Buggy Bushes

Last weekend, Mrs WJ and I decided we wouldn't wander round the reserve too far, or sit in a hide.  Instead, we hung around a bush not far from the Bittern hide in the sunshine.  The big lenses had a doze and the macros had an airing instead - sometimes it's nice to concentrate of something other than the birds :-)

Large Hover flies were abundant - they're not all alike and it can sometimes be a pain to ID them properly (to be honest, that applies to a lot of the insect world, so apologies if I have any of them wrong!)

More normal flies are everywhere too of course

Though I want it known I had nothing to do with this Fly Porn shot!

Blue Damsel flies were there in abundance, with Common and Variable as well as this Azure

and some Large Reds

As the bush is in the woodland area, it was no surprise to see a few Speckled Wood butterflies

and even a Yellow Shell moth hiding under the leaves

There are loads of Nursery Web spiders too - despite their varied markings, I think these are all the same species

Though other sorts were around - this one is Pardosa lugubris

and this one from the Tetragnatha family

Leaving Arachnids to one side, there's a little Click Beetle

and the prettiest Sawfly I've ever come across

Mustn't forget the caterpillars of course - there were a few of these Drinker Moths about

Although this poor caterpillar wasn't so lucky.  These Jet Black ants are taking it back to their nest in a hollow tree

It's fascinating what you can see sat in front of a bush for a few hours....