Black darter. Crowle moor. 22-8-09.

A super sunny day today tempted me to visit Crowle moor NR in Lincs. Black darters everywhere.

Black darter. Crowle moor. 22-8-09.

A pair of black darters mating. Many of these in tandem today, and very numerous today at Crowle moor.

Spiked shieldbug. Crowle moor. 22-8-09.

A spiked shieldbug slowly walks down a grass stem. You can see its rostrum which is its mouthpart, being similar to a needle of a syringe.

Common hawker. Crowle moor. 22-8-09.

A male common hawker resting on a fencepost. Lots of them here today, with many of them in tandem.

Hairy shield bug. Crowle moor. 22-8-09.

A new species of shield bug for me, a hairy shield bug aka a sloe bug.

Birch shield bug. Crowle moor. 22-8-09.

Another shieldbug species, this one being a birch shield bug.

Crowle moor. Lincs. 22-8-09.

Heather lined footpath at Crowle moor. Along this footpath exist green tiger beetles, bog bush crickets, common hawkers, black darters, common lizards and adders. Great place for a very slow walk.

Green tiger beetle. Crowle moor. 22-8-09.

Close-up of a green tiger beetle showing its ferocious jaws.

Green tiger beetle.Crowle moor. 22-8-09.

Green tiger beetle. These beetles are very difficult to photograph, as you approach them they nearly always take flight. Very pleased to get some shots.

Southern hawker. Chambers wood. 19-8-09.

Southern hawker at rest. One of these landed on my right forearm and i brought my arm up to look at it up close and what a beautiful dragonfly, the colours and the 3d eyes are awesome.

Southern hawker. Chambers wood. 19-8-09.

Close-up of the same dragonfly.

Migrant hawker. Chambers wood. 19-8-09.

Migrant hawker, very numerous here, swarms of them in some places.

Ruddy darter. Snakeholme pit. 13-8-09.

Ruddy darter dragonfly, only saw this one at this site, the others were all common darters.

Dark bush cricket. Snakeholme pit. 13-8-09.

Female dark bush cricket at Snakeholme pit, quite common here, they are also at Chambers wood too.

Silver y moth. chambers farm wood. 13-8-09.

Silver y moth at Chambers farm wood.

Longhorn beetle. Chambers wood. 13-8-09.

Longhorn beetle. Strangalia maculata.

Tachinid fly. Broughton. 12-8-09.

Tachinid fly. Tachina fera. Lots of these in my garden on marjoram and buddleia.

Dusky sallow. Broughton. 11-8-09.

A dusky sallow moth feeding on agastache in my garden.

Gold spot. MSQ. 11-8-09.

A trip to my local nature reserve Messingham Sand Quarry. A gold spot moth was a nice surprise to find during the day.

Wall. MSQ. 11-8-09.

My first wall sighting this year.

Gorse shield bug. MSQ. 11-8-09.

Gorse shield bug at home in the gorse.

Blue tailed damselflies.MSQ. 11-8-09.

Unusual photo of blue tailed damselflies in tandem and in silhouette against the bright sky.

Southern hawker. MSQ. 11-8-09.

A few southern hawkers about today, this one landing in the tree beside me.

Brimstone. MSQ. 11-8-09.

Lots of brimstone butterflies on the wing today.

Longhorn beetle. MSQ. 11-8-09.

Several species of longhorn beetle at this reserve, this one being Stictoleptura rubra.

Common darter. MSQ. 11-8-09.

This common darter landed beside me while i was sitting on a bench. I could not resist taking a photo when it assumed the obelisk position.

Aston Rowant NR, Buckinghamshire. 8-8-09.

A visit to this reserve looking for chalkhill blues and silver spotted skippers.

Field grasshopper. Aston Rowant NR. 8-8-09.

Beautiful colouring on this field grasshopper.

Silver spotted skipper. Aston Rowant NR. 8-8-09

Silver spotted skipper nectaring on small scabious.

Silver spotted skipper.Aston Rowant NR. 8-8-09.

Lots of these skippers here, in fact the commonest butterfly here.

Chalkhill blue. Aston Rowant NR. 8-8-09.

A nice shot of a male chalkhill blue.

Silver spotted skipper. Aston Rowant NR. 8-8-09.

Another shot of this skipper species, nectaring on dandelion.

Six spot burnet moth. Aston Rowant NR. 8-8-09.

A newly emerged six spot burnet moth beside its cocoon.

Six spot burnet moth. Aston Rowant NR. 8-8-09.

Another shot of this species, a pair mating.

Chalkhill blue. Aston Rowant. NR. 8-8-09.

A chalkhill blue on carline thistle.

Chiltern gentian.Aston rowant NR. 8-8-09.

A local rarity, the Chiltern gentian.

Brimstone. Aston Rowant NR. 8-8-09.

Male brimstone butterfly nectaring on marjoram.

Common knapweed. Hartslock NR. 8-8-09.

A few wildflower images which exist on this reserve. This being Common knapweed. Centurea nigra.

Clustered bellflower. Hartslock NR. 8-8-09.

Clustered bellflower. Campanula glomerata. Widespread on the reserve.

Harebell. Hartslock NR. 8-8-09.

Harebell. Campanula rotundifolia. Common on the reserve.

Robins pin cushion. Hartslock NR. 8-8-09.

Robins pin cushion Diplolepis rosea. Its actually a gall and not a flower.

Hartslock NR. Oxfordshire. 8-8-09.

A scenic view from Hartslock nature reserve showing the Thames.

View of Goring. Oxfordshire. 8-8-09.

A spectacular view of Goring from Hartslock nature reserve, showing the Thames and the railway viaduct.

Robberflies. Lardon Chase. Oxfordshire. 8-8-09.

A pair of mating robberflies Asilus crabroniformis.

Lardon Chase. Oxfordshire. 8-8-09.

This is Lardon Chase National Trust in Oxfordshire, home to adonis, chalkhill, small , common and holly blues. I managed to see chalkhill and common, and small in june.

Meadow grasshopper. Bentley wood. 9-8-09.

A visit to Bentley wood, possibly the hotspot for butterflies in the country, not so good in august, quite a few silver washed fritillaries still about though.

Woodland grasshopper. Bentley wood. 9-8-09.

Another species of grasshopper, this one being the woodland grasshopper.

Winchester hill. Hampshire. 9-8-09.

View from Winchester hill, it was quite amusing listening to the different sounding bleats of the sheep.

Chalkhill blue. Winchester hill. Hampshire. 9-8-09.

Chalkhill blues very common here along with common blues.

Chalkhill blue. Winchester hill. Hampshire. 9-8-09.

Another shot of a chalkhill blue, this one on marjoram. Never seen so much wild marjoram, every nature reserve i visited it was everywhere.