Archived & Upcoming Images of the Day
This Red Admiral Butterfly is feeding on a Blackberry flower. This individual has been around for a few weeks and has rubbed off some of the wing scales.
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The strong red and black fluttering of Cinnabar Moths always catches the eye. The favourite plant of their caterpillars is Ragwort, but this seems to be in short supply this year. But they also use Groundsel of which we have plenty.
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The Poppy flower on top of Long Mound plays host to two Marmalade Hover-flies.
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A Marmalade Hover-fly sips their fill from a Buttercup.
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An attractive Green Lacewing (general category rather than common species name) for this individual without any common name we have discovered. The slightly blue appearance is a diagnostic of this particular species along with the head markings.
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The Rooks have mostly 'gone' but the pair of Carrion Crows still appear regularly around the site.
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Next day the afternoon sun feels really hot. This Carrion Crows open beak suggest that the bird is 'panting' to cool down. Birds do not have sweat glands (a features evolved only in Mammals) so can not sweat - panting is one of their thermal control strategies.
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It's a couple of years (2024) since we saw a 'Little Owl' (actual common
species name). They mainly hunt at night, but often sit quietly on an open
branch in daylight making them easier to spot.
This one is at the hedge bottom at 9 a.m. - 4 hours into daytime.
They are slightly bigger than a Blackbird.
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7 days after the first recent Little Owl sighting, the trail cam watching the hole
in the East of the Round Mound catches possibly the same bird standing at the
entrance to the Rabbit / Badger hole.
This species hole nests, and this can include 'disused' Rabbit warrens - we
watch with interest!
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What a year for Oxeye Daisies - popping up all over the non-wooded parts of the site.
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Spring flowers are springing up all over the place. We believe this to be called 'Creeping Jenny' - certainly lives up to this names by crawling over concrete paths from the soil edge.
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This single blue flower shines out from the bank of Duck Pond. We had an invasion of some unspecified Flax flowers the year after surrounding fields were sown with it (perhaps 20 years ago) and this may be from a 'left over' seed.
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The Rose of Sharon is exploding into life on the sunny side of the bush. Masses to come where the bush is in shade for most of the day
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A somewhat Scruffy Fox stops at the Woodland site. Gorgeous chestnut colour we have not 'enhanced'.
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Just entered through the East hedge gap this Fox is already in hunting mode. Its about 2 a.m.
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This photo catches the Reeves' Muntjac Deer Fawn suckling from mother.
Its about 6 p.m. - hours before sunset.
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A day later we see again the Reeves' Muntjac Deer Fawn suckling from Mum and again this is on the Meadow path across from the Meadow site.
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The new Reeves' Muntjac Deer seems to be a precocious little creature, often apparently leading Mum where the Fawn wants to go
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The Reeves' Muntjac Deer Fawn following (presumably) Mum down our concrete access track.
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What makes you thinks it is time to get back indoors?
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You can just see that the rain is pouring down on this drenched Carrion Crow, The bird spent several minutes unprotected in this downpour.
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The weather clears to a chaotic sky with various parts moving in their separate air streams.
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A quite common Moth we haven't seen for some years - a yellow Shell Moth.
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A Comma Butterfly (the white Comma is on the bottom of the wings) warms in the sunshine on some Desiccated Hop Sedge
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Two views of the same Meadow Brown Butterfly with wings open and closed. The Butterfly is feeding on south facing flowering Privet near the Farm gate. Our west facing stretch of Privet flowers a few days later.
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All over the site young birds are being fed by their parents, but the moment a human
appears they move to continue the activity in a more secluded spot.
But the Kitchen window provides a moderate 'hide'.
This juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker and Mum made the most of the Peanuts.
Here is the general scheme:-
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Youngster on top here accepting another beakful.
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Another load delivered.
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A patch of Rose of Sharon brings a delight every year. Just a few have opened so far with hundreds on their way.
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Each year we find a few Robin's Pin Cushion on wild rose plants. These are tiny plant gall caused by a tiny wasp laying an egg.
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A couple of flowers on the west side of the main road.
This area is systematically mown by the Farm business, but these flowers
escape the cutter by being close to the adjacent field fence with a small
ditch making mowing awkward.
This is a Meadow Cranesbill flower.
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Poppy flowers make a lovely show when they cover fields. but the individual flowers have a beautiful delicacy of their own.
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Two male Thick-legged Flower Beetles - one definitely 'Green' while the other is mostly 'Bronze'.
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This appears to be Meadow Vetchling, complete with some sort of spider and a female Thick-legged Flower Beetle (females don't have 'Thick-legs').
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These two adult Rooks quietly sharing the top of the Meadow post.
One is preening the other in one of those places you just can't reach yourself.
Is it like a backscratch?
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This juvenile Rook hasn't learnt yet that humans are to be feared.
We left the bird in peace by taking a side path.
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Two female Reeves Muntjac Deer around sunrise quietly enjoying some fresh weeds and grass together.
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Muntjac Deer Mum and Fawn visit the Meadow site together about an hour before sunset.
This is the whole original frame - no sense of framing these Fawns!
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We expect Mum is close by out of frame, but here is the Reeves' Muntjac Deer Fawn slightly dwarfed by the Oxeye Daisies.
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Looking Forward - but listening backwards!
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Two young Rabbits at the Meadow site.
Watch out for the Fox!
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Imagine screeching tyres as this Hare skid turns through the Meadow site.
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The male Green Woodpecker stops for a moment on the Meadow Post.
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This male Green Woodpecker at the Meadow site, currently surrounded by a sea of Oxeye Daisies.
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This male Green Woodpecker is complemented by one of the many patches of Oxeye Daisies.
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This female Roe Deer spent a bit over an hour wandering all over our 100m square site visiting two ponds twice. Here is the second visit to the Duck pond - possibly for a drink from the water dish
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Finally a second visit to Round Pond.
This montage goes lower right, left and top.
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We have an unexpected flurry of Painted Lady Butterflies this year.
In many years we see none at all, and before this year never more than one individual.
Here is one tucking into an Oxeye daisy flower.
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BBC Springwatch seems to be 'going ape' over Painted Lady Butterflies this year.
It is nice to see them this year, but its a worry about the abnormal conditions
that facilitated this event.
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An immature male Common Blue Damselfly perched on a grass stem.
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Female Beautiful Demoiselle Damselflies look different colours according to how the light strikes them. Here most of the insects body glows in a gold hue.
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The entire east-west strip of north of the Meadow has this year become awash with thousands of Oxeye Daisies
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Here is a closer look at a small segment.
By chance, the centre includes a flower with a tiny insect on it shown in the insert.
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On nearby Oxeye daisy flowers we see two Thick-legged flower Beetles.
On the left the Beetle is all Green.
On the right the just Beetles head appears brown.
The colours here are 'structural - made by microscopic detail on the exoskeleton.
The physics of the colour is similar to that of bird wings feather iridescence.
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Poppies come and go quite quickly, so enjoy them when you see them.
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'Fox-and-Cubs' appear annually around the South-west corner of the house. These vivid orange flowers provide a small delight for a few weeks. Here is the first flower seen, surrounded by a host of buds about to explode into colour.
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This beautiful flower seems to be the normal (larger) form of Herb Robert.
Herb Robert comes in two forms - a normal and smaller 'Lesser' variety only 5 or 6mm across.
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This beautiful flower seems to be the lesser (smaller) form of Herb Robert.
Herb Robert comes in two forms - a normal and smaller 'Lesser' variety only 5 or 6mm across.
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Mum Reeves' Muntjac Deer looks back towards her following Fawn who gets a lick over before wandering off.
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Reeves' Muntjac Fawn and Mum enjoying some quiet time together
near the South hedge gap.
The insert shows the Fawn already using her long tongue.
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Come on Mum - I'm going this way.
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These Reeves' Muntjac Deer are a female on the left. On the right is
a male with only the Antler Pedicals showing.
The Pedical is the name for the base of the antler joined to the skull.
The Pedical on the his left side (camera's right) is more recessive that the other -
we think that this may be the male with broken left antler has finally starting to grow a new pair.
Also, there have been no sightings this week of the male with the broken Antler.
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Some of the Hares disappeared into the crop, while others moved back across the concrete track - we can't have been particularly frightening as we stood still on the concrete. Here is one moment of a Hare ambling - how do they avoid falling over their own feet?
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The Hare continues ambling over the concrete track to eventually disappear in the long grass of Long Mound. These are at 3.3 frames/sec
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A final glance back at the humans before going right over the Long Mound and disappearing through the hedge into our patch.
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Coming along the farm Road we see a vague brown 'blob' half
way up the Long Mound. A long focus lens identifies this as a hunkered down Hare.
Just one Hare here with ears down and ears up.
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As we crept along the concrete track suddenly a flood of Hares appears.
Altogether there were about 6 individuals running on the slope, across the concrete
track and across the grass margin into the crop field past the railings.
This is two Hares running one behind then other towards the railings -
3 frames accurately montaged at 5 frames per second.
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This continues the above but including 4 frames (again at 5 frames/sec)
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Our first Common Blue Damselfly for 2026, dwarfed by the bramble stem,
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Another Common Blue Damselfly - this time a mature male
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A back-lit male Beautiful Demoiselle.
You can see that the wings are translucent and see the details of the clasper
at his tip he uses to mate.
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A male Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly - here the wings are aligned and give their normal rather dark appearance.
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The extraordinary early Spring and then heatwave has produced an early
and generous show of Painted Lady Butterflies - a species we are rather too
far north to see each year with any reliability.
Its seems that not a lot is known about the cause of the migration, but it
seems that they return to the continent en-masse using favourable winds
at heights of about 500 metres. A few may hibernate in the UK - as the
seasons warm who knows what will happen.
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Another Painted Lady Butterfly, this time on less attractive but warmer corrugated iron. The right antenna is aligned with the camera rendering it 'invisible'
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This female Beautiful Demoiselle is perched on the tip of a Goosegrass stem.
The proper name of Goosegrass is Cleavers, but the plant is so horrible
to handle that it is also known as Stickyweed - which suits it perfectly.
As children we always heard it called Sweetheart for it's clingy nature, but
this local (Essex) name is probably just one of many.
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The Long Mound has self-set a a variety of plants new to us.
This unusual leaf is of a Bristly Oxtongue.
Each 'blister' is a spike as shown in the bottom left insert.
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Away to the south we see this Laburnum tree in full glory.
At the time we were planting our patch it was surrounded by cattle for
which Laburnum is very poisonous, so we avoided planting any.
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A Field Rose growing at the end of a 'grass' path leading up to the Meadow Photo site. Some aroma but smaller than both Dog and Burnet Roses. Its a well established little bush that must have been flowering for years.
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Regular sightings of Chiffchaffs are a new experience here. This one habitually perches on one of the incoming mains cables and often sings his heart out. There is probably a nest in the 'hedge' below.
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A Chiffchaff on the top of a conifer just a few metres to the side of the mains power lines.
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Our currently regular Chiffchaff studiously ignoring the humans a few metres below 'his' mains cable.
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In recent years we have been delighted to see Beautiful Demoiselle Damselflies
early in Spring, and this year has obliged again.
By Damselfly standards these are quite big - body about 45mm & wingspan 65mm.
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Noticing that the take-off and return to the same perch sometime occurs, we managed
to catch this arrival and landing of a female Beautiful Demoiselle.
Read this as Left (accurate montage), top right and bottom right.
The white marks near the tips of all four wings only appear on the females.
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This male Beautiful Demoiselle has his 4 wings nicely spread.
Backlighting makes the spread wings appear more lightly coloured than a normal view
with the wings aligned.
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Here we see a female Beautiful Demoiselle launching from a leaf.
View right to left, dipping down before soaring upwards.
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One of our yearly visitors is the Thick-legged Flower Beetle, here climbing
into a fresh Dog Rose flower.
Only the males have the bulges on the legs.
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The vivid Red and Black Moth is called the Cinnabar - after the colour of the poisonous mineral of the same name consisting of Mercury Sulfide (HgS).
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This is a Dock Bug resting on a leaf.
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Just before the pic above we see the same Dock Bug with some tiny insect taking a ride on the Shieldbug's carapace. We have been completely unable to identify the tiny hitchhiker.
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An elegant female Mallard Duck in flight.
The solid area of colour is called the 'Speculum'.
The males have a basically Blue speculum while the female's are this purplish colour.
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A pair of Mallard Ducks pose for a formal portrait like we see in Victorian photos
with the stalwart gentleman standing behind the seated lady!
Most Mallard Duck pairs have now departed for larger areas of
water where they can safely moult - Many ducks completely lose the
ability to fly for a few weeks so need somewhere 'safe'.
But this pair have stayed on - at least for now.
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The pregnant Reeves' Muntjac Deer has given birth to her Fawn, and here is just this one moment of evidence photographed at 5a.m. at the meadow site.
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Muntjac females accept male advances only a few days after birthing a Fawn, and the males must not miss the opportunity. These over a few seconds.
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Next day the male continues to assiduously follow the female.
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The venerable male Reeves' Muntjac Deer with Broken left antler seems to have knocked off a bit more of his already broken spike.
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