🔥The 9th Round of Easy Loan, Earn $40 Reward is in progress❗️ ⏰ Promotion Period: January 15th - Feburary 15th, 2025 👉 Register now and check more details at gate.io/campaigns/358

One of this morning's goals RSPB Newport Wetlands Wetlands was to get some decent dragonfly photos. The easiest to find were perched Four Spot Chasers and the strong sunlight showed them off nicely. Of course there were butterflies, bumblebees, solitary bees and hoverflies, too.

Despite the dull, cool weather, plenty of opportunity to photograph plants and insects RSPB Newport Wetlands Wetlands today. Bee orchid; pyramidal orchid; Black-tailed skimmer dragonfly (F); Thick-legged flower beetle. And plenty more.

This morning's "Orchids and Herbs" walk RSPB Newport Wetlands Wetlands turned into a "We'll try to identify anything" walk. Here are a tiny Pyramidal orchid (smaller than normal); a Common spotted orchid; a Black-headed cardinal beetle; an Alder leaf beetle. We're not just about birds.

Scenes from the seawall RSPB Newport Wetlands Wetlands this morning. Mallow. Marsh helleborine, shorter than usual and fewer of them. Common whitethroat singing just inside a Willow. Shelduck family with Shel-ducklings a few yards offshore.

These, amongst other things, caught my eye RSPB Newport Wetlands Wetlands today. Ringlet butterfly perched deep in Melilot; Littel grebe chicks with almost perfect camouflage; sculptural Bristly ox tongue; and Bistort just coming into bloom. Our Living Levels

The overnight rain RSPB Newport Wetlands Wetlands lasted into the morning giving a Blackbird chance to bathe and a Reed bunting to practice "singing in the rain". Once the afternoon sun had dried we saw a rove beetle (Paederus littoralis) and a Gatekeeper butterfly near the info kiosk.

Probably the nicest day of the summer RSPB Newport Wetlands Wetlands. Increasing numbers of flower species in bloom and more of the insects that depend on them. Teasel; Rosebay willowherb; Shrill carder bee on Red clover; Cinnabar moth caterpillars on Ragwort.

Just one photo from RSPB Newport Wetlands Wetlands today (it was a busy day). I'd heard Green woodpeckers in the trees and then saw one on the path ahead. Then two. Then three. One adult and two juveniles. All in frame together. Probably making use of all the ant hills in the path edges.

Good list of birds seen RSPB Newport Wetlands today. Better were the flowers and the insects on them. Black-tailed skimmer at rest; Peacock butterfly on Hemp agrimony; rare Shrill carder bumblebee on Scabious; Common red soldier beetle. Plus wonderful bumblebee day with Bumblebee Conservation Trust

Plenty of scope for photographing small creatures RSPB Newport Wetlands Wetlands today. Not textbook shots perhaps, but they do illustrate biodiversity nicely. Water strider with prey; spider I haven't ID'd yet; one of a dozen or more small red-eyed damselflies; Shrill carder bee.

Yesterday's UKBMS count RSPB Newport Wetlands Wetlands found 102 butterflies of 7 species and some sunshine let me photograph a few. Small white; Red admiral taking water from the sugary surface of some blackberries; 2 Green veined whites; and a slightly worn but still vivid Common blue.

A few photos seen this morning before the sun warmed insects enough to become really active RSPB Newport Wetlands Wetlands. Female Common darter dragonfly, Small white butterfly, and a female of a Sphaerophoria hoverfly species.

The leaves are turning amber and yellow and then falling from the trees RSPB Newport Wetlands Wetlands. Autumn reduces the cover available and provides more opportunity for photos of perched birds. Singing Dunnock, Jay, Robin, Magpie.

Many mental images serve as a reminder that Autumn has arrived RSPB Newport Wetlands Wetlands. Autumn leaves, misty mornings, drizzle, Wigeon and Teal, colourful berries. Or the arrival of Starlings and the start of their murmurations and the sudden fruiting of fungi. Our Living Levels

Mumurations. I've watched them build up for 2 weeks RSPB Newport Wetlands Wetlands. Today's start was a bit shaky, the big show was a bit late but eventually we had 25k plus Starlings aloft plus a few extras. A nearly perfect "V" of geese & a gap in the clouds letting the moon through.

An avian miscellany from RSPB Newport Wetlands Wetlands this morning. A blackbird looking for food amongst the grass; a female Reed bunting singing near the sea wall; Lapwing flock (spot the Curlews); Lapwings in flight.