What a glorious July it has been so far, the butterflies are starting to emerge more and more. So we ventured off to our favourite RSPB spot, Middleton Lakes. We were not disappointed. We spent a few hours exploring the marsh area opposite the main car park and saw many Large Whites, the one below is possibly a female, since there are double spots on the fore-wing.
Sometimes you may mix these up with a Green-veined white, because both have a black tip and generally they only have one one black spot. To really tell the difference, you need to look under the wing. The Green-veined butterfly has prominent greenish veins on hind wing.
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| Large White - Pieris brassicae |
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Female Large White-veined Pieris brassicae
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Green-veined white - Pieris napi
This one is a Green-veined white, as you can see there are dark prominent greenish veins on the hind wing.
As we walked through the meadow we came across other wonderful butterflies along with a day time moth called British burnet moth.
We have a Comma, a scruffy looking Peacock and a Peacock that is displaying its beautiful colours.
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| Peacock displaying its colours |
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| Scruffy looking Peacock |
For anyone that is interested in Butterflies then click here to read the state of UK Butterflies. This has been put together by the Butterfly Conservation Group.
My particular lucky find was the six spot Burnet. This is a day time moth and I had never see one before, so I was very pleased to spot him. They particularly like thistles so if you walk past any keep an eye open. They must have six spots if you see five then that is something else.
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| British burnet moth |
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| British burnet moth |
We took a walk down by the river and I was pleased to capture these pond insects. I think they are called Pond Skaters. I have discovered that they use their legs to move across the pond’s surface. They are common and widespread throughout the UK.
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| Pond Skater |
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Pond
skaters can be found on most stretches of still or slow-moving
freshwater. They have wings and are good fliers. In autumn they fly away
from water to hibernate, emerging again in late April.
We could not end our visit without popping down to the Lake and were not disappointed to see these Terns. They gave a wonderful display.
Of course not forgetting the Moorhen.
All of the Black Headed Gulls had gone. I thought it was quiet, they are a noisy bunch and I am sure the other residents were enjoying the peace!
“If we can teach people about wildlife, they will be touched. Share my
wildlife with me. Because humans want to save things that they love.” - Steve Irwin
References
Butterfly Conservation (ND)Large White [accessed 26.07.13]http://butterfly-conservation.org/679-605/large-white.html
Fox, R., Brereton,T.M., Asher,J., Botham,M.S., Middlebrook,I., Roy,D.B. and Warren, M.S.(2011).The Sate of the UK's Butterflies 2011. Butterfly Conservation and the Centre for Ecology & Ht.
Pond Conservation (ND) What wildlife is in your pond. [accessed 26.07.13] http://www.pondconservation.org.uk/advice/What+wildlife+lives+in+a+pond
The RSPB (ND) Terns [accessed 26.07.13]http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/families/terns.aspx
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