A warm, but cloudy day, +20° C. Been to Barnsthorns Wood at Horsley.
Lots of Alabonia geoffrella oecophorid moths in the woods:
Black-headed Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa coccinea):
Barnsthorns Wood
A sunny, hot day, +30° C. Been to Barnsthorns Wood near Horsley.
The main insect attractant was a patch of Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum) near a completely dried up woodland pond. There were even several veteran Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia) males chasing after one another!
The most numerous butterfly was Green-veined White (Pieris napi):
Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus):
Barnsthorns Wood
A warm sunny day, +22° C. Been to ancient Barnsthorns Wood near Horsley.
Dioctria linearis robber-fly:
White Admirals (Limenitis camilla) fly among the Brambles:
Barnsthorns Wood
A warm, sunny day, +24° C. Been to this ancient woodland near Horsley.
Lots, LOTS of Silver-washed Fritillaries (Argynnis paphia) in the woodland!
Good numbers of White Admirals (Limenitis camilla), too:
Barnsthorns Wood
A very warm (+24° C) but mostly cloudy day. Been to Horsley.
The commonest moths in the woods are currently Nematopogon swammerdamella longhorns and Alabonia geoffrella oecophorids, they are everywhere.
A bumblebee mimic hoverfly Criorhina floccosa:
Quite unexpectedly caught a Mocha (Cyclophora annularia)!
Barnsthorns Wood
Been to Barnsthorns Wood near Horsley.
A Volucella inflata hoverfly, typical of ancient woodland:
Barnsthorns Wood
Been to Horsley today. First, went to Barnsthorns Wood north of the village.
It’s Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) time:
An Awl-fly (Xylophagus ater), never seen it before! The adult flies are, actually, seldom seen — most of their time is spent as a larva in rotting wood, where it can develop for as much as three years:
Vlad Proklov's wildlife blog 