Diversification!

As Summer progresses it is normal practice to veer away from "just birds" and diversify and whilst I am at home more this year, I am really enjoying diversifying more! We are very lucky to live in East Devon with fabulous landscapes and diverse habitat literally on our doorstep and with such amazing weather at present, there is so much to see!

There have been many highlights over the last few days. Meeting up with one of my oldest birding pals, Peter and his family was certainly one of them. We visited the brilliant Bystock Pools NR to look for dragonflies and it was a novelty seeing a friend in person rather than just on a screen! We even managed time to have a quality Cream Tea! Another highlight was discovering a Brown Argus butterfly on the patch. It was an exciting surprise find and may even be a new site for this localised species in Devon.

The following photos are from the last few days. I always have to re-learn many of the different invertebrate groups each year, particularly the dragonflies and damselflies, so please comment if any identifications are incorrect!

A great grass and flower margin at South Farm, Budleigh Salterton

Brown Argus

The "88" mark distinguishes from a female Common Blue if only underwing is visible

Brown Argus

Male Common Blue

Male Common Blue

Male Common Blue

Meadow Brown

Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper

Ringlet

Female Large Skipper

Female Small Skipper

Male Small Skipper

Marbled White

Team Alfrey at Bystock Pools

Me "diversifying" at Bystock NR

Male Keeled Skimmer

Golden-ringed Dragonfly

Large Red Damselfly

Small Red Damselfly

Male and Female Beautiful Demoiselle

Female Azure Damselfly

Long-winged Conehead Nymph

Common Field Grasshopper

Common Green Grasshopper

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