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Image-of-the-Day by Subject

Image Taken on 18 Aug 2009 at 09:50    Image of day on 27 Sep 2009

Continuing from yesterdays night flying moth, first a subtle brown moth called the 'Swallow Prominent'.


Ref: 20090927_da1_20090818_0950_195+1033_287_ft1 swallow prominent moth male in flight with rough hawks-beard flower (montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image of day on 04 Jul 2005

A small leaf fall at a isolated sycamore resulted in this interesting collage of greens and browns.


Ref: 20050704_p20_1020431 sycamore fallen leaves midsummer 2005jun24_18-00-06(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 14 Aug 2011 at 14:40    Image of day on 30 Sep 2011

2 minutes later, without at the time making any connection, we took this image of such a parasitic fly nearby. These flies feed on nectar, but lay their eggs inside various (it seems mostly moth) caterpillars which the subsequent larvae eat from the inside. Yuck! We can't be sure of a connection, but we will be watching.


Ref: 20110930_db1_20110814_1440_061 tachina fera (q) parasitic fly on knapweed flower (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 05 Aug 2006 at 10:30    Image of day on 15 Aug 2006

The Teasel head on the left has finished flowering, while that on the right is yet to flower. The spider's web at the top deteriorates and get 'refurbished' every few days.


Ref: 20060815_p32_20060805_1030_276 teasel 4 seq (web crop & proc)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 07 Dec 2010 at 09:01    Image of day on 01 Feb 2011

Some more air-frost images from our patch. First a teasel head. No doubt the seeds still in the head will be fine to germinate or get eaten by Goldfinches when it thaws.


Ref: 20110201_p34_20101207_0901_730 teasel head in -8c frost (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 31 May 2011 at 12:30    Image of day on 01 Jul 2011

While we were watching the butterfly, this Thick-legged Flower Beetle got in on the act. According to some books this is the male, the females not sporting the leg bulges, but the descriptions get muddled into another species & we are not sure.


Ref: 20110701_df1_20110531_1230_094 thick-legged flower beetle (oedemera nobilis) male in buttercup flower(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 08 Jul 2007 at 14:50    Image of day on 23 Jul 2007

These iridescent beetles really catch the eye. At the time we unknowingly photographed male (bulbous legs) and female 3 minutes apart on the same patch. Get to it!


Ref: 20070723_d10_20070708_1450_095&1453_112 thick-legged flower beetles male (left) and female (right) on blackberry flowers (montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 15 Feb 2012 at 14:25    Image of day on 18 Mar 2012

Treecreeper behaviour we have glimpsed a few times over the years, but never photographed. These 3 images were taken over a few seconds as the bird moved left to right moving down and up again - literally creeping over the tree before disappearing round the back and magically vanishing.


Ref: 20120318_df1_20120215_1425_087+089+091 treecreeper on willow trunk by orchard pond (left to right over a few seconds) (acc montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 23 Mar 2012 at 16:11    Image of day on 26 Apr 2012

We haven't identified this Bumble Bee, but love the dusting of pollen from the willow catkin.


Ref: 20120426_df1_20120323_1611_063 unident bumble bee on willow catkin (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 03 Oct 2011 at 13:03    Image of day on 19 Nov 2011

This appears to be a Cuckoo Bee but we don't have enough experience or the right books to definitively ID it. Cuckoo Bees do what their name says - they lay eggs in another bees nest.


Ref: 20111119_da1_20111003_1303_139+20111001_1605_043_ft1 unident cuckoo bee in flight with yellow buddleia (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 05 Jun 2010 at 14:35    Image of day on 15 Jul 2010

We often see Lacewings as an almost ghostly blue haze slowly flying in and out of hedges. So here is a good look at one of the larger one. One ID book says are 14 species in the UK, of which we can find photos or drawings of about 5 altogether. None of them include the wing spots this one has, so are not even going to guess at further identification.


Ref: 20100715_da1_20100605_1435_059+20100604_1627_370_ft1 unident lacewing (24mm span & dark head & wing spots) in flight with blackberry leaf (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 09 Sep 2007 at 13:14    Image of day on 12 Oct 2007

This little creature landed on Marie while picking blackberries. We now have an experts confirmation that this is a Palomena prasina nymph that will be adult at it's next stage. Thanks to Judith K. for getting the expert assessment for us


Ref: 20071012_p34_20070909_1314_216 unidentified shieldbug (10mm long) by clover leaf next to self-heal flower(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 02 Mar 2008 at 08:34    Image of day on 27 Mar 2008

Violets under an old Silver birch have appeared every one of our 17 years here, and probably for decades before.


Ref: 20080327_p34_20080302_0834_198 violet flower(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 02 Mar 2007 at 10:41    Image of day on 16 Mar 2007

A detail from a bed of violet flowers


Ref: 20070316_p34_20070302_1041_428 violet flowers(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 24 Apr 2009 at 11:02    Image of day on 20 May 2009

We have been doing UV (Ultra violet) images of as many variants of bluebells as we have (natural, white variant, a pink variant and the invasive Spanish). We have a couple of clumps of the white variant amongst thousands of naturals and Spanish hybrids.
We plan to add hundreds of UV images (flowers & insects) as a special new section later in 2009 - if you want any bluebells or others in advance just ask.


Ref: 20090520_p34_20090424_1102_657 white bluebell (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 29 May 2009 at 15:04    Image of day on 29 Jun 2009

Some other moths in the trap included 'Ermine' moths which have beautiful speckled wings. The first image is of the White Ermine.


Ref: 20090629_d01_20090529_1504_178+1556_272 ft1 white ermine moth in flight with oak leaves (montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 14 Aug 2011 at 16:19    Image of day on 01 Oct 2011

We had hoped that the characteristic purple centre flower of 'Wild Carrot' (also known as 'birds nest' plant) might show something interesting in Ultra Violet light, but were disappointed all of the petals on both sides dark in UV
See A survey of British Wildlife in Ultra Violet (UV) Light
This natural light image includes detail showing the centre flower which takes a different form as well as colour to the white flowers.


Ref: 20111001_d12_20110814_1619_012 wild carrot centre flower detail (crop with detail insert)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 03 Jun 2006 at 16:40    Image of day on 11 Jun 2006

Another of the Wild Rose images (without the perfume). We hope to include this one in a Bud > Flower > Hip animated sequence in the Autumn.


Ref: 20060611_p32_20060603_1640_120 wild rose 3 seq(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 31 May 2006 at 10:52    Image of day on 07 Jun 2006

The wild roses in the hedge are soaking the air in perfume. Sorry this pic can only show the flowers and not the scent.


Ref: 20060607_p32_20060531_1052_890 wild rose cluster (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image of day on 21 Jun 2005

The wild roses are flowering in the hedges and making a wonderful sight and aroma.


Ref: 20050621_p20_1020299 wild rose flower 2005jun17_18-01-16(r+mb id@576).jpg

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