These are considered British caterpillars despite the adult butterfly being a migrant that cannot survive UK winters. The small numbers of Painted Lady butterflies seen earlier this year will have laid eggs and the hatched caterpillars should now be large … Read More
It’s a day flying The Cinnabar moth. Although normally a nocturnal flyer, The Cinnabar moths are often disturbed during the day when they will flutter weakly a short distance before settling again in the grass. This one was disturbed from … Read More
This female Black-tailed Skimmer dragonfly was patrolling a hedgerow at Windmill Farm Nature Reserve on The Lizard peninsula in Cornwall at the weekend. Once it had caught an insect it would land on bare soil to rest in the sun … Read More
These dazzling butterflies have been flying in numbers since the beginning of May here in south west Cornwall. This was one of several seen yesterday at Windmill Farm Nature Reserve on The Lizard. Insight into Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene): … Read More
This female Kestrel was seen hovering over the cliffs along side the South West Coast Path near Falmouth and showed some recently replaced paler tail feathers. Insight into Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus): one of the most common birds of prey to … Read More
It’s amost certainly a Bee Fly that have been on the wing since the middle of March. The fine early spring weather saw lots of Bee Fly out early feeding at wild flowers such as Primrose (Primula vulgaris). New identification … Read More
You won’t believe this but the Green Hairstreak is in fact a brown butterfly! It’s just that you never get to see them settled with their wings open and so always see the brilliant metallic green undersides as shown. Insight … Read More
These plants really are big. It’s not just their height, Tree-mallow can grow to 3 metres, but their stems are woody and more like trunks. The leaves are large (up to 20cm across) and quite hairy and tough-looking and, what … Read More
“What’s that huge red ladybird?” I hear you ask. In actual fact it’s the Poplar Leaf Beetle and not a ladybird at all. We came across several of these British leaf beetles last week on Creeping Willow (Salix repens) at … Read More
The appropriately named Bright-line Brown-eye moth is also known as the Tomato Moth in gardening circles because its caterpillars are considered a pest of cultivated tomato plants. Last night we attracted our first Bright-line Brown-eye moth of the year to … Read More
The Island or St Ives Head offers some of the best seabird watching in Cornwall with large numbers of seabirds to be seen at most times of the year. Birds such as Gannet, Guillemot, Razorbill, Cormorant, Shag and occasionally Puffin … Read More
I guess holidaymakers visiting this world famous art gallery may be forgiven for not noticing a Herring Gull with a blue leg standing on a lampost outside. It’s one of those photos that you take for no good reason other … Read More