Fox Moth Macrothylacia rubi

Macrothylacia rubi, a member of the Lasiocampidae family and commonly known as the Fox Moth. It has a wide distribution across the UK and can be found in open woodland, moors, bogs, heaths and coastal dunes. The caterpillars feed primarily on bilburry, bramble and heather and can be seenon open ground near their coastal habitat prior to hibernatiopn in leaf litter over the winter. Adults are on the wing between May-July and display sexual dimorphism-females are slightly larger than the males and are not as brightly coloured, tending to be more grey/brown than red/brown.

Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea)

The Arctic Tern can be found breeding on Lindesfarne Island, off the coast of Northumberland, from May through to July. It nests on the ground, and the breeding pairs will sit on or near the eggs, ready to defend them with their lives against anyone who so much as walks past! Above, a placid looking tern guards its speckled egg. The below pic, however, shows what happens when someone walks past.

A loud clicking noise followed by a screech emits from the beak of the tern as it dive-bombs down to attack heads, before wheeling around and starting again. A sturdy hat is a must when in close proximity of terns!

Once the breeding season is complete, an Arctic tern will migrate to the Southern Hemisphere to winter there. A fledgling has in the past been recorded to make the journey from Lindisfarne to Melbourne, Australia in just three months. With a migratory round trip of approximately 44,000 miles, the Arctic tern is unrivalled in its annual mileage.

Common Cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha)

This Cockchafer was found on bracken on the Pembrokeshire coast near to Fishguard in July. At about three centimetres long, this is a large beetle that feeds on leaves. The wing case is coated in lovely looking white hairs, and the face hosts some interesting mouthparts! This beetle has a life cycle lasting three years, two of those spent underground as a larva munching on plant roots.

Drinker Moth (Euthrix potatoria)

The drinker is apparently so named due to the habit of the larvae sucking up water droplets after rainfall. This particular caterpillar was found amongst the grassy dunes near a beach in Northumberland. It pupates on grass stems in a yellowish cocoon (unfortunately didn't take a photo of one of these) that look similar to that of a Burnet moth. The imago (adult form) is pale brown in colour.

European Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

The European Robin is a small insectivorous songbird with a beautiful song. The birds are quite happy in the company of humans, and are believed to have a relationship with us going back thousands of years. This began when farmers first started tilling the land, turning the soil to reveal protein rich grubs for hungry and opportunistic birds. This specimen was spotted at Windemere Rail Station, Cumbria in April.

European Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis)

The European Shag nests every year in extremely large numbers on the Farne Islands. I couldn't resist putting two photos up for this bird. The first is of what seems a nice family unit on Inner Farne. The second, a beautiful profile taken on Lindisfarne.

The Lackey Moth (Malacosoma neustria)

This is the larvae of the Lackey Moth. I fell in love with these iridescent tent caterpillars, after seeing them on a warm May day near Marloe Sands in Pembrokeshire. They form vast silken tents for temperature regulation on hawthorn and blackthorn. The imago, by comparison is a dull brown colour.

Leopard Moth (Zeuzera pyrina)

Zeuzera pyrina, a member of the Cossidae family and commonly known as the Leopard Moth. It has a wide distribution over the woodlands, gardens and orchids of Southern England and Wales. They are known for having a particularly veracious and therefore destructive larval stage, eating the heartwood of a variety of deciduous trees especially apples, pears and plums.

This one was spotted in the garden of a pub in Chelmsford on a very warm evening between 22.00 - 23.00 attracted to the bare bulb above our table.

Least Carpet (Idaea rusticata)

This small moth was found last night (well, early hours of this morning) on the well-lit stairwell of the block of flats I am currently resident of. It has a wingspan of less than 2cm. I found it easy to identify thanks to many prominent markings; the dots on the perimeter of the wings, the relatively central dots on each hind- and forewing, and of course the big blotch of colour spreading across a great deal of the forewing.

Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)

This was taken on the Isle of Arran. I think it was November 2008. Camping on Arran I saw plenty of these pretty birds stalking around.

Elephant Hawkmoth (Deilephila elpenor)

I will start with a personal favourite! This beautiful caterpillar was spotted on the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path in between Amroth and Tenby in September 2009. It measures perhaps 6cm in length, and above and slightly back from the small head are some 'eyes'. These false eyes are for fooling would-be predators, who may think that their prey is actually a snake. When threatened the caterpillar will retract its head back into the body and the new 'eyes' will be at the front of the creature, hopefully scaring off hungry birds!

After pupating, the caterpillar turns into an even more striking large hawkmoth, with a green and pink furry body. I've been lucky enough to see an adult twice, but as yet don't have a photograph.

Welcome to Species Bank

This is an idea that I've had brewing for a long time. Not sure if the blog format is the best for it, but I don't own a domain that would let me thrash it out the way I want it. This will do for now.

For many months I have wanted to create a bank of pictures I have taken myself of different species I have come across in the British Isles. I aim to have one picture per species (with the exception of creatures that have larval stages or sufficient variation between sexes or distribution). Also, if I know anything about it, I would perhaps like to make a few notes on behaviour and habitat, but only observations I've made myself (I'd like to add at this moment that it's possible, nay probable that my girlfriend will have taken some of the photos and noted some of the behaviour).

At first I aim to include all of the animals I've seen, and then perhaps add some plants also, my knowledge is not so good there, though.

So I'll sign this one off by getting the boring entry out of the way: the human; homo sapiens. You don't need a picture!