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  • Large White - Pieris brassicae. Male (top) - female (bottom). Wingspan 60mm. As its name suggests, this the largest British ‘white’ butterfly. Adult upperwings are creamy-white with black tip to forewing; female has additional two spots on forewing. Underwings are yellowish. Adult flies May–September. Larva is black and yellow and feeds on cabbages and related plants; usually found in groups. Common and widespread, and often seen in the garden.
    156707.jpg
  • Purple Hairstreak - Neozephyrus quercus = Favonius quercus. Male (top) - female  (centre and bottom (underside)). Wingspan 38mm. A rather enigmatic butterfly that can be hard to observe closely. As an adult it usually remains close to the top of the mature tree where its life-cycle began. Lives in colonies. Adults have brown upperwings; males have purple sheen on both wings, in females it is restricted to hindwings. Underwings are grey with hairstreak line. Larva is brown and rather slug-like; feeds on oak buds. Widespread but locally common only in southern England and Wales.
    156706.jpg
  • Cryptic Wood White - Leptidea juvernica. Male (top) - female (bottom).
    156708.jpg
  • Chequered Skipper - Carterocephalus palaemon. Male (top) - female (bottom). Wingspan 25mm. An attractive little butterfly that attracts conservation interest. Hides in deep cover on dull days; active and fast-flying on sunny days but fond of sunbathing. Adult has rich brown upperwings with orange-yellow spots; underwings are paler brown than upperwings, with pale spots. Flies May–June. Larva is nocturnal and feeds on various grasses. Very locally common in open birchwoods in northwest Scotland; used to live in England but now extinct there.
    156715.jpg
  • Clouded Yellow - Colias croceus. Male (top) - female (bottom). Wingspan 50mm. A fast-flying migrant visitor to Britain, from mainland Europe. Adult has dark-bordered upperwings that are rich orange-yellow in male, pale yellow in female. Both sexes have yellow underwings with a few dark markings. Larva is green with pale yellow lateral line; feeds on Lucerne and other members of the pea family. A summer visitor to Britain, seen mainly in coastal areas; generally scarce but common in some years.
    156704.jpg
  • White-letter Hairstreak - Strymondia w-album. Male (top) - female (bottom). Wingspan 35mm. Small, active butterfly that is hard to observe closely. Usually flies around treetops but also visits Bramble flowers to feed. Adult seldom reveals upperwings. Underwings are brown with jagged orange band and white ‘w’ on hindwing. Flies July-Aug. Larva is rather slug-like and feeds on elms. Widespread loss of larval foodplants from Dutch elm disease has caused decline. Today it is very local, in central and southern England and Wales.
    156713.jpg
  • Small White Pieris rapae  Wingspan 45mm. Appreciably smaller than Large White. Adult upperwings are creamy-white with dark tip to forewing; female has two dark spots on forewing. Underwings are yellowish. Adult flies April–May and July–August. Larva is green, speckled with tiny pale dots; feeds on cultivated cabbage and related plants. Common and widespread, and often seen in the garden.
    156978.jpg
  • Brimstone - Gonepteryx rhamni. Male (top) - female (bottom). Wingspan 60mm. A colourful butterfly and a harbinger of spring. Adult has distinctive wings: rounded overall with pointed tips; those on the forewings are hooked. Male is brimstone-yellow; female is much paler and could be mistaken for a Large White in flight. Single-brooded: adults hatch in August, then hibernate and emerge on sunny spring days. Larva is green with pale lateral line; feeds on Buckthorn and Alder Buckthorn. Locally common in England and Wales.
    156705.jpg
  • Orange-tip - Anthocharis cardamines. Male (top) - female (bottom). Wingspan 40mm. A familiar spring butterfly, males of which are unmistakable. Adult has rounded wings. Forewing is dark-tipped but male has an adjacent orange patch. Underside of hindwing of both sexes is marbled green and white. Adult flies April–June. Larva is green with whitish counter shading; feeds mainly on Cuckoo-flower. Widespread in southern Britain and Ireland; associated with open woodland, verges, and rural gardens.
    156709.jpg
  • Lesser Spotted Catshark - Scyliorhinus canicula (top fish)<br />
Starry Smooth Hound - Mustelus asterias (middle fish)<br />
Smooth Hound - Mustelus mustelus (bottom fish)
    145324.jpg
  • Dingy Skipper Erynnis tages Wingspan 25mm. The most moth-like of the skippers, with a buzzing flight. Adult has dark grey-brown upperwings; underwings are reddish-brown. Flies May–June. Larva is nocturnal and feeds mainly on Bird’s-foot Trefoil but also related plants. Locally common in England and Wales in meadows and grassy woodland clearings.
    156977.jpg
  • Clouded Yellow - Colias croceus - Male (top) - female - (middle) - female, form helice (bottom). Wingspan 50mm. A fast-flying migrant visitor to Britain, from mainland Europe. Adult has dark-bordered upperwings that are rich orange-yellow in male, pale yellow in female. Both sexes have yellow underwings with a few dark markings. Larva is green with pale yellow lateral line; feeds on Lucerne and other members of the pea family. A summer visitor to Britain, seen mainly in coastal areas; generally scarce but common in some years.
    156725.jpg
  • Pectoral Sandpiper - Calidris melanotos (left) and Dunlin - Calidris alpina (right)
    156701.jpg
  • Wood White - Leptidea sinapis. Male 1st generation (top) - female 1st generation (second down) - male 2nd generation (third down) - female 2nd generation (bottom).
    156710.jpg
  • Pale Clouded Yellow - Colias hyale
    156711.jpg
  • Lady Orchid - Orchid purpurea (top row - Oxfordshire, bottom row - Kent)
    160838.jpg
  • Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros (L 14cm) has benefited from urban sprawl and indeed often thrives in areas where industrial dereliction prevails. It is a bold bird that perches conspicuously, quivering striking red tail in an obvious manner. Adult males are particularly striking, with slate-grey body plumage darkest on the face and breast. By comparison, female and immature birds are rather drab, with mainly grey-brown body plumage. In a strange way, the Black Redstart’s song sometimes match its surroundings and includes curious crackling, static-like phrases. Between 50 and 100 pairs attempt to nest here each year but the species is more numerous as a passage migrant and occasional winter visitor to south coasts.
    120053.jpg
  • Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros (L 14cm) has benefited from urban sprawl and indeed often thrives in areas where industrial dereliction prevails. It is a bold bird that perches conspicuously, quivering striking red tail in an obvious manner. Adult males are particularly striking, with slate-grey body plumage darkest on the face and breast. By comparison, female and immature birds are rather drab, with mainly grey-brown body plumage. In a strange way, the Black Redstart’s song sometimes match its surroundings and includes curious crackling, static-like phrases. Between 50 and 100 pairs attempt to nest here each year but the species is more numerous as a passage migrant and occasional winter visitor to south coasts.
    129281.jpg
  • Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros (L 14cm) has benefited from urban sprawl and indeed often thrives in areas where industrial dereliction prevails. It is a bold bird that perches conspicuously, quivering striking red tail in an obvious manner. Adult males are particularly striking, with slate-grey body plumage darkest on the face and breast. By comparison, female and immature birds are rather drab, with mainly grey-brown body plumage. In a strange way, the Black Redstart’s song sometimes match its surroundings and includes curious crackling, static-like phrases. Between 50 and 100 pairs attempt to nest here each year but the species is more numerous as a passage migrant and occasional winter visitor to south coasts.
    139561.jpg
  • Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros (L 14cm) has benefited from urban sprawl and indeed often thrives in areas where industrial dereliction prevails. It is a bold bird that perches conspicuously, quivering striking red tail in an obvious manner. Adult males are particularly striking, with slate-grey body plumage darkest on the face and breast. By comparison, female and immature birds are rather drab, with mainly grey-brown body plumage. In a strange way, the Black Redstart’s song sometimes match its surroundings and includes curious crackling, static-like phrases. Between 50 and 100 pairs attempt to nest here each year but the species is more numerous as a passage migrant and occasional winter visitor to south coasts.
    139565.jpg
  • WOOD DUCK Aix sponsa Length 43-50cm<br />
A distinctive duck, males of which have gaudy and striking plumage. Females, although sombre by comparison, are well marked although the potential for confusion with a female Mandarin Duck must be considered. The sexes are strikingly dissimilar.<br />
Adult male has a shiny greenish blue crown and mane, adorned with white lines. The chin and throat are white, extending onto the face as white lines. The breast is maroon, the flanks are buff and the back is greenish; these three areas are separated by white lines. Adult female has mainly brown plumage, darkest on the back and head. The breast and flanks are marked with fine buffish streak-like spots. There is a white ‘spectacle’ around the eye and the white is more extensive than in a female Mandarin Duck. There is a small and well-defined amount of white on the throat and the bill is uniformly dark. Juvenile resembles an adult female but the colours are duller and the patterns less striking. STATUS A North American native that has established itself, to a limited degree, as a result of escaping from wildfowl collections or being deliberately released. It favours well-vegetated lakes with wooded margins.
    145647.jpg
  • Black Redstart - Phoenicurus ochruros - immature. (L 14cm) has benefited from urban sprawl and indeed often thrives in areas where industrial dereliction prevails. It is a bold bird that perches conspicuously, quivering striking red tail in an obvious manner. Adult males are particularly striking, with slate-grey body plumage darkest on the face and breast. By comparison, female and immature birds are rather drab, with mainly grey-brown body plumage. In a strange way, the Black Redstart’s song sometimes match its surroundings and includes curious crackling, static-like phrases. Between 50 and 100 pairs attempt to nest here each year but the species is more numerous as a passage migrant and occasional winter visitor to south coasts.
    156997.jpg
  • Black Redstart - Phoenicurus ochruros - immature. (L 14cm) has benefited from urban sprawl and indeed often thrives in areas where industrial dereliction prevails. It is a bold bird that perches conspicuously, quivering striking red tail in an obvious manner. Adult males are particularly striking, with slate-grey body plumage darkest on the face and breast. By comparison, female and immature birds are rather drab, with mainly grey-brown body plumage. In a strange way, the Black Redstart’s song sometimes match its surroundings and includes curious crackling, static-like phrases. Between 50 and 100 pairs attempt to nest here each year but the species is more numerous as a passage migrant and occasional winter visitor to south coasts.
    156996.jpg
  • Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros (L 14cm) has benefited from urban sprawl and indeed often thrives in areas where industrial dereliction prevails. It is a bold bird that perches conspicuously, quivering striking red tail in an obvious manner. Adult males are particularly striking, with slate-grey body plumage darkest on the face and breast. By comparison, female and immature birds are rather drab, with mainly grey-brown body plumage. In a strange way, the Black Redstart’s song sometimes match its surroundings and includes curious crackling, static-like phrases. Between 50 and 100 pairs attempt to nest here each year but the species is more numerous as a passage migrant and occasional winter visitor to south coasts.
    139562.jpg
  • Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros (L 14cm) has benefited from urban sprawl and indeed often thrives in areas where industrial dereliction prevails. It is a bold bird that perches conspicuously, quivering striking red tail in an obvious manner. Adult males are particularly striking, with slate-grey body plumage darkest on the face and breast. By comparison, female and immature birds are rather drab, with mainly grey-brown body plumage. In a strange way, the Black Redstart’s song sometimes match its surroundings and includes curious crackling, static-like phrases. Between 50 and 100 pairs attempt to nest here each year but the species is more numerous as a passage migrant and occasional winter visitor to south coasts.
    144680.jpg
  • Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros (L 14cm) has benefited from urban sprawl and indeed often thrives in areas where industrial dereliction prevails. It is a bold bird that perches conspicuously, quivering striking red tail in an obvious manner. Adult males are particularly striking, with slate-grey body plumage darkest on the face and breast. By comparison, female and immature birds are rather drab, with mainly grey-brown body plumage. In a strange way, the Black Redstart’s song sometimes match its surroundings and includes curious crackling, static-like phrases. Between 50 and 100 pairs attempt to nest here each year but the species is more numerous as a passage migrant and occasional winter visitor to south coasts.
    154356.jpg
  • Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros (L 14cm) has benefited from urban sprawl and indeed often thrives in areas where industrial dereliction prevails. It is a bold bird that perches conspicuously, quivering striking red tail in an obvious manner. Adult males are particularly striking, with slate-grey body plumage darkest on the face and breast. By comparison, female and immature birds are rather drab, with mainly grey-brown body plumage. In a strange way, the Black Redstart’s song sometimes match its surroundings and includes curious crackling, static-like phrases. Between 50 and 100 pairs attempt to nest here each year but the species is more numerous as a passage migrant and occasional winter visitor to south coasts.
    154355.jpg
  • Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros (L 14cm) has benefited from urban sprawl and indeed often thrives in areas where industrial dereliction prevails. It is a bold bird that perches conspicuously, quivering striking red tail in an obvious manner. Adult males are particularly striking, with slate-grey body plumage darkest on the face and breast. By comparison, female and immature birds are rather drab, with mainly grey-brown body plumage. In a strange way, the Black Redstart’s song sometimes match its surroundings and includes curious crackling, static-like phrases. Between 50 and 100 pairs attempt to nest here each year but the species is more numerous as a passage migrant and occasional winter visitor to south coasts.
    129280.jpg
  • Black Redstart - Phoenicurus ochruros - female. (L 14cm) has benefited from urban sprawl and indeed often thrives in areas where industrial dereliction prevails. It is a bold bird that perches conspicuously, quivering striking red tail in an obvious manner. Adult males are particularly striking, with slate-grey body plumage darkest on the face and breast. By comparison, female and immature birds are rather drab, with mainly grey-brown body plumage. In a strange way, the Black Redstart’s song sometimes match its surroundings and includes curious crackling, static-like phrases. Between 50 and 100 pairs attempt to nest here each year but the species is more numerous as a passage migrant and occasional winter visitor to south coasts.
    157612.jpg