An excellent female Oak Eggar moth (Lasiocampa quercus) at The Lodge today. Thanks to Ian Dawson for the tip-off.

Sharpenhoe Clappers

An enjoyable afternoon spent thrashing around in the grassy area on top of the clappers. Saw a few jet-propelled Dark-green Frits, none really photogenic. The highlight of the three hours or so were the freshly emerged Chalkhill Blues. Stunning. Other stuff seen below.

Some Small Skippers. Still haven't worked out how to tell them and Essex apart...

A couple of smart crickets/grasshoppers...

Various moths found in the grass and scrub. Haven't worked out what any of them are called yet though...

Large Emerald

This stunning Large Emerald moth (Geometra papilionaria) was by the entrance to the Osprey building at The Lodge this morning. It drew many admirers on their way in to work.

Odonata at The Lodge

Common Darter, Sympetrum striolatum

Southern Hawker, Aeshna cyanea, just emerged from Jack's Pond

Ruddy Darter, Sympetrum sanguineum

Chicksands Wood - 16 July 2007

A new brood Brimstone butterfly laying down fat reserves for the winter. With luck this male will live until next June.

A slightly odd male Gatekeeper with paler than usual hindwings.

A Common lizard basking on a log-pile. With a slow stealthy approach it is possible to get quite close.

I had always suspected that a crab spider could catch a medium-sized butterfly but never seen it before. Here a meadow brown has become a tasty meal for this spider that waited on the flower for a victim.

All four pictures by Keith Balmer.

MVCP Damselflies and Dragonflies 15th July 2007

Small Red-eyed Damselfy, Emerald Damselfly and Southern Hawker - all within 100 yards of the MVCP Visitors Centre today, by Martin Green.

Mayfly emergence

On 15th July at Broom GP I found millions of tiny Mayfly exuviae on the plastic protectors surrounding the seedling trees. The trees were a metre or more from the waters edge and one side of the plastic was completely covered by them. There were also Common Blue damselfly exuviae on the protectors up to five metres from the water. The sheer numbers indicate that these pools are alive with invertebrates. Photos by Steve Cham

Butterflies - Chicksands Wood and Sharpenhoe, 14th July 2007

A visit to Chicksands Wood on Saturday found cloud cover every time I got to a likely area for Silver-washed Fritillary, preceded and followed by bright sun walking to and from the car. Grrr. Just a few shots of common species from here - male and female Large Skipper and a Meadow Brown.



Then a quick dash to Sharpenhoe Clappers where there was a little more sun and the second target big Fritillary performed, despite being rather mobile in windy conditions. One Dark Green settled to feed on Greater Knapweed long enough for a series of shots - one distant but nicely spread, then a series in close-up.



I love the spotty eyes.


...and finally the diagnostic dark green underwing pattern

Sand Wasp at The Lodge

This is a Sand Wasp, Ammophila sabulosa, carrying a Pine Beauty moth caterpillar (thanks to Ian Dawson for ID)

Small Red-eyed Damselfly at The Lodge

Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Erythromma viridulum, on the swimming pool

New to Bedfordshire?

Unless anyone knows of any recent records, this is Theridion familiare and is a new species of spider for Bedfordshire. The most recent distribution map can be found here (the closest three dots to Beds are all Ian Dawsons records from Cambs; Waresley, Little Paxton and Coton):
http://www.britishspiders.org.uk/html/bas.php?page=ukmap&taxon_key=NBNSYS0000008893

Many thanks (again) to Ian Dawson for the identification of the spiders found in my Broom home. Looks like this time I found a good one!

Insects from Aspley Heath

An ichneumon Wasp?

Longhorn Beetle Strangalia quadrifasciata
Aspley Heath, 8th July 2007 by Steve Blain.

College Wood, Sunday 8th July 2007
Popped in here with MJG on the way back from Broom. No Silver-washeds or Hairstreaks, but an obliging Southern Hawker and Comma allowed shots of a couple more common species

Southern Hawker at College Wood, 08/07/07

Comma a College Wood, 08/07/07

Dragonflies at Broom, Sunday 8th July 2007
While waiting for the Lesser Emperor to show again (it didn't), I decided to practice flight shots on this male Emperor, which (frustratingly), I got a much better shot of than the Lesser Emp
Female Emperor ovipositing and being buzzed by Common Blue Damselfly, Broom, 08/07/07

A female Black-tailed Skimmer, Broom, 08/07/07

Black-tailed Skimmer at MVCP

This female Black-tailed Skimmer was on the brick "mini-tower" near the MVCP Pillinge on Saturday afternoon, photo by Martin Green.

Lesser Emperor

Lesser Emperor Anax parthenope, Broom GP, 7th July 2007 by Steve Blain. Found by Dave Ball mid-afternoon this second for Bedfordshire (after one at Willington GP in August 2005) frequented the pool beside the entrance track to the pits, often doing large circuits of the favoured pool.

Other odonata at Broom

Ruddy Darter

Common Blue Damselflies
Broom GP, 7th July 2007 by Steve Blain.

Comma

Comma, Chicksands Wood, 7th July 2007 by Steve Blain

Assorted Chicksands insects

Ringlets

Large Skipper

Dark Bush Crickets