Nature Reserve Notes (1): From Butterflies to Beetles

We took advantage of the dry afternoon and ventured out to explore a local nature reserve in Suffolk, UK. The photographs below show some of the flora and fauna we noticed. We heard a lot of birdsong from the canopy, but saw surprisingly few birds. I will add the Ladybirds in a separate post, to make it easier for the those at the UK Ladybird Survey, who may like to compare my photos with my submitted records. 

I had been puzzling over this creature as it didn't seem to fit the ID marks of a Cardinal Beetle. I believe it is a Lily Beetle, as it was shorter and somewhat rounder than a Cardinal and it was marked with dimples. If you follow the link here, you can click to hear the Lily Beetle's alarm call.

I was hoping that we might see a mammal of some kind. The bushy tail here belongs to a Grey Squirrel, who was too shy to show his face. We were told that there were deer about, but we didn't see any. We did however see this spider, which i have not been able to identify ...

Readers of this blog will know that I saw my first Orange-tip Butterfly of the season a couple of days ago. On our nature reserve walk, we saw one or two more ...

This one had just landed on a clump of Alkanet.

It (or rather 'he' since the female Orange-tip does not have orange markings) closed its wings more tightly, revealing the fine mottled patterning on the outside.

This butterfly foxed me for a moment. It didn't quite seem to be a Common Blue, my first thought, but I am guessing that it is a male Holly Blue, since these small butterflies are often seen early in the season and have almost white wings (with dark speckles) on the outside.

© David Gill 2012

© David Gill 2012

I have thrown a link to this before, but I can't resist the opportunity to add that you will find Robert Frost's delightful poem, Blue-butterfly Day here.

Nature Reserve Notes: a list of species recognised (or discovered!). I saw many more insects and plants that I have not (yet) identified.

Mammals

1] Grey Squirrel, 13 May 2012

Birds

1] Moorhen, 13 May 2012
2] Jay, 13 May 2012
3] Dunnock, 13 May 2012 ~ Total 3
4] Wood pigeon, 13 May 2012

Insects

1] Lily Beetle, 13 May 2012
2] 7-spot Ladybird, 13 May 2012 ~ Total 37! 

3] 14-spot Ladybirds, 13 May 2012 ~ Total 2

4] Harlequin Ladybird, Harmonia axyridis succinea, 13 May 2012

3] Buff-tailed Bumblebee, 13 May 2012
4] Holly Blue Butterfly, 13 May 2012
5] Orange-tip Butterfly, 13 May 2012
6] A kind of ?Carpenter bee (on a wooden post with bore holes), 13 May 2012

Molluscs

1] A green Brown-lipped Snail, 13 May 2012
2] Slug, 13 May 2012

Plants

1] Alkanet, 13 May 2012
2] Forget-me-not, 13 May 2012
3] Stinging nettles, 13 May 2012
4] Blackberry brambles, 13 May 2012

I must keep an eye out for the trees next time. I noted one interesting conifer along the way ...