A Plethora of Dragons and Butterflies

I have not seen many butterflies this year so it was a lovely surprise to go for a short walk in the Forest on Monday and find so many Butterflies and dragonflies flitting around enjoying a sunny afternoon.

Butterflies

Brimstone
Small White
Meadow Brown
Painted Lady
Peacock
Large Skipper
Common Blue
Silver washed Fritillary

Dragonflies

Keeled Skimmer Male
Common Darter on Fleabane
Keeled Skimmer Female
Common Hawker
Southern Hawker

Houghton Lodge

Yesterday we decided to go to Houghton Lodge.
An 18^th Century Grade ΙΙ* listed Gothic Cottage Orné, idyllically set above the tranquil waters of the River Test. The House is set in extensive grounds, with fine trees and lawns sweeping down to the banks of the River.It was a sunny afternoon although a little breezy. It was good to see so many butterflies on the flowers and we had an enjoyable outing.
There is a small self servic cafe. You make your own tea and help yourself to the delicious homemade cakes.

Redtailed bumble bee on Globe artichoke
Red Day Lily
Houghton Lodge
Alpaca
Peacock Butterfly

Small Tortoiseshell
Red Admiral
Painted lady
PaintedPink Dahlia

Emer Bog

Emer Bog is a small nature Reserve just outside of southampton. It is not that easy to find . It was rather dull and overcast but it was a pleasant walk and part of it is on a new boardwalk over the bog. We saw quite a few gatekeepers and skippers and we could hear the constant chirping of crickets and grasshoppers. A ruddy darter posed for us on some old silver birch logs. We caught a brief glimpse of a Red Admiral.

Ruddy Darter
Rowan berries
Ruddy darter
Grasshopper
Gatekeeper

Lower Test Nature Reserve

We took a quick trip to the local nature reserve yesterday in between showers.No sign of the Kingfishers but there were plenty of little egretsand sandpipers.
There are still very few butterflies around , a few gatekeepers , speckled woods and we did see a comma Today it has rained and I had a nasty surprise when I took Missy for her morning walk . I had left the sun roof open and the front seats were soaking wet!
This is my first post since getting the new computer up and running. it was certainly much quicker uploading the photos!

Seckled wood butterfly
Grey Wagtail
Little Egret
Green sandpiper
Gatekeeper Butterfly

Catching Up

Finally managed to catch up. I have been having some computer problems and it has been difficult to blog but the new computer comes next week so hopefully things will start to work again.
Here is a photo of Missy taken at the Lake on oe of these hot summer evenings.

Golden Ringed Dragon fly
Male beautiful Demoiselle
Female beautiful Demoiselle

Emperor in flight
Emperor laying eggs

Longleat

We spent the Day at Longleat. After a damp start it turned into another Hot Summers Day. it was not too busy when we drove through the safari park and we managed to get some good views of the animals. After Lunch we had a boat trip on the lake to see the sealions and hippos and then we went into the bat cave. It is a wonderful feeling to have bats whizzing silently past you. I was really pleased that I managed to get a half decent shot. It is dark in the cave and I did not think the photos would come out . (However with an Fstop of 1.4 and Iso of 3200 a little photo editing to remove some noise I was pleased with the result)
We finished the day with a tour of the house.

The Hawk Conservancy Trust

I have become a member of the Hawk Conservancy Trust so I can make lots more visits. It really is a great day out. Three Flying displays which are absolutely breathtaking and plenty of chances to get good close up shots of these wonderful birds.

Cheyenne the Bald headed eagle comes in to land
Danebury the other Bald headed eagle went walk about during the flying display and was later found swimming in a river. He was back safly before we left.
Mollie is a beautiful Great Grey owl
Here cheyenne is having a lot to say.
One of the American Kites flying