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A Suffolk Lane

~ A diary of my life in rural north Suffolk.

A Suffolk Lane

Tag Archives: azure damselfly

Wildlife in the Garden

23 Wed Oct 2019

Posted by Clare Pooley in Insects, reptiles and amphibians, Rural Diary, wild birds

≈ 111 Comments

Tags

azure damselfly, common toad, four-spotted chaser dragonfly, grass snake skin, green-veined white butterfly, holly blue butterfly, ivy, ivy mining bee, jay feather, lunar yellow underwing, Mallard, mint moth, painted lady butterfly, pheasant feathers, red admiral butterfly, rosemary beetle, Small Tortoiseshell butterfly, speckled wood butterfly, starling, Suffolk

I have a small number of wildlife photographs taken during late spring and through the summer.  This post will feature them.

Four-spotted Chaser, a male (I think!)(Libellula quadrimaculata )

These amber and black-coloured dragonflies fly during late spring and early summer and fortunately for me and my camera, they take regular rests on plants round the edge of the pond from where they watch for prey and/or mates.  Males are very territorial and aggressive.

Female Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella )

I spent some time trying to decide whether this was an Azure or a Variable Damselfly.  The photo isn’t clear enough for me to be sure.  I decided to post the photo on the Damsel and Dragonfly Facebook site and see what the experts thought.  The first person thought it was an Azure and the second thought it was a Variable!  Fortunately a third person plumped for the Azure so that is what it will have to be.

Male Azure Damselfly ( Coenagrion puella)

The males are much brighter than the females.

Male Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos )

When I took this photo at the beginning of summer I was upset to see how little water was in the pond.  At that time of year there ought to have been at least two or three more feet of water there.  I was not to know how bad it would get by the end of the summer when most of the pond had become dry.

Rosemary Beetle (Chrysolina americana ) on rosemary

Rosemary beetle on sage

I have been finding these attractive beetles on my rosemary, lavender and sage plants for the past couple of years.  They are a non-native invasive species of beetle related to the Colorado Beetle.  They do a fair amount of damage to plants if left unchecked and can kill young plants.  Because of our recent mild winters they are active throughout the year.  Here is a link to the RHS website which describes the beetle.

Speckled Wood butterfly (Parage aegeria )

I apologize for the poor photo of this pretty butterfly.  This was the closest I got to one all summer!  They are difficult to see in the dappled light of a woodland ride where they like to live.  They feed mainly on honeydew in the treetops.

Green-veined White butterfly (Peiris napi )

I saw a number of these white butterflies this year.  I read that the green-veined white prefers to lay its eggs on wild members of the cabbage family ( watercress, garlic mustard etc.) rather than on plants in our vegetable gardens.  This one appears to be laying eggs on my aubretia, which is also a member of the cabbage family!

Painted Lady
Painted Lady
Painted Lady
Painted Lady

The Painted Lady butterfly( Vanessa cardui) has had a very good year here and almost the whole country has seen numbers of them. They cannot survive our winters so new butterflies arrive each spring by immigration from southern Europe.  The caterpillars feed mainly on thistles and sometimes mallows.

Red Admiral
Red Admiral
Red Admiral
Red Admiral

Red Admirals (Vanessa atalanta ) are increasingly able to survive our winters by hibernation.  The majority arrive here in the spring from Europe and then subsequent generations fly and breed until the first frosts.  The caterpillars feed on stinging nettles.

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly (Aglais urticae )

The one and only small tortoiseshell I was able to photograph.  I haven’t seen many this year.  The butterflies hibernate as adults in hollow trees and buildings and the caterpillars feed on stinging nettles.  As good a reason as any to keep a few nettles in the corner of the garden.

A rather battered Holly Blue butterfly (Celastrina argiolus ) on Escallonia

I saw quite a few holly blues this year which probably means they will be scarce again next year.  The caterpillars are often attacked by two species of parasitic wasp that sometimes wipe out whole colonies of holly blue.  The male and female butterflies’ underside of their wings looks alike so I can’t say which this is.  It refused to open its wings all the time I was watching it and then flew off at speed the moment my attention wavered!

I would recommend Escallonia as a favourite with bees and butterflies.  I also saw a Green Hairstreak butterfly on it this summer but I didn’t have my camera to hand.

Mint Moth ( Pyrausta aurata) on lavender

At least, I believe this might be a Mint Moth.  It appears to have two golden spots on its forewings which is what one looks for.

Lunar Yellow Underwing (Noctua orbona )

You may think it strange that I have chosen to include a photo of a dead moth.  I expect it is.  This poor thing managed to get itself trapped in the house while we were away on holiday and I found it in the garden room.  These moths are quite uncommon and I am pleased that they are present in our garden.

Ivy (Hedera helix ) hedge

I parked my car up against this hedge in Bungay a couple of weeks ago and stopped to admire all the wonderful flowers all over it.  I then realized it was covered in bees.

Ivy flowers

Ivy Mining Bee ( Colletes hederae)

Ivy Mining Bee

These bees dash about all over the place and never stay for more than a few seconds on any one flower.  I was very fortunate to get the photos I did.  I couldn’t stay long as I had shopping to do and the owner of the red car (see the first photo) returned to her vehicle and was eyeing me suspiciously.

Common Toad (Bufo bufo)

I looked up from my lunch one day in June and saw this young toad marching across the grass in front of the kitchen window.  My phone doesn’t take good photos and I couldn’t crop the shot without it becoming pixelated.  You can see the toad has long legs with which it covers quite a lot of ground at some speed.  Toads don’t jump and hop very often.

See how parched the grass was at the beginning of the summer!  Things didn’t improve much until quite recently.  We have had large quantities of rain in the last few weeks and the grass is growing again!

Grass Snake (Natrix natrix ) skin on the grass round our large pond

We often see grass snakes in our garden but this year this is the closest I got to one.  They are Britain’s longest snake at one metre in length, occasionally longer. They are variable in colour and pattern being either green, olive-green, brown or grey.  They have a yellow to orange-red collar just behind their head and have regular black markings along their sides (or not, as the case may be!) They are very good swimmers.

Starling
Starling
Starling
Starling

Both these photographs of starlings (Sturnus vulgaris ) were taken by Elinor when she was on a trip to the North Norfolk coast this autumn.  I love these garrulous birds and enjoy listening to their twittering and whistling.  These birds in the photos are resplendent in their speckled winter plumage and have black bills.  The feathers become less speckled and  more iridescent green and purple through the winter and the bills turn a beautiful lemon-yellow in spring. They are excellent mimics and will copy other bird’s songs and calls and any other noises they find interesting.  In the early seventies we had one in the road where I grew up that did a good impersonation of a Trimphone.  Is impersonation the right word?  Again, there was a starling that lived next to the primary school that Elinor attended when we lived in Somerset that had a call that sounded just like little girls screaming in the playground.

A Jay (Garrulus glandarius ) feather

I think this feather is so beautiful!  Richard found it in the garden.

Pheasant feathers
Pheasant feathers
Pheasant feathers
Pheasant feathers

From these slightly blurred photos it is difficult to see the iridescence of the feathers, the maroon, amber and dark brown shades that make these pheasant ( Phasianus colchicus) feathers so lovely.  I found them all together in a heap in the garden.  I assume that this pheasant had been fighting and had had these scraped from his breast.  Pheasants don’t like fighting at all and will get out of it if they can.  If disturbed in the middle of their posturing both combatants will sidle away hoping, I’m sure, they won’t be followed.

 

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Highlights Part 2

10 Sat Dec 2016

Posted by Clare Pooley in Gardening, Insects, music, plants, Rural Diary, seashore, weather, wild birds, wild flowers

≈ 75 Comments

Tags

'Something in the Way She Moves', alderfly, azure damselfly, cactus flowers, communal mining bee, Early Purple Orchid, echinopsis oxygona, Four-spotted Chaser, greenfinch, highlights, Jacob sheep, lambs, oedemera nobilis, pond water-crowfoot, red campion, Robin, Southwold, Suffolk, The Beatles, the moon, The Saints Benefice in north Suffolk, the sea, thrift

The weather in May was changeable; cold, wet and windy for a few days then a couple of days of warmth and sunshine then back to cool and damp.  The beginning of June wasn’t much different.

These first photos were taken towards the end of May in our garden or within a short walk of home.

p1000277pond-water-crowfoot

Pond Water-crowfoot (Ranunculus peltatus) has two sorts of leaves; the submerged leaves are thread-like but the floating leaves have rounded lobes. I found this plant in the pond at the front of the house. It is a relative of the buttercup and appeared here for the first time this year.

p1000320alder-fly-001

Alderfly (Sialis lutaria) In this country we have just three species of alderfly and they are virtually indistinguishable from each other. One (this one I believe) favours still or slow-moving water and the other two prefer running water.

Adult alderflies are weak-flying insects and never move far away from water.  The two or three weeks they spend as an adult are almost entirely taken up with looking for a mate.  Most don’t bother feeding but some may nibble a little pollen or algae if they are in need of sustenance.

Mining bee
Mining bee
Mining bee
Mining bee

I think this Mining bee is a Communal mining bee (Andrena scotica).  The females share a tunnel entrance but have separate nests underground.  They prefer slightly open ground and so are often found near paths.  I discovered this one while I was weeding and I think I had probably disturbed her nest.  She was making a lot of noise; I am sure she was very cross!

p1000330robin-001

I was being helped in my task by a friendly Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

ooOOoo

Richard had noticed some orchids on the grass verge of a lane near us so we set off to walk to where they were growing.  I took a couple of photos on the way.

p1000333red-campion

Lots of Red Campion (Silene dioica)

p1000343greenfinch

A Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris). I had to zoom as far as my camera was capable to enable me to get this rather grainy shot.

p1000345early-purple-orchid

Early Purple Orchid (Orchis mascula)

p1000346early-purple-orchid

Early Purple Orchid

p1000349early-purple-orchid

Early Purple Orchid

p1000367jacob-sheep

We walked past a field full of Jacob sheep on the way back home

p1000368jacob-sheep

They are more like goats than sheep and the lambs are very endearing and inquisitive.

ooOOoo

At the very end of May we visited one of our local seaside resorts, Southwold, on a very cool and windy day.

p1000371southwold

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside!

p1000386southwold

The sea was rough…

p1000387southwold

…but this couple were happy to be there watching the waves together. Note how well wrapped up they were!

p1000375southwold

I like this weather vane on top of the Southwold Sailor’s Reading Room

p1000377southwold

These flowers caught my eye

p1000378southwold

Thrift (Armeria maritima)

ooOOoo

Within a day or so of our trip to Southwold the sun came out again and I was able to find insects to photograph.

p1000392damselfly

Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)

img_2756damselflies

Male and female Azure damselflies

img_2766dragonfly-001

Male Four-spotted Chaser dragonfly (Libellula quadrimaculata)

My field guide says these dragonflies are rather dull but I don’t find them so.

p1000468oedemera-nobilis

Male Oedemera nobilis.  A beetle that feeds on pollen; only the males have the swollen hind-legs.

ooOOoo

Just a few photos I took towards the middle of June.

p1000475cactus-flowers

Beautifully scented cactus flowers – Echinopsis oxygona

p1000485moon

The moon

And finally a slideshow of a field of Common Poppies (Papaver rhoeas) I saw from the road at Ilketshall St. John this summer.  I wished I could get closer to it!  I think you may also appreciate this link.  It is a wonderful description of where I live and also has praise in it for our Rector who will be retiring next August.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

My music today is from the Beatles.  Many of you will know why I have chosen this today (though I am a couple of days late as usual!).  I was a student living in Liverpool at the time and heard the news of John’s death as I made my toast for breakfast on the 9th of December.  Thirty-six years ago!  I was surprised later to hear he had been shot on the 8th of December but I had forgotten the time difference.  Listen to the superbly melodic bass playing!

Thanks for visiting!

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June Flowers and Insects

27 Sat Jun 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in Insects, plants, Rural Diary, trees, weather

≈ 39 Comments

Tags

azure damselfly, Bittersweet, Black-tailed Skimmer, blue-tailed damselfly, common knapweed, Common Marsh-bedstraw, Common Sorrel, Creeping Cinquefoil, Cyperus Sedge, damselflies, dogwood, dragonflies, Elder, Four-spotted Chaser, garden, greenbottle, Hoverfly, insects, Meadow Buttercup, Oxeye Daisy, pond, Pyracantha, Suffolk, White Water Lily, wild flowers, yellow iris, Yorkshire Fog

Until this week we have had a very cool summer indeed which has meant that there have been very few insects about.  The common garden pests, greenfly and blackfly for example, seem to cope with chilly weather but the insects that eat them don’t!  Some of the flowers are continuing to flower a little late but a few are flowering at about their usual time which has made for unusual combinations.

IMG_4808All Saint's Common (640x480)

Meadow Buttercups (Ranunculus acris) on All Saints’ Common

We have a number of ‘commons’ here in East Anglia.  A common is an area of land either owned by a group of people or one person but it can be used by the general public in certain ways such as walking your dog or playing sport.  Some commons and village greens have ‘rights of common’ where it is possible to graze livestock on the land.  If you want to use the common for anything other than walking on it or having a picnic, (for instance, if you wanted to camp there), you’d have to ask permission of the land owner.

IMG_4831All Saint's Common (640x480)

This is another view of the common showing one of the unusual flower combinations.  This didn’t come out as well as I’d have liked.

The Common Sorrel is flowering at the same time as the buttercups and for a while it looked as though the field was alight with red flames above the yellow.

IMG_4814Common Sorrel (480x640)

Common Sorrel (Rumex acetosa)

IMG_4807Common Knapweed (640x480)

Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra) is also in flower on the common.

IMG_4810Possibly Yorkshire Fog (2) (510x640)

As is Yorkshire Fog (Holcus lanatus)

IMG_4819Elderflower (640x480)

The Elder (Sambucus nigra) is in flower.

IMG_4892Dogwood (640x480)

The Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) is in flower too.

Many people dislike the scent of the Elderflower; they describe it as smelling of ‘cats’.  It isn’t a pleasant smell but it is preferable to the smell of Dogwood flowers!

IMG_2269Bittersweet (2) (640x640)

Bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara), also known as Woody Nightshade, is flowering in the hedgerows.

IMG_4828Pyracantha (640x480)

The Pyracantha in our garden is covered in blossom. This is another plant with a strange scent but the bees love it!

IMG_4822Cyperus sedge (640x480)

I discovered a new plant at the edge of our big pond the other day – a Cyperus Sedge (Carex pseudocyperus), also known as Hop Sedge.

The plant is quite large and must, I suppose, have been there last year without me seeing it.  Its leaves are strap-like, similar to Iris leaves, so I might have thought it was an Iris.  The flowers are unmistakable though.

IMG_4823Cyperus Sedge (640x480)

The flowers are pendulous, like catkins.

IMG_2268Yellow Iris (633x640)

Yellow Iris (Iris pseudacorus)

IMG_2302Common Marsh-bedstraw (640x427)

Another new plant to our garden is this Common Marsh-bedstraw (Galium palustre) growing by our corner pond.

IMG_2277Creeping Cinquefoil (640x427)

One of my favourite flowers is this little one – Creeping Cinquefoil (Potentilla reptans). Its petals are heart-shaped and such a pretty shade of yellow. The creeping refers to its trailing stems that root at the nodes as it grows.

IMG_2279Ox-eye Daisies (640x427)

I love Oxeye Daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare) too.

IMG_2289Water Lily (640x427)

A White Water-lily (Nymphaea alba) on our big pond.

Elinor saw the Kingfisher at the pond a couple of days ago and since yesterday we have  all heard the purring of a Turtle-dove in the trees round the pond.  The temperature has risen to 25 degrees Centigrade and I think it has been too cold up til now for the Turtle-dove.

IMG_2270Female Blue-tailed Damselfly (2) (640x427)

Female Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)

IMG_2276 (2)Male Blue-tailed Damselfly (640x445)

Male Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)

IMG_2271Male Azure Damselfly (2) (640x420)

Male Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)

IMG_4824Male Four-spotted Chaser (640x478)

I believe this is a male Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata)

IMG_2283Greenbottle on Hogweed (2) (640x417)

Greenbottle (Lucilia caesar) on Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium)

IMG_2294Helophilus pendulus Hoverfly (640x472)

A brightly-patterned Hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus)

IMG_2298Male Black-tailed Skimmer (640x485)

Male Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum)

I hope to see some more insects now the weather has warmed up.

Thank-you for visiting!

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A Wet Weekend

17 Wed Jun 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in family, Rural Diary

≈ 40 Comments

Tags

azure damselfly, chaffinch, flour, guinea fowl, Pakenham Water Mill, scarlet pimpernel, Suffolk, sunset, topiary, watercress, Waveney District Council Parks and Open Spaces, white campion

This weekend marked the start of my break from driving every day to Norwich.  Hooray!!  Elinor finished her exams on Friday and we are so pleased with her and, I suspect, she is very pleased with herself.

IMG_4802Traffic island Halesworth (640x480)

I thought this might be a good opportunity to show you a beautiful traffic island on a roundabout on the outskirts of Halesworth. The Parks Department have been creating wonderful floral displays all over the district. This island looks like a cottage garden.

The previous weekend was very pleasant as Alice came to visit for a few days.  We went to see Elinor’s college artwork on display at a gallery in Norwich on Friday 5th June and then had a very enjoyable Italian meal before returning home.  The day had started with thunderstorms and heavy rain but the sun came out in the afternoon and we then had some gorgeous warm weather for the rest of the day.  We haven’t had much warm weather and it didn’t last.

IMG_4780Sunset (640x480)

A beautiful sunset I saw a few days ago.

We went out for another meal that Sunday for lunch to celebrate Alice gaining her PhD.  My mother came with us too – I had taken her to church that morning and we all met at the Fox and Goose restaurant in Fressingfield.  We returned home and were relaxing with some tea and coffee when my brother arrived.  He had gone over to Mum’s house expecting her to be there as he wanted to try out his new lawn-mower on her grass.  He did a little mowing and then came over to our house hoping she was with us.  She wished she had been there while he mowed, as he cut down her cowslips and bluebells that she had been carefully mowing around while they set seed and died down.  She can’t say anything to him about it as he had been so kind but she has spoken a lot on the subject to me.  If bluebell leaves are cut before they die down the bulb isn’t fed and the plant may not survive.  She quoted a part of ‘A Shropshire Lad’ to me and said she also may not have many more bluebell springs and it would be sad if hers had gone for ever.  (I will have to replace her plants if they don’t grow next year!).  My brother has recently moved into his new home in Saxmundham, not far from us.  He seems to be settling in very well.  He got a job transfer from Surrey where he used to live to Suffolk and is getting on splendidly here.  He teaches in open prisons and has already been able to put some of the men in for exams which they have passed.  It has been very nice for me to see Andrew more regularly.  There is only a year and 9 days difference in our ages and we were very close when we were young.  He left home at 17 to become a police cadet and then married at 21.  We then didn’t seem to have much in common any more and only saw each other about once a year.

IMG_4818Male Azure Damselfly (640x480)

A male Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) I saw in my garden yesterday.

The past week was very busy with Elinor’s exams, two shopping trips for Mum and a visit to the eye clinic at Norfolk and Norwich hospital with her for a check-up and of course, my usual chores.

IMG_4815Scarlet Pimpernel (640x480)

A Scarlet Pimpernel flower (Anagallis arvensis ssp. arvensis) in my garden yesterday.

Richard has been taking Fridays off recently, cutting his working week down to four days in preparation for his retirement at the end of August.  He came with Elinor and me when I took her in for her final exam on Friday morning and while she was in college we did a little shopping.  It was a lovely bright day and not too cold for a change.  When Elinor met us we took her to buy some converse trainers she wanted and then went to a coffee shop for a drink and a sandwich.  The afternoon was dry so I managed to get some gardening done at home.

IMG_4791Pakenham Water Mill (480x640)

Pakenham Water Mill with Richard walking up the lane.

Saturday was mainly rainy and cool.  Richard and I decided to go out and buy some more good flour from Pakenham Water Mill.  We have had two tours of the mill already and it was much too wet to walk in the gardens, so we settled for a cup of tea/coffee and some cake in the tea room.  The lady who runs the tea shop wasn’t expecting many people to turn up because of the foul weather, so hadn’t made any of her wonderful scones.   There were plenty of other cakes to chose from and the tea and coffee is good there.  We bought two 5kg bags of flour from the shop and took them to the car.  Before returning home we had a look at the outside of the mill and at the river on the opposite side of the lane.

IMG_4792Pakenham Water Mill (640x470)

A wider view of the mill showing the millers house where the tea shop is situated.

IMG_4786Pakenham (640x480)

This is the river on the opposite side of the lane to the mill. You see the water that has just been through the mill powering the wheel, flowing into the river.

IMG_4789 (640x480)Watercress

I think this may be Watercress (Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum). I haven’t been this close to Watercress that’s still growing before so I may be mistaken. I used to see it quite often when we lived in Somerset but I couldn’t get this close to it. This is wild Watercress and not cultivated.

IMG_4790 (640x480)Watercress

This is a close-up of the flowers.

IMG_4787Spider (640x480)

We saw this monstrous beauty in the field on the other side of the river.

IMG_4794Topiary crocodiles (640x480)

Topiary crocodiles. We discovered that a business specialising in topiary had created all sorts of creatures and put them along the river bank.

IMG_4795Topiary (640x480)

More topiary.

IMG_4796Topiary (640x480)

And more. This is the Pied Piper of Hamelin .

IMG_4797Chaffinch (480x640)

A wet Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) singing from the top of an electricity pole.

IMG_4799Guinea Fowl (640x480)

A pair of Guinea Fowl walking quickly through the field.

IMG_4800White Campion (640x480)

A wet White Campion (Silene latifolia) next to the gate.

These were the things we saw before we went back home.

Sunday morning was a very gloomy and chilly one.  We went to Morning Prayer at St James’ church.  We had rain at midday but the afternoon gradually became dryer until at last, the sun came out at tea time.

IMG_4801Green lane at St James (640x480)

This is an un-tarmacked lane that goes past St James church.

Thank-you for visiting!

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A Suffolk Garden in July – Insects Part 1

08 Fri Aug 2014

Posted by Clare Pooley in Insects, plants, Rural Diary

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

azure damselfly, blackfly aphid, blue-tailed damselfly, brown hawker, burnet moth, buttercup, comma butterfly, Essex skipper, feverfew, greenbottle, helicopter, ichneumon wasp, insects, July, meadow brown butterfly, migrant hawker, oedemea nobilis, peacock butterfly, Red Lily Beetle grub, rhagonycha fulva, Ringlet butterfly, robber fly' bindweed, ruddy darter, sawfly, small skipper, Small Tortoiseshell, small wolf spider, speckled wood butterfly, spotted crane fly, Suffolk, white butterfly

006Speckled Wood butterfly

A Speckled Wood butterfly

I realise that we are now a week into August but better late than never.  There were so many different insects about last month that I will have to make more than one post to cover them.  I have also included some photos of insects that I saw during June most of which were still about in July.  I will list the insects in the order in which I saw them or was able to photograph them.  I am not including the dragonfly, damselfly and butterfly photos that I have already posted but I may include different photos of the same type of insect.

The Speckled Wood shown above had a little bit of its wing missing but was quite a bright, new-looking insect.  The next photo is of something none of us want in our gardens.

014Red Lily beetle grub

A Red Lily Beetle grub – yeuch!

These nasties chomp their way through lilies and fritillaries and do it very quickly too.  They cover themselves in their own excrement.

021Male oedemea nobilis

A male Oedemera nobilis – only the males have the swollen hind-legs. They feed on pollen and this one is eyeing up his next meal

The next two photos are of the same unidentified insect and the photos aren’t that clear either.   Ichneumon wasp or sawfly?002Ichneumon wasp probably

003Ichneumon wasp probably

Note the extremely long ovipositor!

005Small wolf spider

A Small Wolf Spider carrying its eggs in a silk ball

I realise that spiders aren’t insects but I’m still including this one here nevertheless.  Because these spiders do not make webs and live a nomadic life, the female has to carry her eggs around with her.  Some wolf spiders even carry their spiderlings about with them too.  When the spiderlings are due to hatch, the female spins a large ‘nursery web’ in the vegetation and puts the egg sac there.  Wolf spiders run down their prey like their namesakes.

006Greenbottle

Greenbottle

027Azure damselfly

Azure Damselfly

028Azure damselfly

Azure Damselfly

Here are some more little insects that gardeners could do without.  This photo also shows how good feverfew is at attracting them.

022Feverfew with blackfly

Blackfly aphids on Feverfew

048Spotted cranefly

Spotted Cranefly

058Buttercup with beetle

Unidentified insect (sawfly?) on a buttercup

067Small tortoiseshell sipping nectar

Tortoiseshell butterfly sipping nectar

015Meadow brown butterfly

A Meadow Brown butterfly on a very windy day

005Ringlet

A Ringlet butterfly on another windy day

009Ruddy darter

A Ruddy Darter dragonfly

001Rhagonycha fulva

Rhagonycha fulva I thought at first that this was a Cardinal Beetle but they have different antennae and are much redder.

002Burnet moth caught in web

A Burnet Moth caught in a spider’s web

006Blue-tailed damselfly

A Blue-tailed Damselfly

009Bindweed flower with unidentified fly and pollen beetle

An unidentified fly (robber fly?) on a bindweed flower

020Helicopter

A military helicopter It looks like an insect!

033Ruddy darter

Another photo of a Ruddy darter

058Migrant hawker

A Migrant Hawker dragonfly

 

011Peacock butterfly on lobelia

Peacock butterfly on lobelia

028Small or Essex Skipper on Common Bird's Foot Trefoil

Small or Essex Skipper on Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil

The Small and the Essex Skipper butterflies are very similar.  The difference is that the Essex Skipper is greyer underneath and its antennal tip is black underneath.  I don’t think I will ever be able to tell the difference.

034Comma on bramble

Comma butterfly

033Comma on bramble

Comma butterfly

042Dragonfly

Spot the dragonfly! I think this is a Brown Hawker

045White butterfly on bramble

An unidentified white Butterfly. I am having a lot of trouble identifying the white buttterflies

There will be more insects in the next post.

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I talk about what it's like living in a quiet part of Suffolk. I am a wife, mother and daughter, a practising Christian and love the natural world that surrounds me. I enjoy my life - most of the time!

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