Keith Balmer

The first butterfly identified in the Alt text as a Ringlet is a Speckled Wood.

A slender bug with black and white markings standing on an Antirrhinum.

In the winter I sowed 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘮 (Snapdragons) specifically to try to attract 𝘋𝘪𝘤𝘺𝘱𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘦. On 30th June I beat one, and today found two by direct inspection. @willgeorge.bsky.social‬ has confirmed as a new species for Bedfordshire.

I've started calling them "Salty Sids" because they are in the Salticidae. Shame they have no particular connection with the sea.

Close-up of the head and mouthparts of a fly biting into skin. The eyes carry a beautiful sequence zig-zag bands of several colours.

A large fly kneeling to bite into human skin. The eyes carry a beautiful sequence zig-zag bands of several colours. The bites feels like pin pricks.

One of the female 𝘏𝘢𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘢 𝘴𝘱. (Clegs) chewing into the back of my left hand. Chose photography over pain relief - I hope you appreciate that!

A round hole in sand with the flat head of a Green Tiger Beetle larva visible inside.

A round hole in sand with a jaw of a Green Tiger Beetle larva just visible inside.

A round hole in sand filled with the flat head of a Green Tiger Beetle larva visible inside. There is a jaw visible, ready to catch passing prey.

They look like round holes about 5mm diameter. If the larva sees you coming they drop down inside, but will creep back up if you wait patiently. I find them on footpaths where the sand is compacted.

A shiny green weevil (a beetle with a long snout), feeding on a developing flower bud of Wild Liquorice.

Yesterday I heard of the existence of the rare weevil 𝘗𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘥𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘪 so went looking for it this afternoon. May have found it after 20 minutes, unless I have the wrong ID of course! Can anyone confirm please?

A male mayfly with large red bucket-shaped eyes, and a clear body with a dark tip.

A close-up of the hindwing appears to have a small spine and a pointed tip, hopefully confirming the ID.

Is there on online set of reference photos for Ephemeroptera imagos and sub-imagos? I'd like to check my tentative IDs. (e.g. is this a male Centroptilum luteolum?). iRecord seems the best I've found so far, but wondered if someone had a gallery somewhere...?

A large green beetle with long, spine-covered, legs, and a ferocious pair of sharp jaws that can puncture human skin if handled. It is clambering through leaf litter.

A large green beetle with long, spine-covered, legs, and a ferocious pair of sharp jaws that can puncture human skin if handled. It is standing on a dead leaf, with heather in the background.

I always enjoy the challenge of trying to photograph Green Tiger Beetles, 𝘊𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘴. Here's my first attempt of the year, on Bedfordshire heathland.

We are have updated our research into which garden plants attract the most pollinators. Our original research included 5 years of data. We then moved house so this is now 9 years of data over 2 different locations.
www.rosybee.com/research-study

A mass of green leaves with a Brimstone butterfly hanging from beneath one. The corners on the butterfly's wings mimic the drip tips on the leaves, and the colours are quite a good match too. There is a dark spot in the centre of the hindwing though that detracts from the camouflage.

Here's an example of the camouflage in action. Its spot detracts from the disguise on this occasion.

A small rounded shield-bug that is black all over except for a narrow white border along its sides (corium).

The first UK record for 2025 in iRecord of 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘴, Bordered Shieldbug, found today under some fallen bark.

A large hoverfly sitting on a leaf. The photo is a combination of about 10 photos. The front legs are a blur because the fly was actively cleaning them, but the rest of the insect was perfectly stationary and is sharp.

Taking a stacked photo while this female 𝘌𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘹 was clearing her front legs has produced an interesting result!

A map of Bedfordshire showing which 1km squares have butterfly record(s) for 2025. The map can be interrogated via the link in the post.

A table of data showing how many adults of each butterfly species have been reported in each week of 2025, so far. The totals for the year so far are Brimstone - 362, Comma - 191, Large White - 2, Peacock - 101, Red Admiral - 21, Small Tortoiseshell - 14, Small White 1.

Seven species of butterfly have been reported so far in 2025 in Bedfordshire. Small White and Large White are the only "hatchings" so far, the others were overwintered adults. The interactive iMap can be interrogated at www.keithbalmer.com/bedsbutterfl...

Three larvae in parallel with a ruler alongside showing them to be about 3mm long.

A bent cone-shaped protective case made small-grained material including lichens. The legs and head of the larva within can be seen projecting from the wide end, and it is walking upon dead wood.

A bent cone-shaped protective case made small-grained material including lichens. The legs and head of the larva within can be seen projecting from the wide end, and it is walking upon dead wood.

A bent cone-shaped protective case made small-grained material including lichens. The legs and head of the larva within can be seen projecting from the wide end, and it is walking upon dead wood.

𝘓𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 larvae grazing together on lichen and using it within their protective case.

I planted a couple of Pulmonaria two days ago and I've already had males and females visit them!

A Small Tortoiseshell butterfly basking on the ground in weak sunshine.

Delighted to find my first Small Tortoiseshell of 2025 today, near Bedford. Let's hope it can found another one as they are so scarce these days.

Thrum-eyed Primrose on the left, with the anthers located well above the stigma; Pin-eyed Primrose on the right, with the stigma on a long style located well above the anthers….great for encouraging cross-pollination!😃

The last seven segments of a glow-worm larva bent into an arch shape. The first few segments and the head can't be seen as they are pushed inside an old beetle hole in a thick piece of fallen conifer bark, where the larva is presumably looking for, or has found, a snail to eat. The larva wasn't moving and was underneath the fallen bark when I picked it up. It is a rather contorted shape if it was only resting/hibernating?

"It's dark down here, has anyone got a light?"

A glow worm larva under a piece of bark. The larva is long and black with nine obvious segments, plus a black head shaped like a semi-circle. The corner of each segment is tipped with pink colour.

A pseudoscorpion. It has eight real legs, plus a pair out in front with long pincers for catching prey. Unlike real scorpions it has no tail or sting.

Rummaging around under dead wood today I found a pseudoscorpion, 𝘊𝘩𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴, and a larva of a glow-worm 𝘓𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘢.

Screenshot from iMap, an interactive tool showing all the 1km squares in Bedfordshire. Each square can be interrogated to list what species have been recorded. The selection shown is of all locations where species have been reported so far in 2025.

A screenshot showing how many butterflies of each species have been reported each week in 2025 so far. This week there have been 16 Brimstones, 6 Commas, 7 Peacocks and 8 Red Admirals. Also shown is a list of all today's sightings.

Butterfly reports pouring in for today in Bedfordshire. 20 so far...

iMap (www.keithbalmer.com/bedsbutterfl...) has been updated with all this year's records from online sources.

A Comma butterfly basking in sunshine. This species is notable for ragged wing edges which help with camouflage. The ground colour is a deep orange, and there are black and lighter-orange markings on all the wings.

Three Commas seen this afternoon, all successfully survived the rigours of winter pretending to be dead leaves.

A Peacock butterfly basking on a log in full sunshine.

On the first day of meteorological spring, my first butterfly of 2025, a Peacock, recently emerged from hibernation.

What are these "down" with respect to please? 2023's numbers; 5-year average; 10-year average, etc. i.e. what history are you comparing against?

An enlarged bud on Hazel.

An enlarged bud on Hazel cut open to reveal the mites inside.

An enlarged bud on Hazel cut open to reveal the mites inside. They are tiny, pale, translucent and worm-like. There are probably hundreds inside the gall.

An enlarged bud on Hazel cut open to reveal the mites inside. They are tiny, pale, translucent and worm-like. There are probably hundreds inside the gall.

"Big Bud" gall on Hazel caused by the mite 𝘗𝘩𝘺𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘦. Easy to spot on the terminal buds of affected Hazel branches.

Phytoptus avellanae - Wikipedia

I learned about "Big Bud" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytopt...) on Saturday at the @wildlifebcn.bsky.social conference. Something to look out for this year...

This week I have been mostly:
1) Completing the first draft of the 2024 butterfly report.
2) Doing habitat management on a nature reserve.
3) Volunteering at my local museum.
4) Attending a conference on wildlife conservation.
5) Laughing at Trump and Musk.
P.S. I'm retired, so I can't be fired!

The cockpit door has stuck again.

A caterpillar, about 6mm long, with longitudinal stripes of various shades of brown along its length. Its head capsule is also brown. There are long hairs (many backward pointing) along the entire length, including the head.

Found this Ringlet(?) larva in an autumn-cut haystack on a nature reserve today. I was just curious to see what inverts might be in the stack. Need to investigate further when there isn't a cold wind blowing right through me...

Graph of weekly counts for 2024 for Large White versus 1995-2023, showing a reduced second brood but an extra "bonus" peak in late summer.

Our "whites" had a relatively poor second brood, but they had an extra peak as a result of a third brood and/or migration, which brought up the year's totals. Here's Large White's weekly counts.

Chart showing each Bedfordshire species' flight period coloured according to each brood's success in 2024. There is considerable variation between species and even between broods within one species. It was a complicated season in Bedfordshire.

I thought a chart derived from an analysis of records might help me to understand the 2024 butterfly season in Bedfordshire. #Bedfordshire #butterflies