Butterflies and More at Hollesley Marshes

We decided to explore a section of the sea-wall at Hollesley Marshes, a small section of the Suffolk coast that was new to us. It was a very blustery afternoon, but dry and not very cold. To our surprise we found a good range of lepidoptera, a dragonfly and quite a few blue damselflies (which I have yet to check). 

Butterflies seen:

1. Speckled Wood (above)
2. Painted Lady 
3. Red Admiral
   
4. Large Skipper (our first of the season)
5. Green Hairstreak
6. Small Tortoiseshell
7. Green-veined White
8. Speckled Wood
   

Moth:

1. (A rather tatty) Yellow Shell
   

Dragonfly: 

1. Hairy Dragonfly
   

The area contains an inland RSPB reserve and also the coastal and estuarine reserve of Simpson's Saltings, run by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. The next two photos show a couple of meres in the RSPB part of the site.

The photo below shows a larger wetland area on the landward side of the sea-wall. We saw a range of waterbirds here; Shoveler, Shelduck, Avocet, Mute Swan, Redshank, Lapwing and more.

I was very taken with this secluded bay in the Simpson's Saltings area. The wide estuary beyond is part of the river; the shore is reserved for wildlife so we admired it from the bank.

Shoveler on one of the landward meres

 

The next photo shows David on the sea-wall. The strong wind was responsible for all those white horses beyond.

Green Hairstreak

Red Admiral (and below)

The red arrow shows the saltings on the Alde-Ore estuary site

A very tattered Yellow Shell moth

Large Skipper butterfly

Hairy Dragonfly

You can see the hairy thorax below the eyes

wildflowers; the poppies were stunning

Small Toroiseshell

A drift of Thrift

A wasp, as yet unidentified, probably collecting slivers of wood

 

Green-veined White

Damselfly season kicking off apace!

Latest Lepidopteran Garden Sightings

We had a short burst of sunshine yesterday morning, and were delighted to find our first Gatekeeper of the year in the garden.

We also noticed this moth, which I'm guessing is a Silver Y on account of the 'Y' markings, though it seemed an unusual pose for one of these insects. It was resting in dappled shade under the Silver Birch, and was tricky to photograph. 

A new flower, the mauve one below, has opened in the place where we planted the wildflower seeds given to us by Butterfly Conservation (Suffolk branch). I'm assuming this IS Corncockle rather than the yellow one, which I now think is Corn Marigold. Please correct me if I still haven't got these names sorted! I hope the weather will improve so that insects are attracted to these latest blooms.

#30DaysWild, Day 8: Knapweed Surprise

I seem to have been preoccupied with correspondence during the last 36 hours, so, with some reluctance, I will pass over Dr Miriam Darlington's tempting #30DaysWildCreativity meme offered today by her guest, Sarah Acton, though I would like to try it at some point. 

Instead I have opted for this morning's discovery which follows on perfectly from yesterday's post about the new Knapweed plant in our wild garden...

Look! Caterpillars at last! 

I am pretty excited, particularly since they were not there yesterday, and I'm not entirely sure I know whose larvae they are (I had wondered Angle Shades since the moth had been in the area, but I am not sure the pictures match). I am in the process of trying to find out, but do leave a comment if you can help. 

In yesterday's post I wrote about what insects the Knapweed might attract, little thinking that by this morning there would be at least four hungry mouths feeding on the plant. The weather has not been particularly bright or warm, but, as they say, what a difference a day makes...

-----------------------

UPDATE, August 2020

Having guessed these were moth larvae, I am now wondering if they might be Hoverfly larvae. The reason is the photo in the pop-up window labelled 'Hoverfly larvae' on this UK Safari page. Other suggestions from kind folk on iSpot are both types of Orthosia; O. gracilis (Powdered Quaker) and O. gothica (Hebrew Character) and

Ruby Tiger Moth

I have kept an eagle eye out for moths ever since our encounter with the Red Underwing at Oxburgh Hall. That particular insect made me realise how much there is to these shy insects in terms of hidden colour as you will see if you click here. And then today I found what I think may be a young Ruby Tiger moth nestling in the lawn on our home patch. I may, of course, be quite wrong in my identification, but my guess has now been endorsed on iSpot. Please enlighten me if you think I am barking up the wrong tree!

My poetry chapbook, The Holy Place, (published by The Seventh Quarry and co-authored with John Dotson - details here) contains a short poem about the larva of the Isabella Tiger moth (Pyrrharctia isabella), which is often referred to as a woolly bear. Up until now I have never knowingly seen a Tiger Moth of any variety, so I count today as a bit of a red-letter day, particularly since the insect in my photos was spotted right here in our garden.

Our lawn has not be mown for a few days which has given these yellow dandelion-like flowers Mouse-ear Hawkweed heads (thank you, Conehead, for your ID) a chance to flourish. One year they seemed to be the magnet for some Skipper butterflies, and this year I suspect they may be partly responsible for the presence of the new moth.

I have studied the photo below as best I can (it isn't the best of photos for identification purposes), and am assuming that the usual spot (or spots) on the forewings has (or have) yet to develop.

What caught my eye were the bright rose shades on the hindwings as the moth flew towards the grass. Sadly these remain tucked away in my photos, unlike the 'fur' on the thorax, but you can see what they look like here. This species is not rare and may well be a familiar species to you. It is new to me (whatever if is!), and I hope you will share my joy!

A Medley of Moths

Muslin Moth (Diaphora mendica or Cycnia mendica), 16 Sept 2015, Flatford Mill, Suffolk

Having posted a photograph for each butterfly species I have seen here, I felt it would be good to post a few of my moth pictures. Now, I am all but a total novice when it comes to moths. I can tell a couple of our day-flying ones, but that is about all. I would love to begin to learn a bit more and have attempted identifications where possible, but would be delighted to hear from you if you can correct any errors.

The photos in this post are, I'm afraid, in no particular order, but they help me to see something of the huge variety of moths.

Drinker moth (Euthrix potatoria, aka Philudoria potatoria), 25 July 2015, Wicken Fen

Gold Swift, Phymatopus hecta 14 July 2010, Badenoch, Scotland

Yellow Shell , 23 June 2014, Mull (near Ulva ferry), Scotland

Yellow Shell (Camptogramma bilineata), 30 Aug 2016, home patch

Blood Vein (Timandra comae) or ?Small Blood-vein, 10 Sept. 2017, Sutton Hoo

Red Underwing (Catocala nupta), 10 August 2016, Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk

Straw Underwing (Thalpophila matura), 20 Aug 2015, home 

?Micromoth... to be identified, 2017, home patch

Light Brown Apple Moth, home patch

(Epiphyas postvittana)

(Epiphyas postvittana) Homepatch

?Carpet moth, 2015, Grimshoe Mound, Grimes Graves

?Shaded broad bar, Snape, Suffolk, 2017

(Scotopteryx chenopodiata)

6-spot Burnet (Zygaena filipendulae)

 ... above and below. We have watched these emerging once on the Summer Isles and once at Carlton Marshes in Suffolk.

Cinnabar moth, 5 June 2016, Snape

??Vestal moth, 20 June 2016, Whithorn, Scotland

Silver Y, June 2016, Dunwich Heath

Chimney Sweeper (Odezia atrata) , 15 June 2016, Lake District

Unidentified - home, window

Buff-Ermine, moth, (Spilosoma lutea), home, 16 Aug 2015

Swallowtail-moth (Ourapteryx sambucaria), 30 June 2015, home

Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis), 2015, home patch

Common Quaker moth, (Orthosia cerasi) 28 March 2011, Dinefwr, Wales

Mint moth (Pyrausta purpuralis), 1 August 2014, Avebury

Mint moth, Flatford RSPB garden

?Fairy longhorn moth (Adela reaumurella), Home patch, 2015

Green Longhorn Moth

The insect below, seen at WWT Welney, is NOT a moth. It is, however, a longhorn beetle...

NOT A MOTH! This longhorn beetle is Aromia moschata or Musk Beetle

 We finish this selection with a creature that is NOT A BIRD but a moth...

Hummingbird Hawk-moth, 24 Aug 2015, Suffolk

And finally, a couple of photos of the Hummingbird Hawk-Moths I saw in 2010 in the Peloponnese in Greece...

(Macroglossum stellatarum) Pylos area, Peloponnese, 2010

(Macroglossum stellatarum) Koroni, Peloponnese, Greece, 2010

I have posted lepidoptera larvae photos before, but will perhaps post these again soon, with a few new additions... Meanwhile, I hope there will be more adult moths to spot (except in my wardrobe...) in the days to come as summer morphs into autumn.

P.S. Having posted about the butterfly books I have read this summer, it makes sense to mention that I am currently reading A Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joy by Michael McCarthy, which is reviewed here. I was perhaps expecting more about moths but I haven't finished the book yet so cannot give an overall impression. I love the 'joyful' concept that filters through the pages. There is also a good section on the colour blue (my favourite) and its place in the natural world...