Friday, June 12, 2009

Thursday, June 11, 2009

long horn moth

this is a female long horn moth (species Nemophora degeerella). I only know this because there is a wonderful site full of British moths at this link. What I like is that you can type in colours and a feature (eg brown yellow bar) and up pops some likely candidates. Common in the South of England apparently. And below (so I can give the equivalent butterfly link) one of the many speckled wood butterflies flying around today.

Sunday, June 07, 2009

Spot's pink peony spot


the peonies are lovely this year

and the view

It was a very clear day, and this photo shows the Tamar valley (very flattened by the perspective), and in view are the villages of Luckett, Sydenham Damerel, Milton Abbot, Horsebridge, Townlake and Tutwell, and in the far distance the hills of Dartmoor looking towards Okehampton.

more orchids


nearby and for the first time on Kit Hill, we found some orchids. They look like southern marsh orchids (having no spots on the leaves and two sepals that look like bird's wings) but these orchids often hybridise with heath spotted and common spotted orchid. However, they were by a marsh!

egg and bacon



bird's foot trefoil, showing why it is sometimes called eggs and bacon, and below a vigorous clump of eyebright, possibly nemorosa anglica (but who can tell??), growing in the marshes at the entrance to Kit Hill quarry.