At lunchtime I bumped into a couple of folks looking for the southern migrant hawker (one of who was Simon NL on Flickr, click his name to see his excellent pics). I got a couple of photos of the perched male today:
Sadly with my Sigma 150-500mm rather than my 300mm prime, which I can’t help but think would have been that bit sharper. Oh well nice to be in a position I can be fussy with these awesome creatures. I spent most of the time just watching it fly around, they are quite stunning insects!
Perhaps less stunning, but lovely in their own right are the small skippers. They have been thin on the ground this year, along with most butterflies, and I think this is my first photo of a skipper this year.
This cool looking fly just about posed – when the sun went in!
I was pointed in the direction of this rare plant, a slender leaved hare’s ear Bupleurum tenuissimum.
And finally this grasshopper sat still and the mind stopped just enough for me to hand hold this shot in poor light.