ringlets and underwings

the very distinctive underwings of the ringlet butterfly.











The two lower pictures are of a yellow underwing moth, either the large or broad yellow underwing, it is difficult to tell which from these photos. The orange underwing is a protective device, normally the moth is an undistinguished brown but when disturbed it flies erractically displaying the vivid underwings.

eyebright

in one small patch of meadow we found eyebright (euphrasia nemorosa), tormentil, meadow vetchling, birds foot trefoil, butterfly orchids, hairy tare, tufted vetch, yellow rattle, marsh orchids, heath spotted orchids, knapweed, sorrel, cornish bladderseed, ox eye daisies, and in the surrounding woods heath speedwell, wood speedwell, germander speedwell, St John's wort, cow-wheat, and one specimen of bastard balm. Enough for one day!

heath fritillary 08

We went for a long walk today with Lisa, who reads this blog and lives across the road. She particularly enjoys our early morning singing. We were very lucky to see lots of heath fritillary butterflies; clearly the re-introduction into Greenscoombe woods is working very well, thanks to the hard work of so many people.

on our walk

On our walk today. the faint patch of pink in the background is a patch of ragged robin. Spot and Harri were off somewhere arguing over a badger jaw bone.

long horned beetle

Spot thinks this is a long horned beetle, but we are not sure which one. We have decided it is the variable longhorn as that covers all bases.

tipula maxima

This is the largest of British crane flies. It is supposed to be common but I have never seen one before, and it is very big. It looks amazingly complex and reminds me of an apache helicopter.