Today was a nature walk where we searched for 100 species. We recorded 123 in two hours.
2 x Red Admiral.
Cloudy and humid. A rattle of thunder later.
Orange Tip larvae continue to grow. This one is about 12mm long and has lost most of the glandular hairs.
We saw a couple of Red Admirals. There was a large local influx of Red Admirals and Painted Ladies (and migrant moths) in the early part of the month thanks to a strong southerly wind.
Snowberry has flowered and, of course, the obligatory leaf miners are busy, too.
I've shown adults and eggs of the Dock Leaf Beetle. These are the larvae.
A Silver Ground Carpet moth. We saw a few of these. Xanthorhoe montanata.
Meadow Pea - Lathyrus pratensis - has just opened.
A pair of Cantharis Soldier Beetles. It looks as though the male has passed out.
Broad-leaved Willowherb - Epilobium montanum - is always the first Willowherb to flower.
Bilberry (locally 'Mulberry') fruit have started to appear.
Two shots of Lady's Mantle. The flowers appear very quickly and the crinkled leaves make excellent 'tents' for these little (1cm.) larvae of Timothy Tortrix - Aphelia paleana.
A late Marsh Marigold.
Just after I said that Orange Tips mainly roost on Cardamine, I found this one on Nettle. A female.
Some Hawthorn specimens seem to have pink flowers early on, although most turn a pinkish shade as they mature.
A couple of more shots of the red-tailed Sawfly that is very numerous this year.
Water Cress is making much of the ditch look white.
(Although we had quite a strong wind on the walk and Hawthorn petals made the path look like it was covered with snow).