#flamboyant flower beetle

[emmanuel-the-manual]

The striped love beetle- emphasis on the love.

#digital drawing #beetle #stripedlovebeetle #lovebug #insect drawing #insect illustration #beetle drawing #putsomanyhearts #flamboyant flower beetle

[ayzrules-art]

a lil intro for moon-and-seraph's words into potions event this march! definitely check it out if you can; they've put so much work into making such a cute, motivating challenge for us!

WILT AND BLOOM .

GENRE・Fantasy (specifically, second world urban fantasy) WARNINGS・Body horror and plant-related body horror, mild gore, physical/emotional abuse, implied/fade-to-black sexual abuse, violence, torture, nonconsensual experimentation, abductions/kidnapping.

SUMMARY・Sworn to serve the Blooming Court and its fickle blossom-queen, Alejandro has resigned himself to an eternity ensnared in the treachery of fae lords and their patronage contracts—binding agreements drawn in blood, and in the flowers that sprout from his bones each spring. But everything changes when he rescues a girl cursed to die as a star.

First, Alejandro must accept the help of a traitor. Then, the manhunt to bring in a heart-eating Oathbreaker wreaks havoc on the centennial Ascendancy, uprooting all his attempts to save Genevieve. To make matters worse, the embers of an ancient war are flaring back to life: the Blooming Queen and her Withering half-sister have been battling for centuries, the magic of the land sickens with the pollutants of the modern age, and investigating the curse reveals a deadly truth that leads to more questions than answers.

As Genevieve grows weaker, it all comes down to Alejandro to put an end to a battle between the forces of life and death and wilt and bloom—a battle that may just be the end of the world as he knows it.

[aesthetics + court info under the cut]

COLOR PALETTE .

The Blooming Queen’s hair as it is when the story starts: a rotting, brown-sweetened gold, like a bruised persimmon, pale orange undertones mottled with the hues of overripe peach flesh.

All the reds of an autumn forest, but especially the deep, bloody reds that certain trees produce—crimson with a cool tinge to it, a violet-indigo like shadows blooming at twilight.

The dry, wilted brown of fallen leaves; the papery chestnut of dying grass; the goldenrod that adorns fields in sways and swirls until first frost.

Dusk-light that pours like honey, a sighed warmth that pools into all the places where you have gone hollow.

The depthless dark of the Withering Queen’s eyes, like earth black with everything once-bloomed and dying; the burnished gleam of the wilt-prince’s eyes, dark like his mother’s until the light hits right. Then, they’re veined in the softness of mercy.

The orange ember-brilliance of Tselvya’s flames, of Genevieve’s hair, of chrysanthemums and marigolds throwing flamboyant blooms into the slow subside of midsummer sunshine.

THE BLOOMING COURT .

Butterflies and moths and beetles have domain over this land, where the flowers are bright and the berries overripe, sweet and heady and repugnant. The Blooming Queen dotes upon them, and they grow larger than they have any right to be.

The fae sworn to the blossom-queen adorn themselves in red, red jewels and red flowers and red life, carnage bloodied down the tips of sharp teeth and talon-pointed nails. They pluck the eyeballs out of freshly slaughtered game and feast on fruit bruised to the point of bursting, and all the flowers they touch bloom big and bright and radiant, incandescent—almost frighteningly alive.

Death will always be much too slow to come, here where life rots to the very core.

THE WITHERING THRONE .

The wilt-queen rules from a throne of bones and moonflowers, and her flesh is so brittle that she appears to be no more than a dead body propped up in a borrowed imitation of life. A single touch of her finger leaves spiderwebs of pale mold behind, dozens of white moths fluttering about her shoulders and settling atop the crown of fresh roses adorning her hair. As the moon rises and falls and rises again, the moths drop all around her, and the roses lose their bright sweetness, rotting into a slow, violet-brown mass, until the Withering Queen is draped in nothing but corpses.

The wilt-queen offers her white-clad followers all manner of delicacies over the course of their midnight banquets, and she eagerly partakes in the festivities herself, her dainty corpse-mouth red with the hearts of small, dead creatures. She caresses bony fingers—spindly like the stems of wilted flowers—down the edges of dewy blossoms and trapped prey animals before she drains all the life out of them, her face going from dead-eyed translucence to pink and flushed in the space between one exhale and the next. 

Birds and insects and rodents die at the hands of the Withering Throne, laid to rest in the soil, and the Withering Queen feasts. She feasts.

#MS: WIP Intro #w&b #edit #my writing

[dansnaturepictures]

April end of month post 1 of 4: Ten of my favourite bird photos I took this month and full summary of my month 

For this month’s end of month post, as it has been one of the best and most prolific bird and wildlife watching and photography months I’ve ever had, I am doing four posts each with ten of my favourite pictures I took of different (in places) grouped subject types so that I keep the link to the month’s number and am sharing forty of my favourite photos from the month. I pre-wrote the month summary text so wanted to keep that all together, so this is below and refers to every aspect of my hobby this month and my next three posts shall have the other thirty pictures. 

The bird pictures in this post are of; Slavonian Grebe on the Scotland trip, Lapwing at Lochindorb, Long-tailed Duck at Burghead Harbour in Moray, Hooded Crow on Mull, Tree Sparrow and Yellowhammer at RSPB Loch of Strathbeg in Aberdeenshire, Greylag Goose goslings and Woodpigeon at Lakeside Country Park, Hampshire, Little Owl at Portland in Dorset and Whimbrel at Pennington in Hampshire. 

April 2023 has been one of the best months of my life. That is of course mostly down to the fact that we returned to Scotland going on the Heatherlea Spring Into Scotland birding tour of the Highlands, Mull, Moray and Aberdeenshire. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life as we saw a very long list of phenomenal and many iconic birds and mammals and other flora and fauna, took in some of the most breathtaking views I’d ever seen of the rugged and high mountainous landscape with vast forest, splendid lochs and charging rivers with the coast enjoyed a lot too. From our first ever wild Otters seen to summer plumage Slavonian Grebes there were so many precious and marvellous natural sights we had never seen before and dreams came true when we saw them. We just really felt in our element and made the most of being out in wilderness and wild wonderland. There was some amazing birdwatching for us in the rest of the month too with alongside our first ever White-billed Divers on the Moray coast two more new birds at home in Black-crowned Night Heron at Stockbridge Common Marsh and Cirl Bunting at Portland. There were many other great species seen this month with us really cruising into spring and I loved seeing birds in their breeding seasons again this month headlined by goslings and ducklings I saw at Lakeside Country Park and in Winchester.

My bird year list after April is in an incredible place, I am already into the 190s with thirty four year ticks thus far this month my highest amount of year ticks in an April ever which is so unprecedented and thrilling for me. Only four of my previous year lists finished on a higher amount than what I’m currently on and of course I’m miles ahead of where I was on this date in previous years. Other of my standout birds seen this month were Osprey, Golden Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, Merlin, Black-throated Diver, Red-throated Diver, Great Northern Diver, Dipper, Corn Bunting, Tree Sparrow, Swallow, Sand Martin, Sedge Warbler, Blackcap, Cetti’s Warbler, Whitethroat, Whimbrel, Peregrine Falcon, Mediterranean Gull and Little Owl.

Of course Mountain Hare, Bottlenose Dolphin, Red Deer and others alongside Otters on the Scotland trip made it perhaps my best ever month of seeing mammals, making my mammal year list this year my highest ever already. As expected for April it was very much a butterfly awakening with brilliant time spent seeing more of the first few species in a year especially on strong sunny days. Orange Tip, Speckled Wood and Brimstone were key species seen as these flamboyant insects gripped me a lot. It was a big month of flowers for me too, from marsh marigold to cuckooflower I enjoyed seeing a lot more species in bloom. Scenes of blossom turning to ripe green leaves was a major feature of my observing and photographing of the landscape this month. I also enjoyed beetles, spiders and fungi this month. I was pleased to take a huge amount of photos this month with many varied ones I’m pleased with. I hope you all have a nice May.

#photography #birdwatching #april #month #england #scotland #uk #world #nature #lapwing #slavonian grebe #greylag goose #gosling #little owl #cirl bunting #golden eagle #white-tailed eagle #otter #bottlenose dolphin #corn bunting #yellowhammer #black-throated diver #red-throated diver #great northern diver #2023 #amazing #happy #memories #europe #outdoors

[purplespottedservals]

This guy is called a flamboyant flower beetle, but I have seen beetles more flamboyant than this.

That is a cool horn thingy, though.

#watercolor #insect #beetle #flower beetle #flamboyant flower beetle #July's Beetles

[boldlyscrumptiousstudentposts]

New Animals! 3

1. Electric Eel

2. Flamboyant Flower Beetle

3. American Lobster

4. Atta Cephalotes

#electric eel #flamboyant flower beetle #american lobster #atta cephalotes

[scrixels]

1205. Scarab Beetle

a flamboyant flower beetle!

#pixel art #beetles #insects #scarab beetle #this one has such a good name as well as being super pretty :D

[transamus]

Flamboyant Flower Beetle (Derogatory sp.)

[cereusblue]

How many Hollow Knight OCs do you have by now? Probably want to know more about them!

Oh sweet jesus. So here we go. That's a question. By the way, my Hollow Knight blog is @hallowcactus

Mayflies:

Hex and Vox (The twins, very soft. Hex is baby and Vox is salty)

Mox and Lin (Parents to the twins. Deceased in every AU.)

Lex (Lovely maroon lady who can kick some serious ass. Actually boxes in Modern AU. Climbed her way into society’s elite in GNM out of SPITE. Mel is her husband.)

Mel (Meek architect man. Scrawny as hell. Loves his wife. Do what is morally best.. always.)

Elder Yuu (Head of the Mayfly tribe. Salty old crone. Hates outsiders. but she’s a decent person somewhere under those wrinkles.)

Dragonflies:

Daze (Asshole extraordinaire and my most active character. Honestly, a spicy boi who just has a habit of making others swoon.)

Maylin (Daze's mother; absolute sweetheart but hell hath no fury like May. Powerful shaman, has direct ties to the goddess Nanu. Is the Queen of the Serpentfire dragonflies.)

Daz (Daze's father; soft spoken man with a hellish temper. Big man. Heavily armor plated, has two sets of antennas. One on his brows and another on his snooter.)

Niles (cousin to Daze. Plays guitar. Is like the awkward little sibling. He’s like a bard with no real charisma. Emulates what Daze was like as a teenager because he thought Daze was cool; Daze cringes at that but loves Niles anyway because he’s baby.)

Daze's aunt and uncle to be named

Tika (random golden colored guard who I love)

Marie (White dragonfly who runs the temple dungeon in GNM)

Damselflies:

Ysmay (the massive scary bitch. Daze is actually terrified of her. For good reason. She doesn’t use weapons because she doesn’t need it.)

Mantises:

Vernon (Devil's flower mantis and the new Lord of the Garden mantis tribe)

Armen (Ghost mantis Angy old fart who somehow got a redemption arc and it's @inkbarista fault)

Neferis (original Traitor Lord)

Zeus (Another large mantis who took over for the Traitor Lord)

Greta (med student/midwife/anxious)

Nana (Elder mantis woman. Everyone’s grandma. Midwife. Medical professional for the tribe, makes herbal remedies, teas, and is an excellent cook. Beware, she will squish your cheeks. She’s Vinny’s favorite lol)

Naloo (one bad ass bitch)

Rolan (Sweet awkward boy)

Lotus (a petra who Vinny;s character impromptu adopted)

Almond (Just another baby with a need for mischief. Adopted with Lotus)

A dragon mantis I have no idea what to do with yet but I will figure it out.

Soul Santum:

Shanen (soul master)

Moths:

Minerva (Big buff atlas moth Bimbo that's like everyone's favorite character lol)

Olivia (Council lady who helps run the moth tribe in GNM)

Ivan (Actual dickwad. One of them infuriating folks but doesn't do anything bad enough to get into real trouble but sometimes you wish he would just to put him behind bars.)

Minerva's parents that I have not named yet. Very conservative, stuck in their ways, hoity toity rich folks with unbelievably high expectations.

Spiders:

Sirenne (Siren Orchid crab spider)

Heart, Spade, Clover, and Diamond (Take a wild guess what these little bastards do? Peacock jumping spiders. Cause trouble for Hornet and run a casino.)

Rex (A jumping spider with anxiety in Modern AU and a failed assassin jackass in GNM)

Centipedes:

Chu'mana (centipede centaur massive lady, is Angy will bite. Pride is a personality. I have trouble drawing her lol. Adopted from Inkbarista)

Vessels:

Vala (b... Big- carries a massive cleaver like the one Death Sword uses in Zelda Twilight Princess. Adopted from Inkbarista.)

Mora (Blueberry baby.)

Chimeras:

Mara (Mix between Hallow, Trill, and Hex. Is their sweet little girl who grows up with Wisp. @inkbarista

Lotan (Silk/Daze's kid in Modern Au and GNM. ANGY. Will bite. Bites everything. Kin has lost 7 pairs of glasses to this little monster. He's deceivingly adorable.)

Misc:

Nanu (Axolotl jesus. Massive goddess to the Serpentfire tribe of dragonflies, gave them and the damselflies their draconic traits. Eight eyes. Cryptic as hell because lets be real, she’s a goddess and that just how it be sometimes. Literally gifts her teeth to the tribe and worthy visitors to use as climbing tools and weapons.)

Void parasite

Fluke but it's a glow worm

Phantom/Phaalgun (pronounced Full-gahn. He's a Megastick. Massive stick bug. Eerily cryptic. Very scary. Works in dealing death.)

Egon (Colossal beetle who's a bitch, runs a crime ring in the City of Tears in GNM)

Mala (Grounds keeper for the Greenpath memorial in GNM)

A random ass butterfly I have no real information about other than knowing she’s anxiety incarnate and exists

Pia (Pleotomus firefly. French?? Done with everyone's shit.)

Val/Valentine. (Velvet Ant boy. Flamboyant to the fucking max, ain't afraid to shank a bitch.)

I THINK I GOT EVERYONE. I THINK. According to @abhainn-leth That’s 49 (updated!) 54 characters and I’m inclined to believe them because I do not feel like counting. If I missed any, I will be sure to add them later. I have artwork for like, a quarter of these characters lol. But if you wanna ask about specific ones, I’ll be happy to oblige with pictures if I have them and some more information lol.

#hollow knight #hk oc #cereusblue #Hallowcactus

[typhlonectes]

Flamboyant flower beetle or Striped love beetle (Eudicella gralli) lives in the forests of Central Africa, especially Zaire.

photograph by Adrian Pingstone PD

#scarab #beetle #insect #scarabidae #coleoptera #entomology #africa #nature #animals

[chaldeaslunchbox]

What would be the Pillars' Valentines gift to the master?

Giyuu: a plate of simmered salmon and Winter radish, very simple and classy

Mitsuri: Cat-shaped chocolate mochi

Obanai: Pink and green colored snake plush

Sanemi: A Japanese Rhinoceros beetle (lol nasty, but now you both have one)

Gyoumei: A wisteria flower

Kyoujurou: Sumo wrestling videos

Tengen: Gemstone headband (flamboyant!)

Muichirou: A quiet day doing nothing

Shinobu: Medicinial chocolates

#lancer has answers #ask #anon #hashira

[tcm]

The Longevity of George Segal by Susan King

Newer generations of audiences primarily know George Segal as a sitcom actor who played the publisher of a fashion magazine on the NBC comedy series Just Shoot Me!, and for the past six seasons, the amiable grandfather always eager to give advice on ABC’s The Goldbergs. But to baby boomers, he was one of top leading men of the 1970s. He may not have reached the heights of Burt Reynolds, Paul Newman, Robert Redford or Al Pacino during the decade, but nobody could do romantic comedy better than Segal. He was charming, adorable, sexy and a bit world-weary. Sort of a neurotic New York Jewish Cary Grant with a fabulous head of thick air.

Segal starred in such comedies as 1970’s WHERE’S POPPA? (the funniest scene is when Ruth Gordon pulls down his pants and bites him on the tuchus) and THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT, THE HOT ROCK (‘72), BLUME IN LOVE (‘73) and A TOUCH OF CLASS (‘73), for which he won the Golden Globe for Best Actor and his costar, Glenda Jackson, took home the Best Actress Oscar.

Segal, now 85, told me during an interview I did with him in 2011 for the Los Angeles Times at the famed eatery Musso & Franks that he had “no notion I was going to take a comedy direction.” In fact, one of his first major stage roles was in 1956 in Jose Quintero’s legendary off-Broadway production of Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh, starring Jason Robards in his signature role of Hickey.

And when he began in features in the early 1960s, Segal starred in such dramatic fare as 1965’s SHIP OF FOOL; Mike Nichols’ superb WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (‘66), for which Segal earned an Oscar nomination for supporting actor; the 1966 thriller THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM and that same year, CBS’ broadcast of Arthur Miller’s DEATH OF A SALESMAN.

Segal was also a popular guest on daytime and evening talk shows where he got to demonstrate his goofy charming side. He’d always bring out his banjo and sing the 1909 song “The Yama Yama Man.” Housewives and mothers—mine included—fell in love with him.

And so did director Jack Smight, who, Segal noted, thought he would be perfect for his 1968 dark comedy NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY. Segal was pitch perfect as Morris Brummel, a tough-nosed New York detective out to kill a flamboyant serial killer (Rod Steiger) with major mother issue.

Hollywood realized they had a romantic leading man on their hands.

The depth and breadth of Segal’s talent—both comedic and dramatic—can be seen in Bryan Forbes’ searing 1965 World War II drama, KING RAT. Segal plays one of the 10,000 American, Australian and British prisoners at a Japanese POW II. But Segal’s Captain King is a ruthless hustler who runs the black-market operation in the camp. Segal’s skill is also present in Robert Altman’s underrated CALIFORIA SPLIT (‘74), a comedy with dramatic overtones with Segal and Elliott Gould as gamblers who bond over the gambling tables.

Segal is in full flower as a romantic leading man in Paul Mazursky’s comedy BLUME IN LOVE. He plays a divorce attorney who falls in love with the beautiful Nina (Susan Anspach), marries her, cheats on her then tries to win her back after they divorce. The film also stars Marsha Mason in her film debut and a delightful Kris Kristofferson.

At the time of my interview, Segal and the late Mazursky were still the best of friends and met for breakfast several times a month. “I just saw him this morning,” he noted. “I meet these geezers at the Farmer’s Market. We usually talk about showbusiness, the old days and what’s happening now.”

Segal didn’t turn his back on dramas in the 1970s, as witnessed with Irvin Kershner’s superb 1970 dramedy LOVING, in which he plays a commercial artist living in the suburbs with his wife (Eva Marie Saint) and their kids while not dealing very well with a mid-life crisis.

Segal also starred in Sidney Lumet’s 1968 dramedy BYE BYE BRAVERMAN, a box-office flop the filmmaker didn’t like: “It should have been a soufflé, but it turned out a pancake.” The film about four Jewish intellectuals—Segal, Jack Warden, Sorrell Booke and Joseph Wiseman—that travel to a friend’s funeral in a cramped Volkswagen Beetle, may not have excited the critics either, but it’s a wonderful opportunity to catch an early comedic turn by Segal as a public relations writer. Time singled out Segal: “As the story’s central character, actor Segal shows flashes of a comic talent hitherto unexplored by Hollywood.”

By the end of the 1970s and early 80s, Segal’s career slowed because his films weren’t burning up the box office. “Most of us get about 10 years at best [at the top],” Segal confessed. “As you get into playing father roles, the parts dry up because, I don’t mean to say it’s a sex thing, but you have that testosterone vitality. But there are certain actors, like Jack Nicholson, who crested and just kept going. I am in another group, whatever that group is, but I have been tremendously lucky. You just have to keep bellying up to the table.”

#George Segal #Loving #Bye Bye Braverman #Blume In Love #Susan Anspach #Susan King

[recblog19]

Flamboyant flowering beetle. #bugs #insects #entomology #disney #animal (at Disney's Animal Kingdom)

#disney #insects #animal #entomology #bugs

[dansnaturepictures]

Seventh installment of my wildlife and photography highlights posts of 2021: The story of my butterfly, other insect and flower year further afield from February-August

At the time of that snow moon mentioned to begin my last highlights post, in which I photographed I’ve been happy with how many full, nearly full and crescent moons I have taken in and photographed with both of my cameras this year again a big feature of my sky photos now something I didn’t really start until a couple of years ago the big full moon events such as super worm moon and others I loved taking pictures this year of them to take part in the moon spectacle with lots of others posting photos on social media I got a super worm moon photo I took in the Hampshire Chronicle via the camera club Facebook group in the spring which I was pleased with, spring sprung very well on walks other to Lakeside too. Most notably that final weekend of February on a walk where I took in stunning catkins and blossom bud scenes on an extremely sunny Saturday afternoon walk, I photographed my first snowdrops of the year like daffodils a very key flower of early spring that day too which I really enjoyed they looked so delicious in the bright sunshine. I had seen my always brilliant first snowdrops of spring a week prior on the day we walked at West Wood and it was stunning to see the landscape turned a delicious green as trees were absolutely full of those wonderful catkins that did define my late winter/early spring this year. Then the next day we had a glorious and gorgeous walk in the bright sunshine to end February at Magdalen Hill where I hadn’t been for ages where I did love taking in the immense space on the ground and in the sky. That walk was very much the one for a springtime walk too as I got my all-important first view of a butterfly this year, as I saw flittering around by railings one of my favourites for a long time the Red Admiral. I got some brilliant views of it to really make it out and even which I don’t always do took a picture of my first butterfly of the year which I loved and it looked so beautiful with its sweet and my favourite colour scheme red and black and it looked great on a fir type tree it had relocated to when I took the photo. This started my butterfly year so well and filled me with hope. We noticed so many other great parts of spring that day such as the buds again, as well as our first Skylark heard this year and a Chiffchaff seen and heard well contrasting perfectly some of the later Redwings we saw a key autumn/winter bird that day also. That day was one of my best of the year generally with lots of amazing wildlife seen and many photos I was proud to take this was a smashing Sunday.

Overall I had another amazing butterfly year as I was addicted to seeing these flamboyant insects at home, local Lakeside, special Hampshire locations in and out of the New Forest, surrounding counties and in other parts of the country as so many of these highlights blogs chart, feeling so rewarded by seeing and in aw of these beautiful creatures. I saw 45 butterfly species this year my joint highest ever butterfly year list total alongside 2019, with one new species. I was immensely proud to see this many again in a year and last year I could say I felt relieved with how many butterfly species I saw with 43 as the first lockdown was a threat as I charted in the version of this post last year and this year it was that changeable spring and summer weather which as I visit below made me feel I was so pleased to see so many butterflies. My interests in flowers, moths and beetles only deepened this year alongside butterflies, damselflies and dragonflies so these feature in the butterfly highlights posts too.

Elsewhere to Lakeside and home I enjoyed seeing many great flowers this year including many daffodils in my best year for them, primroses and lesser celandine very often together which was great and sweet to see, I very much liked taking in the primroses shown in the first picture I took in this photoset at Fleming Park on a walk there in March really brightening up that walk alongside on the way there along the streets and at the park and former golf course daffodils, daisies, plenty of lesser celandine and more bright flowers. On that walk also blossom and green on the trees looked brilliant in a springtime treat and I liked taking in trees with mistletoe in thinking they were possibly ones I can see from my room as with trees at Lakeside last year I achieved a sweet sense of satisfaction and fascination about possibly finding out where a feature visible from my room was.

That following Tuesday in some days using up annual leave me and my Dad walked along the river Itchen and it was brimming with Peacock and Brimstone butterflies, and I could barely move for lesser celandine it was stunning to see the yellow glow of this beautiful flower which I had a brilliant year for on the ground it felt as though they were everywhere this spring. There were also snowflakes, daffodils, oilseed rape, and coltsfoot a flower I enjoyed seeing and learning so much this spring one of my standout species seeing it twice at the fairly similar area the Titchfield canal path too and taking pictures of them this spring standing out so much on a very warm for the time of year and sunny day it was one of my best days of the spring. That second walk along the Titchfield canal a very packed one as I mentioned in other 2021 highlights posts was a good spring one with daffodil, nettle and bees seen too which I had a good year for.  

I had so many butterfly especially but flower and other insect also top and key moments in my year during the week off I had in April a very sunny and warm one posted about in my next highlights blog. On the first May bank holiday Sunday we had a fantastic trip to Bentley Wood. We were extremely lucky to see the warmly orange and bright pearl of nature’s beauty with a view of a wonderful Pearl-bordered Fritillary one of our best and quite scarce butterflies. We just snuck in seeing it as butterflies are more commonly around in the sun obviously in a patch of sun before a shower that day over that showery bit of time which was perfection really. We had to do that a lot in those few weeks. It was my joint earliest ever sighting of a Pearl-bordered Fritillary in a year alongside seeing one the same day in 2020. It was interesting the slight difference in the months before that day last year and this year as leading up to the 2020 day there was a long dry, sunny and very warm spell. We’d had our fair share of that this year too of course at that stage, but also changeable and cooler weather too. The three proceeding months this year and as it turned out May too had a way of building out of a bit of overcast, cold or wet weather and growing into really sunny and warm patches towards the end. But some things in nature are so stubbornly and beautifully consistent so it was great to see the same butterfly for the first time this year on this day. That day I got another first in the form of my first ever oil beetle it was fascinating to see and lovely to see it and then see it crawl on. Away from insects or flowers for a minute and a big herd of Fallow Deers gloriously bounded over the path which was fantastic to see. I loved just seeing a very long line of these beautiful creatures come over very close to us a brilliant moment to be so connected to nature we shared this sentiment with a nice couple we spoke to at a safe social distance as well. There were other butterflies around with Orange Tip and Green-veined White around in the field near where we saw the Pearl-bordered Fritillary having a battle at one point which was interesting two key spring time butterflies I really enjoyed seeing this year. Brimstone and Small White made great sightings this day too as did my first tadpoles of spring on the pond which you quite often see here. As so often happens on a Sunday appropriately for #WildflowerHour on Twitter it was a botanically special day too with a widespread patch of bluebells in the woods creating a fantastic scene and a key moment in one of my best ever years for them taking over the landscape nicely. It was a great blue scene to take in and felt a big event in my year I had such a good year for bluebells probably my best ever. There were yellow scenes on the way home with oilseed rape I got a great photo opportunity once more for those I’ve had a really good year for them seeing so many and I find it all so beautiful. There were strong landscape opportunities that day. Other flowers I loved seeing at Bentley Wood that day was primroses, wood anemone, greater stitchwort, the bright coloured spurge with its interesting shape, lesser celandine and others all of which I had a great year for. On an in the best possible way long bank holiday Sunday for me I found it a perfect, varied and fulfilling day in nature.

The next day as on a Facebook group with for photography with themes I love being part of started a week celebrating flowers in May on one of my key days of the year at Stockbridge Common Marsh on bank holiday Monday I enjoyed seeing more marsh marigold and cuckooflower star species of my week off which I learnt this year and had a good year for. There were nettles around too and I loved as I did a lot that week taking picture of raindrops on the window when home a really relaxing and smashing way to use a bank holiday weekend. The following Sunday at Farlington Marshes I was stunned to see a wonderful bright and colourful Painted Lady land on the grass in front of us, it always means a lot to see this B list favourite butterfly of mine and it was by far my earliest ever sighting of one in a year as there was a wave of them coming in this spring a butterfly I don’t normally see until over the summer really. Alongside this stunning moment on one of my key walks in a year led by bird sightings a Brimstone was a nice sighting, as was botanically seeing vetch, Alexanders/horse parsley and lots of oilseed rape I’d not seen this here before creating a little yellow sea at the car park area which really stood out that day. Ragwort was nice to see as well and I noticed our first ever Brown-tail moth caterpillars which was interesting and I found quite beautiful to see as on a showery day the soft sun poked through the clouds and they lifted and the reedbeds especially were lit up very well.  

The following Saturday this May we went to Martin Down for a third time this year after twice over Easter/during the week off which I write about in my next post one of the richest, most biodiverse, lively and beautiful nature reserves we know one of my favourite places to be. In a sunny and pretty warm patches between showers where the meadows came to life with insects such as flies, we saw a lot of great butterflies. This included the warm bright glow of my first Small Copper of the year a relief to see as a long time target over those few weeks as well as my first Common Blue butterfly (admittedly that one during a shower) and Small Blue of the year both species taking by butterfly season up a gear. I was really happy to see eight species that day in the changeable conditions with two bright brown skippers Dingy Skipper which I took the first picture in this photoset of that day and Grizzled Skipper, one of my favourites the Orange Tip, Brimstone and a lovely Holly Blue about too. Flower wise speedwell another I’ve noticed so much after learning last year and had such a great year for was out in abundance beautifully here as it was the following Saturday when also there most probably germander speedwell and I photographed one memorably. Kidney vetch and a sea of greater stitchwort alongside one path made for top sightings with buttercup and dandelion about too that day the reserve really was so full of life. In the wet conditions I saw snails that afternoon and also I was happy to see another new beetle in the form of a Cantharis rustica soldier beetle which was beautiful to see. It felt so efficient getting the butterflies into a showery day I thought. I saw some nice mushrooms that day too as I did the next Saturday there which was interesting. In this brilliant reserve of panoramic rural views with yellow fields from oilseed rape, a red one too, a nice little Church visible and all the luscious green vegetation for the time of year the open Martin Down became the arena for a remarkable weather show in the showers. The sky scenes over a few days I produced so many photos helped by so many beautiful clouds and blue sky scenes to capture created by the conditions looked special and I took so many photos of this. Rain drops glistening when the sun came out after showers something I’ve seen again and again and liked this year noticing so much more now, and the stage was set for a rainbow. We did then see nice double rainbow with one lower than I’d ever seen before it was a special natural work of art painted across the sky against all the features of the landscape mentioned above and I loved being out to see this taking it in and being able to take pictures.  

On the second of our memorable three consecutive Saturday visits to Martin Down this May, a month where so many of the butterfly and bird species it’s so good for are about, I was happy to see five butterfly species. This included my first Small Heaths of the year I got the delightful thrill of the chase I always love for seeing and photographing with my macro lens butterflies for one and also saw my first Marsh Fritillary of the year in a smashing orange flash flying in front of us one of our greatest butterflies for me. I saw Grizzled and Dingy Skipper in my best ever spring for them seeing them at so many places that day too memorably getting fantastic underwing views perhaps not what you would always enjoy of these and making out their stunning and intricate markings and I celebrated a smashing looking bright ruby red Small Copper again that day too with a more prolonged and closer view than the week before. Flower wise that day we got a glimpse of the famous Martin Down burnt-tip orchids in their usual spot just rearing their heads which was nice always a star flower in my year, we also saw nice pink flowers and milkwort well a star at this location for me a new one learned that day as well as buttercup and dandelions like at home seeing so many together and I got my first ever glimpse of a stunning and bright flower which I enjoyed so much this year the fantastically named I thought common rock-rose a key flower this year for me for sure. That day a bright green leaf beetle the Cryptocephalus Aureolus on a buttercup was so wonderful to see another new one for me in a band of new beetles in another great year for me for them in 2021. A bright and exciting moth the burnet companion was a very welcome sighting at Martin Down after seeing my first at Lakeside last year and it was nice to take in its top colours and there were other moths among the many insects seen that day in a time I needed to get my moth year starting a little.  As the sun out on a quite changeable day illuminated the very lush green vegetation nicely when out I also liked seeing loads of either snails or just their shells of all different sizes and colours this was so interesting to come across a sight of the wetter bits of weather around that time.

On journeys around this time I noticed oxeye daisies on way to places like at home nicely taking over the landscape with a bright poppy seen too and other colourful flowers. We were then back at Martin Down for the third Saturday in a row which was headlined by seeing my first of the year of an electric green matching the surroundings so well Green Hairstreak butterfly one of my favourites. This felt like a relief as I seemed to wait perhaps due to the changeable weather that little bit longer to see one this year and it was a key target for a little bit. I came out of May feeling incredibly lucky with the number of butterflies I had seen this year as with changeable weather it could have so easily gone the other way. The changeable weather continued into the summer but as I chart across these highlights posts I still had one of my most incredible butterfly seasons with some of my greatest ever butterfly moments it felt as though on so many days we had just enough be that sunshine, brightness or temperatures or simply just seeing butterflies and did just enough to so thankfully see species. They are one of our finest butterflies and we so luckily saw another that day and another of my favourites when my heart swelled when the scintillating radiation of pure wonderful colour burst out in front of us and I got a rush of adrenaline seeing my first Adonis Blue a legend of Martin Down for this year. One of the finest moments of any spring which I was so in aw of that day. My year list for butterflies despite all the changeable weather kept pace and competing with how many I had seen during my highest ever butterfly year lists on those dates. And that day felt at this butterfly heaven like one of my most pivotal butterfly days of 2021 and best butterfly days ever seeing a really amazing twelve more species’ Small Blue, Small Heath, lots of Dingy Skippers, Grizzled Skipper, Orange Tip, Green-veined White, Large White, Common Blue, a prominent looking Brown Argus, Holly Blue meaning all the blue butterflies I’d seen at that stage in the year I saw that day, great to see a Brimstone and another very exciting Marsh Fritillary I just was so in aw and so happy seeing them one by one and rattling off the list that day of them. What a day. There were other fantastic insect moments that day too as I saw my first Cinnabar moth of year flying over one of the key species to look out for in BBC Springwatch’s “Springwatch list” which I enjoyed contributing on Twitter a highlight of the series for me, my first ever pretty Scorpion fly and Cantharis rustica and Cryptocephalus Aureolus again. With the season in amazing full swing for flowers I of course saw and photographed many more that afternoon a brilliant selection of very colourful flowers again including cow parsley, greater stitchwort which I took a photo I really liked of with my macro lens, garden star of Bethlehem a nice pretty new one for me looking splendid and with the stitchwort taking over a lot there was a lot of white flowers catching my eye along that path and was also nice to see kidney vetch, vetch, milkwort, dandelion and buttercups all looking good again as well as others flowers, moths and insects too. There were key memories of taking in the landscapes that sunny Saturday too.

On the Sunday of the three day weekend for the second May bank holiday the next day an extremely sunny and warm one we had a double header going to Fishlake Meadows and Magdalen Hill. At Fishlake I was enchanted to see my first Emperor dragonfly my first of any dragonfly in 2021 and Banded Demoiselle of the year, it was great to see Large Red Damselflies a lot alongside a preciously well grown canal with some mating which was great to see too as well as Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damselflies with the latter interestingly on the woods at the viewing screens as I had seen before affording such intimate views. I saw all these well and butterflies Orange Tip, Brimstone, Holly Blue and Peacock completed a wonderful walk full of life for insects with great views of these key butterflies for the habitat. My first ever bright scarlet red cardinal beetle made a fantastic sight that day and swollen-thighed beetle was beautifully about on buttercups too. At the Butterfly Conservation reserve and well known butterfly site Magdalen Hill that afternoon I saw a sweet eight butterflies, Small Heath and Brimstone seen well and in numbers that day bright green and orange stars fitting in the meadow as well as Large White, one of my favourites the Red Admiral, another Holly Blue, Common Blue, Grizzled Skipper and Dingy Skipper yet again somewhere different but a similar habitat to Martin Down. Spider with prey made a top sight that day too in the web. It was a fantastic day of flowers with at Fishlake Meadows yellow iris making for stunning views in the landscape, beautiful wood avens which I enjoyed a lot this year, some cuckooflower still going strong, buttercups and winter-cress adorning the place I’ve had such a good year for them and garlic mustard. Magdalen Hill too brimming with flowers allowed me to have a packed #WildflowerHour on Twitter that Sunday at 8pm which I loved contributing and getting ID help from this year so much again with highlights common rock-rose as shown in the second picture in this photoset, my first bird’s-foot trefoil and ragged robin of the year ones I knew prior to this year and love, cowslips, lots of buttercups, forget-me-not and speedwell blending together well, lots of great cow parsley, lots of oxeye daisies in another incredible year for them and the first ever stainfoin and herb-Robert I recall seeing in this rich treasure trove of colour and life at this reserve. There were nice moths at Magdalen too. I enjoyed more nice insect views when calling in to Fishlake Meadows the following Sunday.

On another very productive bank holiday Monday in May it was Bentley Wood we walked at seeing the beautiful woodland dripping in sunshine with a bright blue sky and it being very warm once more. Bugle was a fascinating flower I learnt seeing them there so much that day particularly in one field, and a Pearl-bordered Fritillary landing on one that day was a highlight as I loved seeing them some more and taking in its pure orange power on its upper wings and also really celebrated its rich and distinctive colour and patterning on its underwing which perhaps I don’t always as much such a beautiful sight and intimate connected moment to nature. I took the third picture in this photoset showing this. I liked seeing a pure and perfectly painted by nature Marsh Fritillary again here getting a very clear view towards the end of the walk and Speckled Yellow moths were very present in this area that day which I enjoyed. I added both Marsh Fritillary and Duke of Burgundy to my list of favourite butterflies this year as my heart really swelled for them more. Speckled Wood and Brimstone butterflies highlights that day too. I also marvelled at another super beetle seeing my first green tiger beetle of 2021 hopping along so nicely on the warm path at Bentley Wood a truly precious moment as I was transfixed by this emerald beauty in a fantastic start to my beetle year being over the moon to have seen green tiger beetles one of my favourites in back to back years having seen one long ago towards the start of last decade before last year. I liked seeing at Bentley Wood a swarm of bees around a hole they regularly go in and some borrowing into the ground. A headline from my Bentley Wood bank holiday Monday and bank holiday weekend as a whole was my dragonfly and damselfly season coming to life after a slower start with so many around, I loved seeing my first Broad-bodied Chaser of the year one of my favourites flying around a stick a key moment of every spring. In my surge of seeing dragon and damselflies I was really looking for dragonflies at this time and both this blue male and green female later in the walk. They were gorgeous to see as were Large Red Damselflies, tadpoles in the pond again that bank holiday, another scorpion fly that day and a cracking view a beautiful slow worm which I got a macro picture of a special moment. Flower wise alongside that bugle that was everywhere at Bentley Wood really bluebells were still going in field and tormentil, greater stitchwort and speedwell looked so beautiful on the walk too. The next day taking my turn to go into the office in Winchester where Magdalen Hill is near to work on a rota system my favourite lunch time lunch eating spot Abbey Gardens was abloom with gladiolus and more smashing bright colour from flowers and I saw green alkanet on the way to the railway station in Eastleigh and in Winchester everywhere looking brilliant that day there was scores of it with cow parsley too.

The following Saturday we took a walk along the River Itchen again on another very sunny and hot day where I enjoyed seeing my first Beautiful Demoiselle of the year one of my favourites and Banded Demoiselle was everywhere looking so radiant and we got a cracking view of a bright Broad-bodied Chaser looking stunning going into vegetation which I got the fourth picture in this photoset of such a key part of spring as well as another immaculate cardinal beetle with its bright red which I got the fifth picture in this photoset of. On that walk I took some memorable pictures as I put my normal lens to great use taking pictures of little things which I could not get right on top of with my macro lens the one I would choose for such subjects as they were well in vegetation or over a bit of the river and I found my normal lens offers a similar level of detail which I have learnt so much this year it can do so much as a lens. Late Orange Tip, Large White, Speckled Wood, common blue damselfly including some mating, clear views of fish, yellow iris in a key habitat for it at a key time of year, common rock-rose, herb-Robert, wood avens, buttercups with lots taking over the fields looking so beautiful, rhododendron, speedwell possibly marsh speedwell, other great bright colours in the landscape alongside the stunning green everywhere and swollen-thighed beetle on a buttercup made other highlights that walk. I looked back on this walk as a quintessential late spring walk in delicious habitat and one of my best walks of the year.

At the end of my week of orchids detailed in my patch butterflies first highlights post it was back to Martin Down where it was fantastic to see my first foxgloves of the year from the car on the way alongside broad-leaved clover on a rich and life filled bit of verge, it was really good to see these so soon after the bee orchids at Lakeside completing my set of my three favourite flowers all seen this year foxgloves, bee orchid and snake’s-head fritillaries which I enjoyed. At Martin Down I enjoyed my first five-spot burnets of the year with quite a few seen I always look forward to them and the six spots which are so key to me first getting into moths and I saw some mating and liked taking in their rich colours and striking markings. For butterflies that day I loved having the enthralling and electric shade of blue of the Adonis Blue flashed at me there was an abundance of them at Martin Down that day it was teeming with them. Common Blue, Small Blue, Painted Lady, Brimstone, Large White, many Small Heath and Small Copper showed well and in great numbers that top day for butterflies for me too with some other moths it was nice to see as well. Floral highlights that day were heath spotted orchid, my first ever thyme I recall seeing great little purple flowers, speedwell really well with a memorable photo I took of these, bird’s-foot trefoil I took a memorable picture for me of this and heath spotted-orchid together there were swathes of flowers and plants around which was so good that day, ground-ivy, buttercups and others. In the orchid week I loved seeing the regular here as though they are dipped in paint a little with two groups of burnt-tip orchids helping to brighten up the grass. I enjoyed a special time with these stars of Martin Down that day and this year they are so delicious and beautiful to see.

The next day back at Fishlake Meadows it was lovely to see a green spec fly towards us through a reedbed type area, it was only my second ever Brimstone moth which was beautiful to see as our moth season was really getting started with a demoiselle I saw quickly and couldn’t quite tell which and another insect seen that scorching and sunny day in June. The Brimstone moth seemed to be seen quite a bit by people this year, my moth season was just kickstarting at this stage. On 15th June we did the fantastic tour with Naturetrek for Stone Curlews which I talked about in my birds general and favourite birds highlights posts this year and I was thrilled to see a Small Tortoiseshell darting by, a great clear view of a butterfly I had only seen once briefly before that this year one that can be a concern numbers wise and this started a revival for me for them this year. As we walked through a really rich meadow habitat we saw some great butterflies, Painted Lady that we had a great year for with so many about, Red Admiral, Common Blue, Small Heath, Meadow Brown and Brimstone. It was also such a fantastic walk overall for flowers which Keith our guide pointed out excellently including my first ever broomrape, goat’s-beard, black medick, fox and cubs which I did like and hop trefoil and my first greater knapweed, self-heal and pyramidal orchid of the year, stainfoin, bird’s-foot trefoil, kidney vetch, cats’-ear/dandelion, speedwell, bearwind/morning glory/bindweed and oxeye daisies those creating wonderful swathes in the landscape which looked beautiful all such important pieces of life to support so much life. This was really a revelation of the walk for me. In the vibrant life rich meadow there was an astounding amount of pyramidal orchids that day a really bright pink and sweetly shaped flower which I am fond of in a very strong year for orchids for me especially those few weeks we saw a white one too which was interesting and everyone in the group really enjoyed seeing these flowers and all the others. Common Blue damselfly, Black-tailed Skimmer and Beautiful Demoiselle were lovely sights by a very beautiful pond here that day too and I did like seeing a malachite beetle one I’ve had a good year for too. That day was one of my best of the year as we also had a walk at Bentley Wood that afternoon where in the scorching temperatures and a lot of sun I saw my first Large Skipper and Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary of the year I loved seeing their excellent orange beauties again with the fine markings of the dinky Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and warm glow of the Large Skipper. The Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary flew into the Large Skipper where it was sat at one point too. I associate these species with each other getting them as year ticks on the same day three years running now. Achieving something big for me detailed at the top of the post with how many butterfly species I saw this year I always look back on the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary view as a key cog in the wheel to make it happen as they are rare and I’ve been so lucky to see them here three years running. Grizzled Skipper were around a lot that day too late on in the season I don’t know how often I’ve seen both Grizzled and Large Skipper on a day before. Myself and a kind gentleman we got talking to there had a fantastic moment as a narrow-bordered bee hawk-moth flew in a rare and very beautiful and distinctive moth which it was an honour to see and follow for a bit as it whizzed by. I also saw my first marsh snipefly a beautiful gem on this walk my first ever with Meadow Brown, Small Heath and Brimstone other butterfly highlights alongside an exciting Common Lizard to see in the world of reptiles. Flower wise I loved seeing that afternoon more special scrumptious foxgloves taking a macro picture and one with lots of foxgloves as they were about in huge numbers. It was nice to see common spotted and marsh spotted orchid with a bright white spider on that day too as well as spurge, herb-Robert and others. My butterfly year list was competing well with what I had seen during my then two highest ever butterfly year lists 2019 and 2020 at that stage as things ticked along. The place was teeming with Five-spot Burnet moths that day too which was brilliant to see especially on another flower I saw well that day the beautiful ragged robin.

On a walk at Petersfield Heath Pond in June some bright pink mallow, bindweed, green alkanet, cow parsley and oxeye daisies all looked nice. As did some nice foxgloves pink and white. There were some beautiful scenes with big lines of red poppies on the roadside verges on the way back from that trip.

We went to the rich and vibrant meadows brimming with wildflowers and tranquil woodland of the other side of the road from the upper car park at Martin Down a splendid place and one of our favourites in early July. On a thistle clad forest of grass despite being overcast the sun was out a few times that day though we were thrust into a sweet butterfly summer, and I had one of my most exceptional butterfly moments this year when we saw Dark Green Fritillaries flying about and landed. It was like clouds of orange at one point with as many as four quite regularly on the wing and lots interacting with each other and different species. It was phenomenal to see a strong standout butterfly moment. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many of this species together at once. Seeing them flying, on thistles and on the ground was amazing. I just loved observing it and trying for pictures like the one I got in this sixth in this photoset it was such a wow moment with this B list favourite butterfly of mine. And it felt like almost all of the summer club of butterflies were out with Marbled White, Meadow Brown, lots of Ringlets throughout the walk and some Small Skippers around too I found myself feeling very content to have reached this time of year. Also on the walk I saluted the admiralty with stunning views of two of my favourite butterflies both the smashing red and black Red Admiral landed well and I got so close to it taking one of a few standout butterfly pictures this year that day of it and a sweetly coloured White Admiral gliding through the air beside vegetation. Both White Admiral and Dark Green Fritillary were year ticks that day as I felt extremely lucky to see both again in another year, memorably a fifth time I’d got them as a year tick on the same day after my 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019 taking my year list to a special and I felt so lucky with 33 at that stage with Martin Down and Lakeside dominating the location section on my year lists with so many year ticks each. I saw Marbled Whites exceptionally that day and many of them seeing the bright brown females too and some mating going on which was great to see and I got the seventh picture in this photoset of. It was a very strong day for flowers yet again with smashing species pyramidal orchid, kidney vetch again, pretty greater knapweed and lovely pink thistles all over the place among the stars. Other flowers seen that day included; my first ever privet I recall seeing, bird’s-foot trefoil, probable common vetchling, hedge nettle, probable white campion, possible dropwort, other orchids, herb-Robert well, isolated speedwell once or twice, agrimony somewhere different to Lakeside for the first time ever, common broomrape, bright red poppy, the beautiful common rock-rose a key species for me learnt this year, broad-leaved clover, buttercup and pretty little purple thyme. There was an exciting lot of other insects and others seen that day as well like two types of beetles, an oblique stripetail on thistle which was interesting, interesting micro moths, bee consumed by a spider and lots of other bees buzzing about on the flowers which was fantastic to see both hoverfly and bees really liking the thistles.

Myself and Missy were back at Fleming Park with my Dad in July in the midst of a heatwave with my Mum and her partner away for their fifth wedding anniversary. I liked seeing Small Skipper, Comma and other butterflies interestingly around the roads on the way there in a complete urban setting I’d never really seen the skippers there before. It was adorned with an exciting array of flowers at the river bank of Monks Brook including bird vetch, great willowherb, gladiolus type ones I believe, some yellow flowers, periwinkle, crane’s-bill I believe and cow parsnip or hogweed as it’s also known and on them some lovely common red soldier beetles with Meadow Browns and white butterflies around here too.

We had a brilliant July day at West Wood on the 24th, year list wise at the business end of the peak butterfly season I was so relieved to see a Silver-washed Fritillary the butterfly that started it all for me in 2010 with seeing one at Bolderwood in the New Forest then being interested what it was and learning them from there, my longest wait to see one in a year taking my year list within to my highest five ever. It was one of my best butterfly experiences of the year and a standout moment ever as we reached a vegetated area and saw the orange spark and distinct large wings of a Silver-washed Fritillary glide around. We then settled around a patch of thistle and other flowers and saw the saw four Silver-washed Fritillaries landed at the back with some flying at each other. Then three of them crept gradually closer and closer - as our attention was on other things as well such as Large Skipper and Small Skipper closer than I’d ever seen them before practically next to each other in the vegetation a fantastic chance to take in their contrasting but stunning features of these little gems – and all of a sudden the Silver-washed Fritillaries were right in front of us! I was in aw of their golden wonder and charm as I took in their bold and prominent markings. It was a breathtaking and exciting few moments with this one of my favourite butterflies. I just watched and savoured, by the end I had seen Silver-washed Fritillary and then some at this great spot for them as it rivalled the dark greens three weeks earlier for a moment the dark greens I maybe saw more but the silver washed I felt I got to photograph a bit better both were two of my greatest ever summer butterfly memories though and really notable points this year both happening on days that weren’t wall to wall sunshine so it was great to celebrate and compare these both. I also tried for shots at first with my big lens far away and then when they were close enough with the macro, such valuable chances with intimate views of this supreme marked butterfly. I got the eighth picture in this photoset of one. Also that day I did a Big Butterfly Count and it was one of my most extraordinary ever as with 25 seen, the second highest amount I’d seen of any butterfly after a week of the Big Butterfly Count at that stage for my first time ever Ringlet won one of my counts which I was thrilled to record and tell Butterfly Conservation there were so many of these special butterflies about with this dark brown beauty absolutely everywhere that day. I write so much about the Big Butterfly Counts I did this year in my patch butterfly highlights post part 2 coming up in this thread, and like that blog with the patch and home ones at the bottom of this blog I have pasted all my Big Butterfly Count results from further afield if anyone is interested. I reflected on this day how the counts allowed me to really feel competitive about it between the butterflies saying Ringlet “won” and things which was nice. On a day I dubbed silver Saturday with a Grey Silverfish seen at home in the morning West Wood was also teeming with stunning Silver Y moths hovering around with its quintessentially mothy aesthetics, we got some exceptional views of them the most I’d ever seen together. 5 of them were in the 15 minute Big Butterfly Count one of my best moth moments this year in a strong year I had for them. Also that day I saw a Purple Hairstreak at only a fourth ever location for me as I mention in my patch butterflies part 2 and day trips over summer highlights posts I had the best year for these stunning gems of butterflies too. Roe Deer over the path briefly, Black and Yellow longhorn beetle, bees, hoverflies, Southern Hawker, cricket and a lovely big spider were other fauna highlights that day. Flora wise there were some more beautiful and varied colourful flowers enriching the verges and meadow alike here including; cow parsnip/hogweed and the yellow wild parsnip looking great and quite tall in places and together at one point, lots of ragwort colouring the landscape interestingly, agrimony, hemp agrimony, hedge nettle, common vetchling, wild raspberry which was great too and marjoram, nettle-leaved bellflower and weld three for me that I learnt that day day which is always nice on a showery day which proved you can still see so much on it where then the important patches of sun making things align well for the moment with the Silver-washed came out and in the wetter bits the amazing West Wood looked nicely atmospheric.

The next day we had another amazing butterfly bonanaza at Stockbridge Down where another favourite butterfly target of ours the Chalkhill Blues were seen and we saw them in style seeing probably into the hundreds and right from the very start of the walk too which was so spectacular. It was phenomenal to see clouds and swarms of butterflies in the air, and seeing so many of this smashing milky blue butterfly and the special brown females too landed there being so many that you had to watch where you were standing. Seeing one with a Marbled White on Knapweed and two mating stood out too as I savoured seeing them all so much and relished the chance for photos. I took the ninth picture in this photoset of one that day. Another Chalkhill Blue photo I took that day which I was pleased with I put in the Daily Echo Camera club Facebook group which I had recently joined at that stage alongside the Hampshire Chronicle one and it was published in the Daily Echo which was an amazing moment which I am so thankful for. All of my favourite butterflies in the blue families with some seen more than once this year had their big moment it seemed, with the Brown Argus at Lakeside early on in May, many Adonis Blues at Martin Down on the June visit especially and Silver-studded Blues at Deadman Hill in the New Forest that month too posted about in my New Forest highlights post. It truly was another stellar butterfly moment that weekend with the Purple Hairstreaks at Lakeside coming into it too so a pivotal weekend of my year. There were other butterflies joining the swarms too including Dark Green Fritillary, Meadow Brown dominating a Big Butterfly Count with 26 seen with Large White, Marbled White and Ringlet notable in that seeing them very well in great moments too. It was a day of firsts which included in the butterfly count my first bright blue and red Six-spot Burnet of the year, my first orange and black Cinnabar moth caterpillars of the year one of my starts of the summer and learning Yarrow plume and Mint moth which I saw that day two beautiful and sweet ones I really did enjoy. Silver Y moths doing well in the butterfly count as well as I saw so many of them over that time which was amazing what a year they had for numbers which was great. Common red soldier beetle on ragwort was a star here again and there was a very special array of flowers around, with my first harebell one I do love and rosebay willowherb of the year I had hoped to see them there that day two I learnt here with the help of Wildflower ID in Wildflower hour on Twitter which I see as the start of my flower interest ramping up really last July so this felt a special moment I had so much to contribute to Wildflower hour again that night as I loved doing on so many Sundays this year one of the harebells looked nice with raindrops on too something I like a lot as well as self-heal well this and bird’s-foot trefoil with the two together at one point which was nice, ragwort adding lots of colour again, St. John’s-wort, agrimony, tall black mullein, cat’s ear making it a great yellow day, Marjoram, and wild basil and common eyebright new ones for me that day, yarrow, small scabious, hawksbeard, a strong one this spring and summer for me kidney vetch which I have loved seeing, knapweed, thistle and more I got a photo of knapweed, St. John’s-wort and scabious together. The flowers came together on ground level and the raised bits to paint the landscape perfectly I took in a very beautiful landscape of rich meadows and splendid colour I and was pleased with photos I took of it that day. On an ice cream and letting Missy stop taking a nice look at the church too we walked along at Stockbridge on the way home I enjoyed seeing many Banded Demoiselles, my first sunflower this year in an allotment type area, bindweed, forget-me-not in the water, great willowherb, Herb-Robert and Small White, Meadow Brown and Red Admiral in an impromptu second Big Butterfly Count getting to take in some rich green and river landscapes walking up towards Stockbridge Common Marsh and back as the sun crept out too on a showery, largely overcast but the sun poking through day which after the day before did make me pleased to see all the insects.

On another working in Winchester on the rota day on 29th July it was epic to see seventeen Small Whites and a Brimstone at the Cathedral, the River Itchen and the back streets by Abbey Gardens in between, as the brilliant Small White influx this summer which I talk about a lot in my second patch butterflies post was in full swing as they were topping the butterfly count results nationally which I don’t believe often happens at that stage. It was a top flower day again too with lovely pink rosebay willowherb seen on the train journey, mallow and ragwort seen on the journey, beautiful Hemp Agrimony, colourful hollyhock which I took the tenth and final picture in this photoset of with my bridge camera snuck in my work bag as I so often do and golden star which I learnt that day, purple loosestrife and narrow-leaved red valerian adorning the river and more. It was great to see some pretty orange flowers on a well planted roundabout near to home on the way back the following Sunday, a roundabout that has looked abloom with sweet flowers so much this spring and summer.

I wrote about butterflies, other insects and flowers I saw during my week off in April a lot and over Easter which my next highlights post is about as so many top butterfly etc. moments happened then, and other of these posts contains bits about these insects and flowers further afield for me this year. National Insect Week proved a great time for me to see insects in June which I celebrated a lot, it was the week we went to Anglesey with a couple of days within National Insect Week at the end when we got home where we did a New Forest trip and Lakeside walk during so I wrote about these experiences in my highlights posts in this thread about the New Forest and my patch butterflies/other insects/flowers ones and my upcoming old style highlights post about the time in Anglesey.

Some of the Big Butterfly Counts I did further afield this year

24th July 2021 West Wood; Meadow Brown 3, Small White 1, Gatekeeper 1, Ringlet 25, Silver Y 5, Holly Blue 1, Comma 1

25th July 2021 Stockbridge Down; Chalkhill Blue 30+, Meadow Brown 26, Marbled White 8, Small White 1, Silver Y 3, Gatekeeper 3, Dark Green Fritillary 1, Six Spot Burnet 1, Large White 2, Ringlet 1

25th July 2021 Stockbridge; Small White 13, Meadow Brown 2, Red Admiral 1

29th July 2021 Winchester Cathedral, River Itchen at Winchester and in between; Small White 17 and Brimstone 1

1st August 2021 Whitefield Moor in the New Forest; Gatekeeper 2, Common Grayling 1, Silver-studded Blue 3, Meadow Brown 2

7th August 2021 Blashford Lakes; Speckled Wood 1, Gatekeeper 3, Small White 1

8th August 2021 Titchfield Canal path; Red Admiral 1, Speckled Wood 3, Small White 1, Gatekeeper 2, Peacock 1

#butterfly #butterflies #flower #flowers #dragonfly #dragonflies #moth #moths #beetle #beetles #damselfly #damselflies #uk #photography #wildlife #nature #spring #summer #world #europe #beautiful #lovely #happy #silver-washed fritillary #pearl-bordered fritillary #dark green fritillary #marsh fritillary #brimstone #ringlet #silver y

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The Fact About fish pond That No One Is Suggesting

So that you can avoid disappointment and gain the most from developing a pond, It's important to outline your expectations before you hit the fish pond supplies store. Have you been trying to bring in wildlife with all your pond? To spend dreamy evenings chatting around the deck with family and friends beside the pond? Or to carry raucous parties beside the pond, which has a flamboyant fountain as centerpiece?

All ponds will bring in wildlife to a point, regardless of whether It really is only the odd h2o-beetle. On the other hand, If you'd like your pond to provide a haven to frogs, toads, dragonflies together with other water creatures, You'll have to get building a pond pretty far clear of the house when you are to find out any possibility of success.

You can also need area to accommodate a bit marshy ground beside the pond, and also some space to cultivate wild flowers.

Of course, if those idyllic evenings are to take place You will need to place your pond close to the deck or to construct one particular beside it. As the light begins to fade, darkness attracts in and the road in between deck and water commences to blur in locations, you may well be glad you opted for a raised pond. Getting closer to eye-degree, It is also simpler to see what's going on beneath the h2o throughout the day.

Elevated ponds are marginally safer for kids than ground amount ponds, considering that they cannot just stroll straight into them, but might be each little bit as deadly and just as Considerably warning must be exercised about them.

Ponds geared toward offering the point of interest for barbecues and get-togethers really should be sited reasonably near to the kitchen to produce catering much easier. Again, a elevated pond could possibly be worthy of thinking of, especially should you or your friends are prone to about-indulging from the alcohol!

Regardless of the variety of pond, if you are going to consist of a back garden water fountain or waterfall, you're going to need to consider wherever to operate the electric cable as well.

Clearly, there could possibly be lots of reasons why you are pondering building a pond, with diverse things to consider for each. Confirm your preferences with the scheduling phase so you're half-approach to results just before perform has even begun on digging the outlet in the bottom.

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Letters Regarding Literature National Winners.

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