These colourful little moths can be found on any of the Mint family and so they love our herb bed with its Spearmint, Lemon balm and Black peppermint while the wild Water Mint is equally attractive.  They fly at during the day or night and we seem to have two common but very similar species of Mint Moth at the moment.

(me)

Pretty sure that these are Pyraustra aurata with the one big golden spot (Chris Lowe)

(Mark…

In my garden Elephant Hawkmoth cats love my fushias but we do not have any so they have to revert to their natural food which is bedstraws and willowherbs both of whoch proliferate on the reserve. This fabulous cat was found by Basil Thornton as it made its way across the path.  Keep your eyes open!

You can clearly see the false eyes that help to protect the head should it be pecked!

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Ever taken the time to actually watch a spider casting its web? well, now is the time of year to do it with Orb Weavers of various species all over the place.  Most will be the common Garden Orb (Araneus diadematus) but we actually have a variety of cracking species to discover out on the reserve!

Basil Thornton got these wonderful shots of a lady at work yesterday....

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Mark hart has been trying for some time to get a shot of our elusive Kingfishers as they fish the waters of the Mardyke and onFriday he at last succeeded. He was quite happy.... The best place to give yourself a chance is from the small old MoD bridge that crosses from our entrance road to Spider Park. Good luck and do not forget to listen out for the high picthed calls....

Taking the plunge....

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Having had a bumper year for the newly colonising Bryony Ladybird on the reserve it was great to find some larvae browsing on White Bryony in the wildlife garden. Unlike many species, the larvae are herbivores.

Here to stay... (Mark Hart)

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