Marbled White Butterflies

Marbled White Melanargia galathea butterflies are usually found on on chalk and limestone grasslands and along woodland rides. It alights on purple flowers, such as field scabious and Knappweed.  Adults are on the wing in the summer from June to August. The male is shown in the following images and is black and white whereas the female is a lighter colour. I was up early to capture these insects with dew on their wings.

 

A Day with Demoiselles

It was very hot and just the sort of day to sit in a river and watch male and female Banded Demoiselles,  Small Red Damselfly and Blue tailed Demoiselles. I observed the female laying eggs on a lily leaf attacked by a banded demoiselle, it recovered and did not drown.

 

Nature

My Garden visitors

My bird feeders are being raided by a squirrel and two kits or sometimes referred to as kittens. The kits are extremely fast and bounce about leaping from tree to fence and also to the top of the signpost feeder. Climbing up the post is a challenge but I have watched them perfect a technique the last two days. They steal from the feeders but fall off if they adopt the parent upside down technique, instead they stretch from the central post to the edge of the seed tray. They even chase the pigeons that a are a bit of a nuisance as their excrement is everywhere and it is annoying when they poo on the garden chairs. So I love seeing the kits chase them off.

A Day in the Fields - Cambridgeshire