Twelve ramblers enjoyed this nature walk with the highlight to see Purple Emperor butterflies.
https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/purple-emperor
Some of the wildlife seen included;
 |
| Meadow Grasshopper, Chorthippus parallelus |
 |
| Some Marbled White butterflies |
 |
| Exmoor ponies |
 |
| Male Beautiful Demoiselle by the Adur bridge |
 |
| The pond at Castle Lane |
 |
| silt removal |
 |
| Fresh water mussels |
Evidently the pigs are eating the mussels.
 |
| Fallow deer |
 |
| Longhorn cattle |
Returning to the Southern block of Knepp castle insects seen included;
 |
| Small White butterfly |
 |
| Red-tailed Bumblebee male |
 |
| Small Skipper |
 |
| Cinnabar moth caterpillars on Ragwort plant |
 |
| Well done Moira for spotting this Cinnabar moth |
 |
| Purple Emperor butterflies |
After lunch we saw a small number of Purple Emperors high above the oak trees.
 |
| White Admiral butterfly |
And then some kind enthusiasts pointed out a White Admiral.
After the walk, the Hammer pond was visited. On the way I met the aristocrats of Lepidopterology.
This stream near the camp site was rich with Damselflies, male and female Demoiselles, a Large Red and Azure damselfly.
 |
| Male Large Red damselfly |
 |
| Azure Damselfly male |
 |
| Female (probably Beautiful) Demoiselle |
Then on to the Hammer pond.
The bank was teaming with Blue-tailed damselflies.
Just look at the wonderfully differing colour forms of the females.
https://british-dragonflies.org.uk/species/blue-tailed-damselfly/
They are quite a spectacle!
Click on any picture to enlarge it.
And now for something different.
Copulating Black-tailed Skimmers,
Orthetrum cancellatum
 |
| Colletes sp female: a solitary bee |
And finally a couple of sun-bleached bees
 |
| White-tailed Bumblebee worker? |
No comments:
Post a Comment