Paxton September Butterfly and Dragonfly Transect

For the first time this year, we had warm sunny weather (in the morning anyway) for our monthly Butterfly and Dragonfly Transcept. The counts were dominated by Common Darters and Willow Emerald Damselflies with Small Copper, Small White, Commas and Speckled Wood Butterflies the most frequent butterflies. We also had quite a few Migrant Hawkers and one Southern (on Blackberry).

Insect Portraits

The warm sun yesterday afternoon brought out quite a few insects in the garden posing on leaves ready for a portrait. The Snail-killing fly Coremacera marginata only sips nectar or dew but the larvae prey on land snails. The first image is a focus stack (15 images Zerene stacker) the second image is a single shot, The Soldier Fly and Hawthorn Shieldbug are focus stacks, the rest are single-shot portraits. The last image is a new one for my list I think, Vulgichneumon saturatoris, with the white spot on the tip of the abdomen 

Great White and Little Egrets Abound at Paxton Pits

We counted around a dozen Great White Egrets, Little Egrets  and Grey Herons collectively at Paxton Pits during our Third Thursday walk today plus a pair of Great Crested Grebes in winter plumage but still preening in tandem as in their spring displays. 

Willow Emeralds Star at Lackford Lakes

I spent a couple of hours at Lackford Lakes yesterday on my way to lecture to Norwich club and enjoyed multiple sightings of Willow Emeralds bathed in autumn sunlight plus a supporting cast of Common Blue Damselflies, Common Darters,  Dock Bug, Nuthatch and Muntjac.

 

Garden in Autumn

 Definitely the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness in the garden at the moment. This season's very tall growth is providing lots of habitats for insects etc to prepare for winter like this Elephant Hawk Moth, fully fed on the Willowherb and making its way to the soil to hibernate.Still flowers for the Bees and other insects, berries for the birds and, hopefully, some produce for us. The Ivy is in full flower and the hedges amazingly high this year draped with blackberries and White Bryony.