So many butterflies along the Old Railway Cutting

20th June 2025 - a walk along the disused Old Railway Cutting rewarded Andy M with a plethora of butterflies, of at least ten different species, so he tried to photograph as many as possible. 

The Marbled White and Meadow Brown were particularly abundant, with several Speckled Wood in the shady areas. The look in the long grass revealed Small Heath, Essex Skipper and Large Skipper, whilst the thistle and bramble flowers attracted Green-veined White, Large White, Small Tortoiseshell and Brimstone.  A Common Red Soldier Beetle and a species of Robber Fly were also spotted.

Marbled White on Spear Thistle

Marbled White on Black Horehound

Underside of Marbled White, on Creeping Thistle

Meadow Brown

Speckled Wood

Small Heath

Large Skipper - blotchy wing pattern, and strong sex brand

Large Skipper

Essex Skipper

Essex Skipper - same individual, showing the black-tipped antennae

Green-veined White

Large White on Bramble

Small Tortoiseshell

Underwing of Small Tortoiseshell

Common Red Soldier Beetle on Ragwort

A Robber Fly, lurking in the grass

Sluice Wood

18th June 2025 - a couple of photos from David F's walk along the river in Sluice Wood, and the nearby area of Field Poppy.

Rose Chafer Beetle heaven

17th June 2025 - Andy M has a False Spiraea (Sorbaria sorbifolia) in his garden, and at this time of year it's covered in large fluffy spikes of creamy-white flowers - which, it turns out Rose Chafer Beetle seem to absolutely love, burrowing excitedly into the spikes, gorging on pollen as they went.

Orchids Galore!

15th June 2025 - for the second year running, a particular patch of meadow along the avenue on Granta Park was covered in Bee Orchid flower spikes. Whilst hard to count, there must have been well over 200 there. Also a few Pyramidal Orchid flower spikes.

Bee Orchid

Pyramidal Orchid

Butterflies and Bees on Granta Park

15th June 2025 - walking through the wildflower meadows on Granta Park, Andy M spotted a good number of Marbled White butterfly, the first he'd seen this year, and they seemed newly hatched. Also around were several Small Skipper and Small Heath resting down in the grass, out of the wind. The Tree Bumblebee were busy gathering nectar and pollen from the Self-heal flowers, which also attracted a Large White.

Marbled White

Small Skipper

Small Heath

Large White on Self-heal

Tree Bumblebee of Self-heal

Bird around Granta Park lake

15th June 2025 - around the Granta Park lake, Andy M found a few bird species. At least three female or well-grown young Mandarin Duck were spotted near the reedbed, and a Little Grebe adult was seen feeding small fish to three quite well-grown young. A Great Crested Grebe adult was also seen, and around the edge a Reed Warbler was spotted gathering food, presumably to take back to feed young.

Female/juvenile Mandarin Duck

Adult Little Grebe and three young

Great Crested Grebe

Reed Warbler

Dragons and Damsels in Granta Park

15th June 2025 - Andy M took a walk around Granta Park, and spotted a good number of different dragonfly and damselfly species, mostly around the lake and along the river.

In the reeds around the lake were both Blue-tailed Damselfly - a pair mating in fact - and Common Blue Damselfly. These two species are similar at first glance, with the former having less blue on the abdomen and has two-toned wingspots.

Mating pair of Blue-tailed Damselfly - paler greeny-blue female below the blue male

Blue-tailed Damselfly, male 

Common Blue Damselfly, male

Also around the edge reeds were several Scarce Chaser, their slim powder-blue abdomen with a darker tip, blue eyes, smaller dark patches at the wing-bases and a diffuse wing tip spot being characteristic. There seem to have been a good number of this species around this year. Also on the reeds was a Broad-bodied Chaser, which also has a broader abdomen with paler spots 'notched' down each side.

Scarce Chaser

Scarce Chaser

Broad-bodied Chaser

On the lily-pads were a few Red-eyed Damselfly, which like to rest on lily-pads and have red eyes!

Also patrolling this area was a Southern Hawker, although it failed to settle for long enough to have its photo taken.

Red-eyed Damselfly

Finally, in the sedges along the river were good numbers of Banded Demoiselle. The strikingly blue males with a black 'thumb-print' on the wings guard prominent perches vigorously and flicking their wings to attract the attention of the much greener, but equally shiny, females.

Banded Demoiselle, male

Banded Demoiselle, male

Banded Demoiselle, female

Banded Demoiselle, female