Houghton Regis chalk pit - 12/07/09

There were at least thirty-eight Chalkhill Blue seen on a three hour amble around the pit.





Just a few Marbled White were on the wing.



A buddleia had a fair selection of lepidoptera including a Painted Lady and this Hummingbird Hawkmoth - a record shot only, unfortunately.



Surveying butterflies in an area that has no records since 1996 (SP9322) produced twelve species. There were plenty of whites including this Small White.

King's Wood, Heath & Reach: 10/07/09

There were four male and two female Silver-washed Fritillary in King's Wood, Heath & Reach today.

King's Wood, Heath & Reach: 27/06/09

This thistle seemed popular today playing host to Marbled White, Large Skipper, bombus sp, and Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet !



A Four-spotted Chaser



You never know who you might bump in to - this Red Fox was soon off after it heard the camera !



A typical posture for a Large Skipper

Heath & Reach - 23/06/09

Plenty of insects around today. In a field next to King's Wood, there were c.20 Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet moths - including this pair in-cop on a pupal exuvia poking out of the pupal case !



Nearby, a pair of Meadow Brown were busy.



A slightly worn Small Tortoiseshell, and the longhorn beetle Rutpela maculata.

Six-spot Burnet

At Sandhouse Lane NR a few Six-spot Burnet moths were present. The larval foodplant is Common Bird's-foot Trefoil - which is abundant on the site.

Black Hairstreak

A new butterfly for me today - three Black Hairstreak at a site in Bedfordshire. As expected, they were always up in the canopy. It was quite breezy and the blue sky soon disappeared. This butterfly has a short flight season - the adults live for about three weeks, so I was happy to get the shot below.

Emperor Dragonfly

Two Emperor Dragonfly were patrolling one the lagoons at Dunstable STW today.