Yesterday was our monthly Dragonfly and Butterfly count at Paxton Pits and, despite the windy weather , we ended up with reasonable numbers of both groups. Brown Argus are particularly common this year and good to catch a mating pair. Lots of Ruddy and Common Darters, Emerald (with blue on body and black stigma) and Willow Emerald (green with pale stigma) Spread wings, Brown and Migrant Hawkers, Common Damselflies and Variable mating in the Water Soldier area.

Paxton Insect Survey

 This German Wasp was one of the nearly 100 species that I recorded on Tuesday while surveying the Arable Fields at Paxton Pits. Other striking species were the Wasp Spider, Bishop's Mitre Shield Bug and Pea Weevil, Grasshoppers, Crickets and various flies.

Early Morning Contrast in Cambridge

Beautiful light in Cambridge this morning as I walked in from the Park and Ride.

My Village Over Time

This afternoon, I am presenting the Friendship Club in Toft, Cambridgeshire, with a Photoquiz about our village and, for interest, I have included some images from a few years back. The church image is from 1900 and has changed so little, the next two are from the 1970s about 5 years after I moved to Toft and these all show how the pace of change has increased. The rest are various comparison images from this year and the archives  (some images from Toft Historical Society).

Recent Garden Records

Latest batch from the garden - still producing some new records like the first image which identifies as Haltichella rufipes which hasn't many observations in the UK though common in continental Europe, the furrow bee species Lasioglossum sexnotatum Ashy Furrow Bee. and Southern Hawker dragonfly.