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| view from the hide Purple Loosestrife |
That aside, I must say how beautiful the Reserve is looking. Some of the colour combinations are stunning - nature does it so well!
Butterflies:
SC209694 Green Veined White; 2 x Small Tortoiseshell together.
SC209693 Unidentified White flying
SC208694 ( willows) Speckled Wood
SC209694 ( gorse boundary) unidentified White; Meadow Brown; Red Admiral
SC208694 ( board walk) Meadow Brown
SC208695 ( beehives) Meadow Brown
SC208694 ( damp meadow) 2 x Common Blue
Birds:
SC210694 adult and juvenile Goldfinch on wires
SC209693 male Blackcap; juvenile Robin.
SC208694 ( compost) Robin, Chiffchaff or Willlow Warbler
SC209694 ( gorse boundary) Wren; male and female House Sparrows; male Pheasant; 2 x Swallows over
Other:
SC208694 Taphrina alni galls ( Alder tongue gall) on Alder. This is a fungal plant pathogen but causes no long term harm to the tree.
SC209694 Aceria machrorhyncha galls on Sycamore leaves. Caused by sap sucking gall mites.
SC209694 ( gorse Boundary ) Common Wasp; Eristalis tenax hoverfly ( male).
SC208695 3 x 7-spot Ladybirds on Hogweed;
SC209695 7-spot Ladybird on thistle
SC209693 Honey bee seemed to be boring into plant stem
SC209694 Common Green Capsid bugs on many thistles
SC209694 Common Green Grasshopper - the sound of summer!
SC208695 and throughout reserve Soldier Beetles
SC208694 sloes ripening on Blackthorn, but a couple of trees have died.
SC209693 Some Hazels now producing nuts
Please do not forage on Reserve -remember all this bounty was planted to feed the wildlife.
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| 7-spot Ladybird |
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| one of three Seven spot Ladybirds on one plant |
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| this honey bee appeared to be boring into the plant stem |
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| is this unusual behaviour? I've received a suggestion that it might be boring into a nectary |
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| Common Green Capsid Bug |
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| Male Eristalis tenax Steve Crellin tells me this is the only Eristalis species with hair bands on its eyes! Try zooming in to see them. |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Young Goldfinch on the wires near the entrance |
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| with parent Goldfinch |
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| Common Green Grasshopper |
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| Mating Tephritis bardanae flies on Burdock |
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| our Moorhen chicks are growing up |
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| House Sparrow |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Soldier Beetles |
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| Galls on Sycamore leaf - Aceria Macrorhyncha |
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| Taphrina alni galls on Alder cones |
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| ripening sloes on Blackthorn |
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| ripening Rowan berries |
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| Dock seeds and Purple Loosestrife |
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| a fine stand of Marsh Woundwort in front of the Reed Bed |
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| Ripening Dock seed heads near the reed bed |
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| the damp meadow in high summer |
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| close up of the damp meadow Purple Loosestrife and white Sneezewort |
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| Dock Seed Head and Hemp Agrimony - a good butterfly plant |
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| Purple Loosestrife near the bridge with Meadowsweet in the background |
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| white Meadowsweet with purple Great Willowherb |
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| the damp meadow with Purple Loosestrife and white Meadowsweet |
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| Dock Seed heads and Marsh Woundwort |
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| a couple of Blackthorn bushes have died this year drought or the Beast from the East? |
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| view from the gate in July |
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| looking back towards the entrance gate |
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| view to the hills through the Reserve's luxuriant vegetation |
My next post will be an account of U3A Herb Group's visit to the reserve.
