shaded broad bar moth

gatekeeper butterfly

purple hairstreak

water shrew

silver studded blue

 

 

raft spider

cotton grass on Whixall Moss

two lizards on Prees Heath

feeding station plus droppings

I met a couple of men today who told me they'd been watching two water voles in this ditch on Whixall Moss. There were signs of water vole nibbling on some grass stalks poking out of the water.

 

slow worm in the bracken

peacock butterfly

first tiger beetle of the year

The Big Butterfly Count 2023

 

Comma and Small White

Silver Studded Blues

Small Copper

Gatekeeper

Purple Hairstreak

Holly Blue

Gatekeepers

Comma

Common lizard

Many, Many Lizards on the Heath

 

There are three lizards in the photo above. Can you spot them?

And More Lizards

 

Silver Studded Blue?

This bottom photo shows (I think) a juvenile, going by the dark tail. The picture above it is of a heavily gravid female.

Special Insight into Prees Heath

Toadpoles in the pond at Prees Heath.

Treecreeper (seen at Bridges) and a Prees Heath yellowhammer.

I was lucky enough to meet a butterfly expert who's been involved in improving habitat on the heath. He told me he was going to check for the caterpillars of the rare Silver Studded Blue butterfly, and did I want to see? We were looking out for where ants swarmed in the heather as they milked the little caterpillars. So, by searching for clumps of ants, we soon found our target. It was really interesting because, although I've seen thousands of the adult butterflies, I've never ever seen their larval stage.