Migrant Hawker

Aeshna mixta, Mating Pair - College Lake, Buckinghamshire, 22/09/2012

Aeshna mixta, Mating Pair - College Lake, Buckinghamshire, 22/09/2012

Aeshna mixta, Mating Pair - College Lake, Buckinghamshire, 22/09/2012

Fly Orchid f. luteomarginata

This Fly Orchid Ophrys insectifera, photographed at a local site in June, displays some characteristics of the rare form luteomarginata. This highly distinctive form, once thought to be a separate species, is characterised by a yellow margin that fades to brown with age. This interesting plant was weakly marked but looked very different from the Fly Orchids that were growing in profusion at the near-by and is far from being a typical example of luteomarginata.

Ophrys insectifera f. luteomarginata - Buckinghamshire, 16/06/2012

Ophrys insectifera f. luteomarginata - Buckinghamshire, 16/06/2012

 Ophrys insectifera f. luteomarginata - Buckinghamshire, 16/06/2012

Compare the flower above with the typical Fly Orchid Ophrys insectifera shown below, photographed at the same site a few days earlier..

Ophrys insectifera, Buckinghamshire, 04/06/2012

Migrant Hawker

On Saturday morning, for want of something better to do, I wandered down to College Lake Reserve to pass a couple of hours. The weather was cool and breezy but there were still a Common Blues and the odd Small White on the wing. There were also a few dragonflies out and about including Ruddy and Common Darters basking in the weak sun and this inquisitive Migrant Darter Aeshna mixta aggressively patrolling its territory. Migrant Hawkers are great hoverer's and this male often came close as he gave me the once over, giving me a chance to grab some flight shots. I haven't quite nailed them but they are easily the best I've managed after years of trying!

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta, Male - College Lake, Buckinghamshire, 22/09/2012

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta, Male - College Lake, Buckinghamshire, 22/09/2012

Common Darter

I found these two obliging Common Darters Sympetrum striolatum basking on canes in the late summer sunshine at Whitecross Woods in Oxfordshire. I drove out to Whitecross in the hope of photographing an elusive Brown Hairstreak, but finding none spent an enjoyable couple of hours chasing Dragonflies instead! Common Hawkers love to sun themselves on twigs or warm surfaces such as paths and can be quite approachable and easy to photograph.

Male Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum - Whitecross Woods, Oxon, 11/08/2012

Female Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum - Whitecross Woods, Oxon, 11/08/2012

Marbled White

Melanargia galathea - Ragpits, Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, 24/07/2012

Chalkhill Blue

Male, Lysandra coridon - Radnage, Buckinghamshire, 12/08/2012

The flowery slopes overlooking Radnage Church were glittering with hundreds of Chalkhill Blues Lysandra coridon throughout the first half of August. Radnage is one of my favourite places, an archetypal Chilterns chalk downland decorated with Knapweeds, Thyme and Scabious and alive with butterflies.

Mating Pair, Lysandra coridon - Radnage, Buckinghamshire, 12/08/2012

 Mating Pair, Lysandra coridon - Radnage, Buckinghamshire, 12/08/2012

Mating Pair, Lysandra coridon - Radnage, Buckinghamshire, 12/08/2012

Marbled White

The Summer is drifting past and Marbled Whites are already coming to end of their brief fragile lives. This very ragged butterfly,fading to silvery and brown, looked strangely beautiful in the evening sun as it nectared on one of the last Pyramidal Orchids at Ragpits. It always feel slightly melancholic as the butterflies slowly fade away marking the passing of another summer. I hate to think that I will not see many of them until Summer comes around again.

Marbled White, Melanargia galathea on Pyramidal Orchid - Ragpits, Buckinghamshire, 05/08/2012