Holly Blue Butterfly (Celastrina argiolus)

The Holly Blue is a frequent visitor to urban parks, and this is just where I first spotted one, in the Holly-rich area of parkland that is part of the Barbican complex in Central London. I first spotted four or five of these beautiful butterflies on a dry and hot April lunch time, where they would fly high and erratically at around 25ft. before coming down to rest and feed for many minutes on the flowery bushes. The following Saturday I came down with my camera and waited for one to come down to the bushes, and this was one of the shots I got after two hours of waiting. The butterfly tends to sit with wings tightly closed, rubbing them together slowly. Only in weak sunlight do they rest with them open.

Dasychira pudibunda

Dasychira pudibunda is a member of the Lymantriidae family and is commonly known as the Pale Tussock, it is found in woods, parks and gardens across the whole of England and Wales and in localised areas in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
The larvae emerge between July and October and have a range of broad leaved food plants including oak, birch, lime and hop leaves. They over winter in the leaf litter of the food plants-presumably in case they wake up early and fancy a snack.

The adults are on the wing during May and June and do not feed at all.

We saw this one on a warm sunny day on a very windy beach in Tenby in the first week of October in 2010. (Yes, I did say "warm" "sunny" and "October" in the same sentence, it did happen. I was there).

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.