what it is like to be an insect deep in the leaves. Caterpillar is that of a Vapourer Moth and the next image a Silver Y moth. The delicate Ichneumon is injecting its egg into a grub living in the knapweed head. The last image, not so welcome, is a mite waiting to jump onto a passing host - usually dogs, deer, cattle.

Flowers on Buxton Heath

Buxton Heath is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), supporting a wide range of wetland plants, including several species of orchid. The bogs are fed by a spring at the western end of the site carrying somewhat chalky waters and are surrounded by a mosaic of wet heathland, dry acidic heathland with all three species of 'heather', and birch/oak woodland. Here are a few examples of the marshland flora - Marsh Helleborine, Marsh Orchid, Ragged Robin, Lesser Spearwort, Sundew with its inconveniently long flower spike and Dodder trailing over the Bell Heather.

Buxton Heath - Dragonflies and Butterflies

I spent a very enjoyable day on Sunday on a Naturetrek Day with Mike Crewe on Buxton Heath and neighbouring woodland looking primarily at Dragonflies, Butterflies and Plants. Here are the first group of images - Keeled Skimmer (female), Black-tailed Skimmer (female), Keeled Skimmer (male) Common Darter, Azure Damselflies, Common Darter pair, Broad-bodied Chaser (male), Purple Hairstreak, Small Copper, Silver-Studded Blues, ? Caterpillar and White Admiral.

Winterton Dunes - Insect Life

Lots of Kite-tailed Robberflies, Bee-wolf Wasps, Four-spotted Chasers were joined by various Grasshoppers (to be IDed), Small Heath, Small Copper, Large Skipper, Forrester Moth, Silver Leaf -cutter Bees and Astata boops (a red-tailed burrowing sand species)

Winterton Dunes - Habitat and Flowers

It is not often that there is an ecosystem small enough to do a reasonable survey of the plants and insects in a day. Winterton Dunes are unusual in that they support acidic plant communities, such as heathers and ferns, rather than the dunes on the North Norfolk Coast - where the sand is calcareous. There are areas of dune heath, wet 'slacks' between dunes and dune grassland which grades into grazing marsh and birch woodland.

Plants shown here Marram Grass, Yellow Bedstraw, Polypody Fern, Hare's foot clover, Cross-leaved Heath, Bell Heather, Yellow Rattle, Centaury, Royal Fern and sheep's Bit Scabious.