Red Dahlia and the Small Tortoiseshell

Red Dahlia and the Small Tortoiseshell, a photo by Linda Yarrow on Flickr.

This was taken at East Holme Farm about a week ago. Their herbaceous borders are ablaze with colour and the red dahlias (they look like the Bishop Llandaff dahlia) was attracting the bees and the butterflies. Managed to capture this Small Tortoiseshell on the dahlia, making a very colourful picture:-) There is no doubt the Small Tortoiseshell has had a very good year, the best for a long time and let's hope it will continue to get better for them in the future:-)

Garden Cross spider

Garden Cross spider, a photo by Linda Yarrow on Flickr.

This is another spider I found at Morden Bog, Garden Cross spider, a common species. Spiders are more visible at this time of year because they have become mature in size making them more noticeable. Walk along the hedgerow on a non windy, sunny day you will find them. I say non windy, it is not easy getting a good picture of a spider on it's web on a windy day. Another problem I encountered is that a lot of the spiders are on the wrong side of their web, it's geat when you find one on the right side, still tricky though, particularly when the spider is on gorse.

Four Spot Orb Weaver spider

Four Spot Orb Weaver spider, a photo by Linda Yarrow on Flickr.

Taken at Morden Bog, close to where the Wasp spiders are.