#meadow bathing

On day 343 of 365 Days Wild I wandered down to the meadow to see what was in flower. It’s wonderful to see the familiar summer wildflowers, including red clover and bird’s-foot trefoil, now starting to appear. The Meadow Saxifrage is a welcome newcomer. There were some impressive clouds over the meadow, though the sun occasionally broke through. My outing was brought to an end by a rumble of…

Meadow Fungi #365DaysWild

On day 150 of 365 Days Wild I wandered down to the meadow for a fungi hunt.

My main intention on leaving the house, was to identify the brown toadstools that I spotted, but failed to identify, on day 149. I think I might have managed to do so. In the same area of the meadow there were also a number of grey toadstoois that I believe to be Stubble Rosegill (Volvopluteus gloiocephalus).

I now…

For day 67 of 365 Days Wild I went on a bug hunt in the meadow. I’ve tried to identify as many of them as possible (ids in gallery), but I’m no expert. Any additional or alternative identifications are welcome!

Firstly, it was a great day for ladybirds. I spotted four different species – three native, 7-Spot, 14-Spot and 2-Spot, and one invasive Harlequin. It was the first time I’ve ever seen a 2-Spot and it was determined to crawl on me. Each time I shook it off, it immediately landed somewhere else. It was so tiny that I was scared that I was going to accidentally squish it!

  14-Spot ladybird

2-Spot ladybird crawling on my hand

2-Spot ladybird crawling on my face

7-Spot ladybird

Harlequin ladybird

Here are the rest of the bugs that I found:

Beetle

Spider egg sack

Potato Leafhopper (Eupteryx aurata)

Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)

Beetle

A very faded 6 Spot Burnet Moth

Crane Fly (possibly Tipula oleracea)

Moth

Gatekeeper butterfly (Pyronia tithonus)

Speckled Wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria)

Fly

Common Blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus)

Common Blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus)

Common Spangle Gall (Neuroterus quercusbaccarum))

I’ve been hoping to catch a glimpse of a dragonfly at rest in the meadow for a while now. I’ve seen a few darting about after flies, but they’ve never remained still long enough for me to photograph them. Well, this turned out to be a particularly good day for spotting them.

A few hours later, as I was wandering among the Knapweed flowers at the bottom of the meadow, I kept hearing bursts of a loud, unfamiliar buzzing noise. I managed to track down one of the sources to this newly emerged dragonfly, who was drying their wings as they clung to a flower stem.

As we are currently in the middle of British Dragonfly Week (Saturday 18th – Sunday 26th July) it was a perfect morning to see them.

This was day 50 of 365 Days Wild.

This is the little toadstool cluster the picture is based on:

Here are the rest of toadstools that I spotted:

I always photograph any minibeasts I spot when I’m in the meadow, so here are the latest sightings:

Mating pairs of Green-veined Butterflies

Mating pair of red Soldier Beetles

Speckled Wood Butterfly

Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly

Possibly Gypsy Cuckoo Bumble Bee

with wings spread, ready

for life’s air currents to lift

fragile dreams into blazing

reality; a child’s laughter

dances on warm breezes

On Day 35 of 365 Days Wild the butterflies emerged. It was the first day for a while where the sun was shining, and the insect life was making the most of it. Despite the windy weather, I managed to find a relatively sheltered spot in the meadow in which to photograph them. I then took my time and enjoyed the company of Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, and Peacock butterflies.

Here are some more of the pictures that I snapped: