A new local area, today. We have a disused quarry in town, but access is difficult (and dangerous). I was very surprised to find no new plant species, but since the bottom of the quarry is now a large pond, I got quite a few insects.
Bright periods with sudden heavy rain showers.
This should set the scene. The rear wall of the quarry is some 30m high, and there is a 'ledge' half way up on the right hand side. Most of the photographs were taken on the far (south-facing) side of the ledge.
I saw a good number of these Common Blue Damsel-flies. This is the male.
Body length about 5cm.
There were dozens of these pink Damsels at all levels and on all plants. It turns out to be the recently-hatched male that is this colour. The pink turns to blue.
This is the first Dragonfly of the year for me - a female Common Hawker. The wingspan of this magnificent creature was around 15 cm. It's a pity the background blends in so well.
I saw many butterflies today. This was one of three
Painted Ladies.
Other specimens were: around 20 Speckled Wood (probably second brood - they were pristine) and a similar number of Meadow Brown.
I'm currently preparing a study of our local Dactylhoriza orchids (that will appear here, next month, when all of my sample photographs have been taken). But I feel you should see some of them at the correct time. The left specimen is about as close to a pure Heath Spotted Orchid as I've seen. The one on the right is possibly a hybrid between the Heath Spotted Orchid and the Northern Marsh Orchid.
These two specimens are samples from a bank of orchids that are actually about 200m. from the original hedgerow, but look nothing like the ones that grow there.