Birdy and Butterflies

Birdy continues to thrive, when he is not mewling for food he is wing flapping and leaping up in the air making a shrill, almost panicky call. The adults are bringing in food and are very protective so it won't be long before he properly fledges.

A busy week at work has seen me stressed and arsey, very unlike me, and on Friday 14th July I needed a wildlife chill out so I headed to Ford Park Cemetery for a butterfly walk despite the cloudy sky and breeze. It was warm and humid and the sun did eventually appear and there were plenty of butterflies on the wing.

Marbled White

Marbled White

Gatekeeper

Large Skipper

I wandered over to Central Park for a look around but failed to find any white letter hairstreaks although 3 commas were nice to see along with a hornet mimic hoverfly (Volucella zonaria) and a very smart looking painted lady butterfly.

Comma

Comma

Volucella zonaria or Belted Hoverfly

Hornet Mimic Hoverfly

Red Admiral

Painted Lady

Two fledgling ravens were making lots of noise in their usual pine tree in the cemetery and there were lots of 6 spot burnet on the wing as well.

 Fledgling Ravens

Fledgling Ravens

 6 Spot Burnet Moth Caterpillar

6 Spot Burnet Moths mating