Wallington & Far Pastures

Started yesterday at Wallington Hall in Northumberland. As I was working on Bank holiday Monday this was my wife’s and my Bank holiday Monday. A couple of Red Squirrel were seen from the hide, as was this Great Spotted Woodpecker. Loads of butterfly were in the gardens including this Red Admiral and Coma as was this (I presume) Hoverfly. Later that afternoon I had a drive down to Far Pastures in the hope of seeing Ruddy Darter. The second Dragonfly I saw was a Ruddy Darter, result. There were quite a few Common Darter around and a large Hawker, which I could not identify.

Wallington Hall

GSW

Red Admiral

Coma

Hoverfly

Ruddy Darter

Ruddy Darter

Mature Common Darter

Mature Common Darter

Immature male Common Darter with dinner

Common Darter

Common Darter close up

A grab shot of a Common Darter in flight

 

Last Week

On holiday last week visiting my wife’s relatives but managed to get in a few days of photography as well. The Red Kites and Buzzards, which were fantastic to watch, were taken at Gigrin farm near Rhayader in Wales, the butterflies were taken at Berrington National Trust near Leominster in Herefordshire. Here are just a few of the images I took. The first three images are of a "White" Red Kite.

"White" Red Kite

Red Kite

 

Buzzard

Red Admiral

Coma

Small Tortoiseshell

Mating Whites

 

Dragonfly & Butterflies

A few shots taken in the garden yesterday, with one or two nice surprises (at least for me) thrown in.

I think this is a Southern Hawker. I have never seen one before let alone one in the garden.

Southern Hawker

Southern Hawker

Southern Hawker

Coma

Coma



Red Admiral (first of the year for me)

Peacock

Peacock

Green-veined White

Small Tortoiseshell

The only reason I have put this shot in is because out of focus butterfly next to the Peacock butterfly
a White-letter Hairstreak 

The two shots below are also out of focus but I think they show again a White-letter Hairstreak, a butterfly I only saw for the first time a few weeks ago and now to see one in the garden is to me amazing (even though they are out of focus).



White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak

 

Butterflies & Dragonflies

A few butterfly & dragonfly shots from Kibblesworth. I have never managed to get shots of Grayling anywhere other than on the ground, I got lucky here, I got them mating. It was fairly windy and the Emperor Dragonfly was flying into the wind which made flight shots easier.

Grayling

Grayling

Grayling

Grayling

Emperor Dragonfly

Coma

Common Darter

Common Darter

Meadow Brown

Four-spotted Chaser

Four-spotted Chaser

Four-spotted Chaser

Four-spotted Chaser

Small Tortoiseshell

Small Tortoiseshell

Common Blue