Evening at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen

A few photos from a visit to Strumpshaw Fen last Sunday evening once the heat of the day had cooled. A Marsh Harrier watched us as we peered in the vegetation for insects and tried to capture the Dragonflies as they settled to roost.

Winterton Dunes

Always a favourite location of mine for a day's macro, Winterton Dunes certainly produced some interesting insect species on Monday. Here are a selection of photos from the day with their IDs.

Other Insects at Buxton Heath

Bit of a legs theme here (shed skin of grasshopper and Longhorn beetle leg-stretch routine). The Pied hoverfly was on my car door!! We tried to escape the very powerful sun and high temperatures on Sunday afternoon at Buxton Heath by keeping to the edge of the woodland where several Dragonflies were perching and hawking for prey - Keeled Skimmers (male and females) were commonest but also 4-Spot Chasers and Broad-bodied Chaser.

Butterflies at Buxton Heath

The lighting for photographs at Buxton Heath on Sunday was very contrasty with very bright sunlight. Silver-studded Blues were present in abundance  - an unusual trio appeared on a twig of heather. We also recorded Red Admiral, Large Skipper, Meadow Brown and Brimstone

Orchids Buxton Heath

The Marsh Helleborines are at their peak at the moment with many very large spikes as well as more modest blooms. There are some fairly distinct Marsh Orchids and Heath Spotted Orchids but it seems most are hybrids. The only pollinator that I found was a Flower Tumbling Beetle on a Twayblade. Very bright sunshine with temperatures above 30 degrees so not ideal for flower photography!!

Marbled Whites are Back in Toft But Small Numbers

We saw our first Marbled Whites roosting in the wood on Saturday 24th June - just 3 males and 1 female (shown here with Sphaerophoria scripta hoverfly). Images taken with 600mm equivalent lens - last two are focus stacked. We hope they are roosting elsewhere in larger numbers. The Small Skipper was very well camouflaged on its grass Seed head