I nipped over to Ledsham Vale today, a small YWT nature reserve north of Castleford, for a macro photography session. I figured it might be quite good as the weather was cloudy and overcast as I set off but by the time I got there it had become hot and humid and the butterflies were...
The cloudy start to the day soon gave way to scorching summer sun making the butterfly photography at Brockadale very hard work by mid-afternoon. I’d hoped the overcast conditions would have been ideal and allowed me to get some images of those high speed flyers – dark green fritillaries. The hot sun put paid to...
I was out with the Wakefield Naturalists’s Society today for the first of the summer field meetings and we had a good trip to Hetchell Woods near Thorner. As a group, we notched up some good sightings including marsh harrier and red kite passing over and also a hornet – not a common species locally....
Back at Brockadale today between showers looking for insects and flowers. I’m enjoying doing the macro work again, it’s been a while since I have done any and it’s always amazing to see familiar insects in high detail. I wasn’t as successful as I’d hoped to be today but starting top left and going clockwise,...
I went back to Brockadale today looking for more wildflowers and came across one of the locally scarce stinking hellebore pants. Although well past its flowering period, it was easily recognisable but the amazing thing was that it was totally covered in brightly coloured shield bugs! I have identified these as sloe bug (also known...
