Petts Wood, July

Crabronid wasp, Astata boops.  Male.  St Paul's Cray Common, 30 July 2014.

In July the Orpington Field Club went to a patch of heath in the middle of a wood in St Paul's Cray.  We were looking around for insects, of which these are a few.

This predatory wasp was resting on my bag.  It seems quite alert, with its head turned to put me in the view of both its huge compound eyes.

Hoverfly, Eristalis pertinax, on Ling, Calluna vulgaris.  Male.  St Paul's Cray Common, 30 July 2014.

Two of my favourite subjects: hoverflies and flowers.  Ling heather flowers are a purple swath across nothern hillsides, but close to their colour is quite subtle, and they make a good background for this Eristalis.  You can see it has been busy with the pollen, as has this one:

Hoverfly, Helophilus pendulus.  Female.  St Paul's Cray Common, 30 July 2014.

Both these species are quite common and can be seen in a variety of habitats.  They are both in the family Eristalini, and in both photos you can see this family's distinctive loop in the wing vein near the centre of the tip of the forewing. That can be quite a handy identification guide.

Spider, Philodromus species.  Petts Wood, 30 July 2014.

This spider was in the woods, lurking in the underbrush.

Before we went into the woods, I saw a pear bush with what I thought was a major infestation of leaf mining insects.  But I was wrong; this is a rust fungus.

Pear Trellis Rust, Gymnosporangium sabinae.   Birchwood Road, Petts Wood,  30 July 2014.

It actually looks quite pretty!  But it can't be doing the bush any good.

My last photo in this group is of a field seen from the path through the wood.  It is (or was) known as the Soldiering Field, as troops were once assembled there. 

The Soldiering Field from Petts Wood.   30 July 2014.

It's full of Ragwort and is clearly not grazed or used for crops, so I do not know what its current use is.  The Ragwort, though pretty, would make it useless for hay, as it is particularly poisonous when dried.

St Paul's Cray Common

St. Paul's Cray Common, 7 August 2013.

I have had a busy few days, so I will post this current scene and then catch up with a couple from the last week or two.

This was an Orpington Field Club trip to St. Paul's Cray Common to look for insects.  The common has this area of heath, consisting of some natural heath which has been restored by pulling out the bracken, and some newly planted areas. 

The heather is mostly Ling with a few specimens of Bell Heather here and there. 

We found bees, hoverflies, butterflies, moths, wasps and other creatures.  I managed a few photos.  I do seem to have moths on the mind at the moment, but I will show a couple of creatures that aren't ...

Three hoverflies: Myathropa florea, Sphaerophoria species, Helophilus pendulus.  St Paul's Cray Common, 7 August 2013.

 Hoverflies always look good, roaming around the flowers and perching on them with wings outstretched.  These are all females.  The small one in the middle looks like a little fairy creature in the sunlight, with tiny flickering wings. 

Common Toad, Bufo bufo.  St Paul's Cray Common, 7 August 2013.

It's true that this isn't an insect, but we still liked it.  This shows up the difficulty of trying to photograph something with one hand while it attempts to escape from the other.  I like the feel of a toad in my hand; like a little cool, dry sack of liquid.  Certainly not slimy, as some people imagine.  This one really wanted to get back to its resting place under dry leaves at the base of the heather.

Argyresthia goedartella.   Argyresthiidae.   Resting on Common Nettle in Petts Wood, 7 August 2013.

And I couldn't resist this little beauty, which I saw on the way through the woods.  It's only about 6mm long, but is quite visible even so, with those gleaming golden wing scales.

Finally ...

Emperor Dragonfly, Anax imperator.  St Paul's Cray Common, 7 August 2013.

This gorgeous dragonfly was spotted roaming around the heath, and I was able to creep up to it when it came to rest and get this shot. 

The top photo is on my iPhone (so that I could email it to friends); the others were taken with my EOS 6D and 100mm macro lens with ring flash.