Alison Wrisdale

Young Hedgehogs in my garden. Nature has a way of cheering you up when you are down (still feeling cr@p on day 14 of COVID infection). There was another youngster but that one stayed close to Mum and they went off into one of my flower borders. Photos taken from a distance to avoid disturbance 😊.

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) on my neighbour's roof this morning 🙂

Nice to find a couple of Red Underwing moths (Catocala nupta), high up on my house wall today, Northants.

Batman Hoverfly (Myathropa florea), on water mint in my garden.

19th year of CES bird ringing completed today in the reedbed at Stanwick Lakes, Northants. Sad it's ended but we had a lovely surprise. A Bittern flew right over our heads, at around 5:20 am, when we were putting up the second net ☺️.

Common Carder Bee in my garden

Heartbreaking 😢

Wasp Spider, Speckled Wood butterfly and Willow Emerald damselfly - at Stanwick Lakes, Northants.

Little bumblebee on Agapanthus in my garden.

Underside of a Wasp Spider female. The zig zag band of silk is the stabilimentum. This is the underside of the spider, for a change, showing the spinneret. I counted 58 of these spiders in just 15 minutes this week, the meadow must be full of them😊. Stanwick Lakes, Northants.

Wasp spider, Stanwick Lakes, Northants. The more I looked, the more I found. 36 individuals in just 10 minutes, there must be hundreds in the area. Fabulous wee beasties, in my opinion anyway 😊.

Seven-spot Ladybirds (Coccinella septempunctata). Lots of these around this year 😊

Large White butterfly (Pieris brassicae), in my garden.

Corn Bunting (Emberiza calandra). Delighted to see a pair of these at Welney, Norfolk. They are in sharp decline and a Red Listed species in the UK.

Wasp Spider (Argiope bruennichi). The females are getting larger, week by week. I counted 15 today in a very short time and in a very small area. Males are tiny and hard to find 😂. Stanwick Lakes, Northants.

Small White butterfly (Pieris rapae), in my garden

Brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni), in my garden

Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator), at Stanwick Lakes, Northants.

Marbled White (Melanargia galathea). My favourite butterfly, I love the patterns on the underwings - at Stanwick Lakes, Northants.

Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata).

Scarlet Tiger moth (Callimorpha dominula) at Stanwick Lakes, Northants.

Black Hairstreak Butterfly (Satyrium pruni) with a Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas) at Stanwick Lakes, Northants

Scarce Chaser dragonfly (Libellula fulva)

FEED ME! Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus), adult and chick.

Wood White butterfly (Leptidea sinapis)

Four-spotted Chaser dragonfly (Libellula quadrimaculata)

Dawn chorus in the reedbed

Dawn chorus

Magpie (Pica pica), posed nicely for me

Apple, Hawthorn and Cherry blossoms. I couldn't smell any of them today, due to a cold 😅