David

Another old picture I never got round to posting at the time. The only time I’ve ever seen a poplar hawk moth was around this time of year, but back in 2011. Quite big for a flying insect, but its subdued colours make it hard to spot when resting up for the day.

The blusher, a summer mushroom which sometimes appears in the same place year after year, as here on a front lawn I pass quite often. They are normally one of the larger mushroom species, with caps three inches or more across, and correspondingly tall. But not this year. So far, there’s only three fruiting bodies, where usually there’s at least twice as many. And the ones which have appeared are a lot smaller than usual, barely standing above the short grass of the lawn.

Sun flies are a common hoverfly species. They are also easier to ID than most hoverflies, because they quite often pause their hovering and rest on a leaf to rest in the sun. This individual takes that one stage further. It regularly rests on a leaf at the edge of a garden pond. If any other sun fly comes near, it takes to the air, sending them packing.

The Quarry, Shrewsbury, as it was in August 2020. A lot of thought and a lot of work went into ensuring that blending together of the outlines and the foliage of the various trees and bushes created the effects that it down.

A tiny hoverfly doing its hovering a few inches over the water of a garden pond.

There have been very, very few butterflies about this summer. I’ve not seen any of this species: a meadow brown.

I have seen a handful of cabbage whites, with clear enough views to spot that there have been both large whites and small whites. There have been a couple of blues, too far away for a definite ID, but almost certainly holly blues. All of these in much smaller numbers than usual, and that is it.

ADDITION: I drafted this a week or so ago. Since then it’s actually been hot and dry. I’ve seen a few more butterflies, including fleeting views of one, maybe two, meadow browns.