Hornet Mimic Hoverfly

Derek recently saw this Hornet Mimic Hoverfly (Volucella zonaria) in his garden on Cambridge Road (28th July)

Butterflies in Great Abington

A number of Green-veined White butterflies were seen by Andy M in his garden today, as well as several Gatekeeper, Red Admiral and Comma butterflies.

Green-veined White

Gatekeeper

Red Admiral - seen 'keeping watch' from this bush, actively flying up 

and chasing off other butterflies that flew past

Comma - a somewhat raggedy specimen!

What's That Bird - Summary Sheets - Raptors

Summary sheets from the 'What's That Bird?' Raptor Identification talk by Andy M (April 2017)

Click on the link below to open each summary sheet - to view, save or print as desired.

What's That Bird? - Raptors - Falcons

What's That Bird? - Raptors - Accipters (Hawks, Buzzards, Kites)

Bracket fungus in Sluice Wood

Derek took this photo of an impressive fungus on a tree next to the river in Sluice Wood:

Small Copper butterfly on Cambridge Road

Derek took this photo in his garden on 13 July

Butterflies on lavender in Cambridge Road

Derek observed lots of butterflies on his lavender on 9 July: Ringlet, 3 Red Admirals, 2 Small Tortoiseshells, Large White, Comma, Gatekeeper and a Small Skipper (see below).

Anne has also seen a Small Skipper and a Gatekeeper on South Road.

More moths and butterflies

These Cinnabar Moth caterpillars were spotted feeding on Oxford Ragwort plants this week on Granta Park

and Andy M saw this tiny Mint Moth (Pyrusta aurata) in his garden today - the wingspan being only about 1 cm (1/2 inch) across.

and a number of Gatekeeper butterflies have been seen in the village this week - in many ways similar to the Meadow Brown, but the Gatekeeper tends to rest with its wings open, and has two white dots within each dark 'eyespot' on the upper forewing, where the Meadow Brown has only a single white dot.

Little Owls on Granta Park

A pair of Little Owls are believed to have successfully bred on Granta Park this year, with three owls being seen, and at least one youngster seen being fed.  This adult was spotted keeping watch over the nest site one evening this week.

Privet Hawk Moth - Pampisford Road

John Webb took these photos of a Privet Hawk moth in his garden on Pampisford Rd. 

 

 

It happily sat on his hand while he photographed it.

Butterflies and Bees in Lewis Crescent

Andy M was watching the Comma and Red Admiral butterflies in his garden today. Interestingly, the Comma butterflies were seen to take up a prominent and very visible position in the sun, from which they watched a large part of the garden - actively and aggressively chasing off all other passing insects - not only other Comma butterflies as might be expected, but also Red Admirals and even passing bees and other insect species.  Having chased off any 'competition', the Comma returned to the same position and resumed their watch.

Many Buff-tailed Bumblebees, and a few Red-tailed Bumblebees, were seen enjoying the lavender flowers in the sun today too.

Comma butterfly

Comma underwing - showing the small white 'comma' from which they get their name

Red Admiral

Buff-tailed Bumblebee on lavender

Red-tailed and Buff-tailed Bumblebees

Marbled White butterfly on former LSA

Anne took these photos a Marbled White butterfly. They first glimpsed it on Friday on the field edges along the track up to Abington Park Farm but had no camera, but this morning (2 July) another kindly appeared in their garden for a photo-shoot! It spends a lot of time on the lavender with the Meadow Browns.