Yesterday Nigel and I had our annual trip over to Kent looking for Duke of Burgundy and assorted orchids. Although I had already seen the Duke in West Sussex it is always good to get over to the ancient woodland where they live in Kent as there are always other good insects about including beetles and various moths including the brilliant micro White-spotted Sable.
Several Dukes were seen in the first woodland with males as well as a couple of females observed egg laying.
Male Duke of Burgundy.
4 Duke of Burgundy eggs on Cowslip leaf.
Common Carpet.
After leaving the first wood we moved on to one of the famous orchid woods of Kent, a wood I last visited around 8 years ago. Several orchids normally found here were still not in flower but plenty of Lady and Fly orchids were seen.
A beautifully patterned Lady Orchid.
Fly Orchid.
We also saw 2 fabulous ichneumon wasps that Nigel managed to get shots of, check out his blog (East Sussex Wanderer) soon, to see them. Certainly a great day out. Roll on next year!!
Hi. The orchid is beautiful. Happy weekend.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful shots. The rain has come in, making my chances of spotting butterflies less likely.
ReplyDeleteLove.
ReplyDeleteHi Bob, on checking my books, the 'ichneumon' was in fact a rare species of cranefly (Ctenophora flaveolata) which occurs in ancient woodland in southern England. The photos that I took were not very good and so I wasn't intending to post any but a good find for the old boys outing. Nigel.
ReplyDeleteHi Bob
ReplyDeleteGreat pics. This was my favourite spot when living in Kent. Don't know if you remember me but my Wife & I met you both up in Scotland June 2015 whilst looking for Chequered Skipper along a River Valley? We are from Cornwall. Great blog