Saturday 14 August 2010

Butterflies






Lots of butterflies around on Lon Cae Glas near Edern Post Office on our walk this morning. A lovely sunny morning with a quite brisk NNW wind blowing, but the Clawdds were sheltered by vegetation from the worst of the wind. If you are out seeking reptiles or insects the lane makes a superb walk on most days with some sunshine. The vegetation is always varied and this in turn attracts a lot of insects to feed and breed. As the invertebrate biomass is high so are the numbers birds and reptiles that feed on them.

This morning we spotted literally dozens of butterflies of many species along with only our second sighting of Dark Green Fritillary on the Peninsula this year. Common Blues both male and female were around in good numbers feeding on various flowers. Gate Keepers were as usual very abundant all along the lane. We also spotted a few Small Tortoiseshells along with Large Whites, Green Veined White, the Wall, Hedge Browns, Small Copper, Speckled Wood and one very skittish Dark Green Fritillary we were unable to photograph as it kept low in the vegetation, only moving if we approached too close. We also had good close views of a Southern Hawker Dragonfly or at least thats what we think it is ?

A superb August morning walk along the lane produced several Common Lizard sightings (see earlier post) numerous butterflies, several Shieldbugs, a lovely example of “Robins Pin Cushion Gall” on wild rose, a few Bloody Nosed beetles and a nice flock or around 30 Curlews, not bad for an hour long stroll in some of the most beautiful scenery in Britain !

Common Lizards



Despite the poor weather in July and August so far Common Lizards have managed to breed sucessfully. Out on a walk this morning up our favorite lane walk locally along Lon Cae Glas we spotted several adult lizards and this group of at least four juveniles basking in a favorite spot on a sunny Clawdd.

To see the photos in their original size simply move your cursor over the image and double click to see the full size image. To return to the blog use the back button

Monday 9 August 2010

Choughs



The Choughs on the Peninsula seem to have had a decent breeding year again this year. Plenty spotted all along the north coast of the Peninsula on recent walks. This pair were seen very close around 20 feet away before they took off.