Month: May 2026

Itchen Valley.

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Today’s pictures are all a bit closer.

Looking under some corrugated froofing sheet, I was hoping to see some snakes or slow worms, but it was a surprise to see a Common Frog.

Banded Demoiselle (male)

Banded Demoiselle (female)

Painted Lady, this year seems to be a good year for this large butterfly. A summer visitor to the UK, their numbers fluctuate drastically. British winters are too cold for them to survive, so large numbers migrate annually from North Africa and southern Europe, arriving from late spring through early autumn.

Hot Day.

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An early start up on the South Downs before the sun gets too high, especially as it looked like we had another hot day ahead, with some good light early as well for photographs.

Yellowhammers were fairly abundant before it got too hot. The yellowhammer is a passerine bird in the bunting family; it is a bird of farmland.

Brown Hares.

Red Legged Partridge.

Baby Rabbits.

Red Kite.

Crow.

Woody!

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Great Spotted Woodpecker, New Forest.

Here in the UK, we have three resident woodpecker species.

1, The Great Spotted is the most common.

2, The Green Woodpecker.

3, The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.

Humbugs.

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black-and-white-striped, an old-fashioned boiled mint sweet.

Great Crested Grebe family – checks effectively known as “humbugs” due to their black and white stripes, are doing well on a local pond.

Little things.

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Little things spotted at Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve while on a Sunday morning walk.

Alder Beetle – mating pair.

Large Red damselfly.

Common Lizard enjoying some sun.

I believe this is a Little Reed Beetle.

Azure Damselfly {male}.

Bee.

Something a bit larger.

Picked up a Mute Swan egg on the path.