five or six

the 3 main varieties of burnet moth are the five, narrow bordered five, and six spot. As far as I can tell this is the five spot (and only experts can tell the difference between this and the narrow bordered five spot). They are very striking in flight when they appear like a blurry ball of red (not black).

the middle  picture is of a heart and dart moth. The dart is the black streak, and the heart is the round brownish mark towards the edge of each wing. The bottom picture is of a silver y moth, a frequent migrant to Britain. The picture looks slightly blurred. This is because this moth has the habit of rapid trembling when at rest.

on the Inny

In the morning light the river looked like an impressionist painting today

getting braver all the time

finding the peanuts irresistible, this juvenile woodpecker is prepared to come very close to the house

full sail ahead

mid summer sees the appearance of the pretty yellow flowers of meadow vetchling, a member of the pea family

damsel in distress

I am not quite sure what is going on here, but it looks like an aphid has a tiger by its tail. The damselfly was doing its best to dislodge its unwanted passenger by arching its back and rubbing its tail against the blade of grass.

Further research suggests it might be a water mite, various secies of which parasitize dragonflies, damselflies etc (see link for arrenurus genus) ... you live and you learn!

the view from Cotehele

 we were very lucky today to be taken up the North tower at Cotehele. The roof is reached via a very narrow steep flight of stone steps, and has a view towards Calstock and far across the Tamar valley. This is the same view as before (see link) but taken from a much higher vantage point and it includes the tudor roof of Cotehele itself.