New demoiselles

At the footbridge I have been used to seeing the beautiful demoiselles quite regularly. But this week I have noticed that they have been joined by a group of banded demoiselles.


The photo quality isn't great but at least I have recorded that they are there!

The male (above) is a much brighter blue than the beautiful demoiselles. And the female is quite striking when in flight - a bright yellowish green.

I saw several males but just one female (left).

Butterflies

There was very little wind on Thursday and the butterflies were flying easily around the open field. There were many marbled whites. The females were resting on grass stems and approaching males were usually getting the wing-fluttering refusal signal.

The picture right shows the pretty "stained glass" look of the underside of a marbled white.


Among the grasses were a large number of small skippers too.
(Shown left)








The greater part of the field was alive with meadow browns, dancing around each other in flight, sometimes in groups of four or five. (Female shown left, male on right)

Over the footbridge by the stream were red admirals, each patrolling its own territory. They frequently return to the same resting place making it easier for me to prepare for a picture.(left)

Catching some sun  amongst the brambles in this area were a few large skippers too.
(right)

A beautiful girl

Thursday's walk provided good views of many interesting insects. This female beautiiful demoiselle posed nicely for a picture near the stream. The males were flying strongly and interacting with the butterflies. (More of the butterflies to follow.)

A hive of industry

The wild bees nest that I found last year has survived the winter and is clearly well into production on this year's combs.