Oldest Newest



Lings

6th July 2026

It is a long time since I last visited Lings Nature Reserve. It is very close to us and due to fly tipping has not got parking for visitors. Lings is essentially mixed woodland with clearings and an old house in the middle which serves as offices for the Wildlife trust. I enjoyed my walk in the woods with just local dog walkers for company

A black and pale yellow male Scorpion Fly with his red scorpion like tail is taking a quick break on a dark green shaded fern frond.
A large pale green Common Green Shieldbug Nymph is exploring a shaded fern frond.
A Red Longhorn Beetle with black body and yellowish brown elytra is resting on a sun dappled frond of fern.
A plump bright lime green Speckled Bush Cricket with unfeasibly long white and black banded antennae is inspecting a brown umbellifer seedhead.
A distinctive yellow and black 14 Spot Ladybird is exploring a fern frond.
A cluster of bright yellow Ragwort flowers is hosting a golden yellow and black Hoverfly.
A glossy orange and black banded Cinnabar Moth Caterpillar is feeding upside down on a leaf of the Ragwort plant.
A medium sized slender Common Red Soldier Beetle mostly a glossy reddish brown but with a wide black tip to its wing cases is feeding on Ragwort flowers.
A Painted Lady Butterfly with folded wings is feeding on bright yellow ragwort flowers.
A golden yellowish brown Common Darter Dragonfly is perched on the seed head of a sun lit grass plant.
A pale brown Gatekeeper Butterfly with folded wings is feeding on some pale pink Blackberry flowers.
A Small Skipper Butterfly is feeding on the purple thistle like flowers of Knapweed.


A Scorpion Fly taking a breather on a shady fern

A black and pale yellow male Scorpion Fly with his red scorpion like tail is taking a quick break on a dark green shaded fern frond.





Our Wildlife Garden

30th June 2026

Here are the second batch of June photographs. It was a very exciting month, we have a large number of Southern Hawker Dragonflies emerging from the pond, sometimes just one a day and on other days three or four.

A large black Hoverfly which apart from its large eyes could easily be mistaken for a Bumblebee.
A long slender Toothed Tiger Ichneumon Wasp with vibrant black and yellow thorax abdomen and legs.
Common Yarrow flowers are hosting a long slender Black and Yellow Longhorn Beetle which is unsurprisingly black and a pale yellow in colour.
A small slender yellow and dark brown overfly with large crimson eyes is resting on the edge of a Honesty flower seed pod.
A violet blue Viper's Bugloss Flower is serving up lunch to a delightful brown and orange Marmalade Hoverfly.
A very long and slender black wasp with a scattering of dark red markings on its abdomen is feeding on the flowers of Common Yarrow.
An orange and brown Marmalade Hoverfly is feeding on a small pink flower.
A small yellow and black Hoverfly is feeding on a tiny white and blue Common Field Speedwell flower.
A brown and dark orange Comma Butterfly with folded wings is enjoying a feast of Vipers Bugloss nectar.
A small black Fairy Ring Longhorn Beetle with golden brown elytra is feeding on Common Yarrow flowers.
A Souther Hawker Dragonfly has recently emerged from the pond and has a yellowish cream head and thorax with darker abdomen and distinctive darker brown markings throughout.
A Ruddy Darter Dragonfly in a beautiful golden yellow colour with occasional black markings is perched on top of a sunlit Knapweed flower bud.
A Painted Lady Butterfly with closed wings is feeding on the purple blue funnel shaped flowers of Vipers Bugloss.
The light green foliage of a Ragwort plant is lunch for a small orange and black Cinnabar Moth Caterpillar.
A bright red and black 7 Spot Ladybird is hunting on a pale green Teasel flower which has yet to burst into bloom.
A pale brown Grasshopper covered in small darker brown spots is enjoying the sun on a small plant.
A male Broad Bodied Chaser with hairy brown head and thorax and a pale powder blue Abdomen is keeping lookout on a garden cane near the pond.
A Cinnabar Moth Caterpillar with black bands around its bright orange yellow body is feeding on the flower heads of a ragwort plant.


This may look like a Bee but is most likely a Hoverfly!

A large black Hoverfly which apart from its large eyes could easily be mistaken for a Bumblebee.





Our Wildlife Garden

15th June 2026

June was an exciting month in the garden, with summer starting earlier each year there were lots of insects to be seen. Due to the sheer number of photographs we have split them up into two lots. These are the pictures from the first half of the month:

A pale glossy brown Box Bug is seemingly sunning itself and we can see the lighter brown underside and glossy legs.
A green fern like leaf is hosting a long grey 7 Spot Ladybird larva with clusters of black hairs and a few orange to yellow spots.
A Trivial Plant Bug which is pale green and brown in colour with reddish brown eyes and reddish veins in the wing membranes.
A pair of pale reddish brown Box Bugs are mating on a sunlit Buckthorn Leaf.
Feasting on a smallish bright orange flower is a slender metallic dark green Thick Legged Flower Beetle.
A small and distinctive yellow and black 14 Spot Ladybird is enjoying a meal of some unfortunate small insect.
A female Common Blue Damselfly in a pale pinky cream colour with black markings is eating a small insect whilst resting on a slender leaf of a grass like plant.
A green hairy stem and leaves complement the violet blue bell shaped flowers with long pinkish purple stamens of the Vipers Bugloss plant.
A Pine Ladybird which is a small Ladybird mostly glossy black but with four red spots the frontmost two shaped like exaggerated commmas.
A ginger haired golden brown and black bee is enjoying a pink thistle like flower.
A browish purple Hairy Shieldbug with a golden yellow scutellum and black and white antennae and connexivum.
A large fluffy black and yellow Bumblebee with a with a white rump is feasting on a small yellowy orange flower.
An small orange flower is hosting a medium sized black and yellow Hoverfly with distinctive Batman shaped marking on its thorax.
A small black bee with ginger brown hair is resting on a leaf.


Our small colony of Box Bugs seem to have settled in

A pale glossy brown Box Bug is seemingly sunning itself and we can see the lighter brown underside and glossy legs.