Southern Oak bush cricket, 31st August

Found a male Southern oak bush cricket in the house this morning.1st record of this species for me!

 Southern oak bush cricket

Yoesden Bank, Bucks, 9th August

We decided to head for Yoesden bank in the Chilterns today. It's a reserve that I've never been to before but always wanted to go to. The main reason was to see if we could find any Great green bush crickets that occur here. After a bit of a walk around I managed to find a cracking female one on some bushes. Adonis blue also occur here but no 2nd generations were seen today. A few Chalkhill blues were flying around and 3 Small blue were also seen. A striped lychnis moth caterpillar was seen feeding on Mullien.

 Great green bush cricket

 Great green bush cricket

 Great green bush cricket

 Great green bush cricket

 Great green bush cricket

 Small blue

 Striped lychnis caterpillar

Red backed Shrike,Churn 28th July.A county tick!

Today I managed to finally add Red backed shrike to my county list. Whenever they have turned up in the county in the past I always seem to be on holiday or at some event. I missed the one that was on Otmoor last year as I was in Devon. The news of this bird didn't appear until Saturday evening but I still decided to go for it. Myself and Julie arrived on site around 8pm but unfortunately I missed the bird by a few minutes as it had gone to roost which was slightly disappointing ;-)! The bird was seen again on Sunday but it was too wet for me and had other commitments. There was no news of the bird on Monday until the afternoon which by then it was to late for me to go. So today after work I decided to just go and hope it was there. Fortunately when I arrived it was on full view!!!

 Red backed Shrike

 Red backed Shrike

 Red backed Shrike

 Red backed Shrike

Radley lakes & Barton fields Tues 30th June

I had a walk around Radley lakes and Barton fields today mainly for the Dragonflies and Damselflies. A few Variable damselflies were still flying around the small pool near barton fields. I then walked along the river towards Radley lakes where I came across 6+ White-legged damselflies,all males in the vegetation next to the bank.

 White-legged damselfly

 White-legged damselfly

 Pyramidal Orchid

Damselflies/Dragonflies seen today:-

Banded demoiselle
White-legged damselflies 6+
Azure damselfly
Common blue damselfly
Variable damselflies 2+
Blue tailed damselfly
Red eyed damselfly
Brown hawker 2
Emperor dragonfly 5+
Four spotted chaser 10+
Black tailed skimmer 15+
Ruddy darter 10+ mostly Tenerals

Butterflies seen today:-

Large skipper
Brimstone
Small white
Large white
Common blue
Small tortoiseshell
Red admiral
Comma
Speckled wood
Marbled white
Meadow brown
Ringlet

Orchids seen today:-

Common spotted orchid
Southern marsh orchid
Pyramidal orchid
Bee orchid, Var:- "Belgarum & Apifera"

Grangelands,Bucks,Mon 29th June

Spent the day here today to look at the 1000's of Orchids that flower here, mostly Chalk Fragrant and Common spotted and a few Musk Orchids.

 Common spotted Orchid

 Chalk fragrant Orchid

 Chalk fragrant Orchid

 Common spotted Orchid

 Chalk fragrant Orchid"Albiflora"

 Chalk fragrant Orchid"Albiflora"

 

 Musk Orchid

New Forest Sat 27th June

Spent the day in the New forest for some of the Orchids that occur here. Heath fragrant, Heath spotted, Bog, Lesser butterfly and "Pulchella" Early marsh Orchid were all seen.

 Lesser butterfly Orchid

 Heath fragrant Orchid

 Heath spotted Orchid

Heath spotted Orchid

 

 Heath fragrant Orchid

 Bog Orchid

 Heath spotted Orchid

 Heath spotted Orchid

 Heath fragrant Orchid

 Bog Orchid

 Lesser butterfly Orchid

 Bog Asphodel

Whitecross green BBOWT Reserve,24th June

Had an evening visit to the reserve in the hope of finding some roosting Marbled whites but instead I came across this cracking "Praenubila" Four spotted chaser.

 Four spotted chaser "Praenubila"

 Four spotted chaser "Praenubila"

Whitecross Green BBOWT Reserve,22nd June

I decided to stop off at the reserve this afternoon on my way home to look for the Black Hairstreaks again. It was very windy but there were still at least 8+ flying around the tops of the Blackthorns. A few were coming down quite low but soon flew off again. After a bit of searching I finally came across an obliging female sat low down on Blackthorn near the pond. I managed a few shots before she flew off.

 Black Hairstreak

 Black Hairstreak

Butterflies seen today:-

Large Skipper
Small white
Black Hairstreak 8+
Common blue
Comma
Meadow brown
Speckled wood

Dragonflies:-

Emperor dragonfly 2
Black tailed skimmer 2

Cothill fen & Parsonage moor Reserves, 16th June

Spent an hour at these reserves this afternoon to check the Dragonflies and Damselflies out.

 Female Small red damselfly

 Female Common blue damselfly

 Male Southern damselfly

 Male Southern damselfly

 Narrow leaved marsh orchid

 Common spotted orchid

Dragonflies/Damselflies seen today:-

Large red damselfly
Small red damselfly 15+ inc Male & Females
Common blue damselfly
Southern damselfly 8+
Four spotted chaser
Keeled skimmer 10+ mostly Tenerals but 1 adult male
Common darter 1

Narrow leaved, Common spotted and Southern marsh orchids seen.

Barton fields and Radley lakes 15th June

After seeing the records of variable damselflies in barton fields over the weekend I decided to take a look today. I had heard they were around this area a couple of years ago but never went to search for them. Once on site there were at least 10 flying amongst the vegetation near the small pool. Blue tailed, Common and Azure blue damsels were also seen here. A Cetti,s warbler was also singing and seen near the pool. After spending a bit of time here I decided to head for Radley lakes to see what was around there.

 Variable damselfly

 Variable damselfly

 Common blue damselfly

 Common blue damselfly

 Blue tailed damselfly

 Scorpion fly

 Scorpion fly

Dragonflies/Damselflies seen today:-
Banded Demoiselle
Azure damselfly
Common blue damselfly
Variable damselfly 10+
Blue tailed damselfly inc "Rufescens"
Red eyed damselfly
Emperor dragonfly 2
Black tailed skimmer 5+
Four spotted chaser 3
Ruddy darter 1 "Teneral"

Butterflies seen today:-
Large skipper
Brimstone
Common blue
Red admiral
Small tortoiseshell
Marbled white 2
Meadow brown 1

WHITECROSS GREEN BBOWT RESERVE:-
I decided to stop off here on my way home to see if any Black hairstreaks were around yet,but none were seen.Although one person had reported seeing some this afternoon.

Dragonflies/Damselflies seen here:-
Beautiful demoiselle 1
Blue tailed damselfly
Hairy dragonfly 3
Black tailed skimmer 2
Broad bodied chaser 1

 Broad bodied chaser

Butterflies seen here:-
Large skipper
Brimstone
Common blue
Painted lady
Meadow brown
Speckled wood