Today is Orange and Green Day:-)

Had a great day out at Martin Down nature reserve, I got my Orange Tip butterfly and the Green Hairstreak butterfly:-)  We took a trip to the reserve in hopes of finding the Duke of Burgundy butterfly, I think it maybe another week or so before we see these.  But we had a great time with the Green Hairstreak butterfly, it is the first time we have seen these.  We then went to the Cranborne garden centre for our tea and cake, and afterwards we went for another walk in the woods in Edmondsham, where the Bluebells are brilliant now and their colour is intense.

My first capture of the Orange tip butterfly


The green jewel amongst the yellow Gorse, the Green Hairstreak butterfly.  My OH is great at spotting things, I seem to walk around in a dream, he sharper than me when it comes to spotting the butterflies.


A closer view of the Green Hairstreak


When the sunlight catches their wings, they shimmer. 


These are the males of the Green Hairstreak butterfly, there was at least three and they were doing a bit of squabbling.


Different shades of green


We had to have our fix of Bluebells.  These Bluebells are reaching their best, their colour is very intense.

Bluebells, Not Quite So Late

The Bluebells here are not quite so late this year, probably about a week later than previous years, certainly not three weeks late as some experts have predicted.   We went to Edmondsham to see the Bluebells, they are nearly at their peak.





This Spring, I have seen a lot of Seven-spot Ladybird, far more than I have in previous years.  On this piece of log, there was several of them.


Early Purple Orchid with a Dandelion in the background.  Spot the Ladybird:-) 

The Mining Bees Are Back

These little bees, the mining bees, are back in my garden, making little holes in my lawn.  Apparently there are 60 different species of Andrena mining bees in UK, so take your pick which one this is.  They are solitary bees, each female builds her own nest and looks after her own young.   When the female has finished her nesting, she will plug up the hole.  The young bees will not emerge until next Spring.  I had a go at getting some close up images of these bees.  The best way was to have one perched on my finger, it was difficult to take a picture with just one hand:-)  These little bees do not sting or their sting is so weak that it does not penetrate the skin.