Walls and a boot on the ground

male Wall, Lasiommata megera 

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

Yesterday I did my final Mill Hill butterfly transect of the year. Numbers were low, but Walls have emerged en masse. Neil was busy doing a complete count of the Walls on the hill (34) and spotted a female laying an egg on a grass stem in a hollow. Transect results: Clouded Yellow 2, Common Blue 2, Green-veined white 2, Meadow Brown 5, Small Heath 1, Small White 1, Wall Brown 5. There were hundreds of Ivy Bees buzzing around the scrapes at the top of the steep slope and many Common Carder Bees were collecting pollen.
see Neil's post about the day here: http://bit.ly/1ytNyw9

skylines

Common Carder Bumblebee, Bombus Pascuorum

Common Carder Bumblebee, Bombus Pascuorum

Common Darter, Sympetrum striolatum

Hoverfly, Eristalis tenax

Ivy Bee, Colletes hederae

Meadow Brown, Maniola jurtina

a Wall and a boot on the ground

We walked along a path where I had seen 6 walls. One flew around Neil and he said loudly "SIT!". It immediately flew to the ground in front of his boot...

Neil photographing his obedient prey

A Wall laid an egg here

Wall, egg, Lasiommata megera

female Wall, Lasiommata megera

female Wall, Lasiommata megera