If the weather is ok, this part of June can give some of the best opportunities for seeing my favorite groups of inverts. With the focus firmly on my grid, I was keen to see what I could add.
Immediately I was greeted by the first Ringlets of the year, followed by Meadow Browns. Good numbers of both prevail.
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| Ringlet |
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| Meadow Brown |
A little further on, and the first of a handful of Large Skipper's popped up too.
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| Large Skipper |
Last year I noted a single Marbled White on 18th July. This morning, I was delighted to encounter 2 Marbled Whites, even managing a record shot this year. These were seen less than 100 yards from last years sighting, so you have to wander if there is a small colony on the patch ?
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| Marbled White |
In the same field as the Large Skipper, a couple of Banded Demoiselles were on the wing. Interestingly I didn't connect with this species on the patch last year. They were flitting around weakly, compared to the Beautiful's on the stream.
I had noted the presence of Red Eyed Damselfly on the fishing pool before my hiatus, but they were keeping their distance out on the Lily Pads. On returning I was delighted to see a couple of Emperors working a corner of the pool, a patch lifer. I was actually visiting to see if Black-tailed Skimmer's were present as per last year, and before long I picked up on a specimen. A few days later, I connected again, managing a slightly clearer shot. Also new for the year, decent numbers of Blue- tailed Damselfly.
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| Black -tailed Skimmer 22/6/2014 |
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| Red -eyed Damselfly 22/6/2014 |
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| Blue -tailed Damselfly |
On my final visit of the month the first Brown Hawkers of the year were on the wing. A nice early date.No Pics possible, so here is the second Black tailed Skimmer sighting
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| Black -tailed Skimmer 29/6 |
It's very busy in my garden moth trap of late, taking up much of my spare time identifying and photographing all the species. Out on the patch, it's much harder without the aid of a trap to pick up species, but some careful searching has yielded the following, along with a couple of micro's still to ID. The Sycamore was a moth lifer, lurking on an Oak trunk
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| Narrow-bordered Five spot Burnet |
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| Silver-Y |
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| Sycamore ( Moth lifer ) |
Also noted whilst bimbling, Yellow Shell and Treble Brown Spot, the later a garden regular but patch first.
My first patch Cinnabar of the year was also present on the 30th
With over 120 species of moth clocked in the garden so far this year, this is obviously an area I will address on my patch, more so next year I think.It's a marathon, not a sprint. Next Blog I will concentrate on updating the other inverts and flora.
