Friday 26 September 2014

Walls and a boot on the ground

male Wall, Lasiommata megera 
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

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