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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.
An orange and brown Marmalade Hoverfly is feeding on a small pink 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.





Glapthorn Cow Pastures

5th June 2026

Today we decided to take a short walk around Glapthorn Cow Pastures as it was possible the small population of Black Hairstreak Butterflies were to be seen. It was a lovely day, mostly sunny and we enjoyed a potter in the woods

A Black Hairstreak Butterfly with folded wings showing the pale brown undersides with bright orange markings towards the rear edges of the wings.
A white umbelliferous flower is hosting a large plump Pellucid Hoverfly with it distinctive cream coloured midsection.
A long and fairly slender Black and Yellow Longhorn Beetle which is mostly black in colour except for the dull yellow legs and elytra with black markings.
A slender metallic green Thick Legged Flower Beetle is inspecting a yellow Buttercup flower.
A bright yellow Creeping Cinquefoil flower with five broad slightly divided petals and a darker yellow centre.
A brown Speckled Wood Butterfly is resting with its wings open displaying the black and white circular markings around the edge of the hind wings.
A large nymph of the Red Legged Shieldbug which is broad bodied and a dark almost purple brown colour with pale markings around the edges and dark legs and antennae.
A Hairy St Johns Wort plant in full bloom with bright yellow flowers each with 5 long slender petals and long yellow stamens with bright yellow anthers.
A cluster of Wild Honeysuckle flowers pale yellow to cream in colour with long white stamens.
A Blackberry Flower is providing lunch to a Black Hairstreak Butterfly with folded wings showing the pale brown undersides and orange markings towards the rear edges of the wings.
A rather hairy pale blue Lackey Moth Caterpillar with long narrow stripes of black orange and white along its length.
A Meadow Cranesbill flower with five large broad violet blue petals a creamish centre leading to pinkish stamens and dark blue anthers.
A long and slender Black and Yellow Longhorn Beetle mostly black but with darker yellow legs and elytra than most we have seen.


A Black Hairstreak Butterfly keeping lookout in the woods

A Black Hairstreak Butterfly with folded wings showing the pale brown undersides with bright orange markings towards the rear edges of the wings.