Alison Wrisdale
RSPB volunteer for over 20 years. BTO nest recorder. Assists husband with BTO bird ringing projects. Nature nerd. Takes photos.
- Young Hedgehogs in my garden. Nature has a way of cheering you up when you are down (still feeling cr@p on day 14 of COVID infection). There was another youngster but that one stayed close to Mum and they went off into one of my flower borders. Photos taken from a distance to avoid disturbance 😊.
- Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) on my neighbour's roof this morning 🙂
- Nice to find a couple of Red Underwing moths (Catocala nupta), high up on my house wall today, Northants.
- Batman Hoverfly (Myathropa florea), on water mint in my garden.
- 19th year of CES bird ringing completed today in the reedbed at Stanwick Lakes, Northants. Sad it's ended but we had a lovely surprise. A Bittern flew right over our heads, at around 5:20 am, when we were putting up the second net ☺️.
- Common Carder Bee in my garden
- Wasp Spider, Speckled Wood butterfly and Willow Emerald damselfly - at Stanwick Lakes, Northants.
- Little bumblebee on Agapanthus in my garden.
- Underside of a Wasp Spider female. The zig zag band of silk is the stabilimentum. This is the underside of the spider, for a change, showing the spinneret. I counted 58 of these spiders in just 15 minutes this week, the meadow must be full of them😊. Stanwick Lakes, Northants.
- Wasp spider, Stanwick Lakes, Northants. The more I looked, the more I found. 36 individuals in just 10 minutes, there must be hundreds in the area. Fabulous wee beasties, in my opinion anyway 😊.
- Seven-spot Ladybirds (Coccinella septempunctata). Lots of these around this year 😊
- Large White butterfly (Pieris brassicae), in my garden.
- Corn Bunting (Emberiza calandra). Delighted to see a pair of these at Welney, Norfolk. They are in sharp decline and a Red Listed species in the UK.
- Wasp Spider (Argiope bruennichi). The females are getting larger, week by week. I counted 15 today in a very short time and in a very small area. Males are tiny and hard to find 😂. Stanwick Lakes, Northants.
- Small White butterfly (Pieris rapae), in my garden
- Brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni), in my garden
- Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator), at Stanwick Lakes, Northants.
- Marbled White (Melanargia galathea). My favourite butterfly, I love the patterns on the underwings - at Stanwick Lakes, Northants.
- Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata).
- Scarlet Tiger moth (Callimorpha dominula) at Stanwick Lakes, Northants.
- Black Hairstreak Butterfly (Satyrium pruni) with a Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas) at Stanwick Lakes, Northants
- Scarce Chaser dragonfly (Libellula fulva)
- FEED ME! Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus), adult and chick.
- Wood White butterfly (Leptidea sinapis)
- Four-spotted Chaser dragonfly (Libellula quadrimaculata)
- Dawn chorus in the reedbed
- Dawn chorus
- Magpie (Pica pica), posed nicely for me
- Apple, Hawthorn and Cherry blossoms. I couldn't smell any of them today, due to a cold 😅
- Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis) at RSPB MInsmere 13/04/25 #birds #ukbirds #uknature #ukwildlife #seabirds
- Cased caddisfly. I noticed a few of these in my pond when I was watching tadpoles. I took this one out temporarily to get a better look 🙂 #uknature #pondlife #caddisfly
- Female Nuthatch (Sitta Europaea) at nesting site. She'd just deposited some bark chippings inside. The male was singing nearby #birds #ukbirds #ukwildlife
- Unexpected Raven (Corvus corax) at RSPB Sandy, Bedfordshire 30/03/25
- Beautiful Mother's Day flower tub from one of my daughters. Within minutes a lovely bumblebee visited the pink flowers 🙂
- False Puffball (Enteridium lycoperdon) #mycology
- There's no smarter looking duck, in my opinion anyway, than the male Tufted Duck. What a handsome chap he is ❤️
- Spring has arrived in my pond 🐸. Robin singing in the background.
- Nice weather for ducks 🙂
- Serenity
- Juvenile male Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), 06/12/24
