This Hummingbird Hawkmoth, one of several we saw at Whixall Moss on Wednesday, landed right in front of me. The first time I've ever seen one perched!

I felt the need for a bit of time outside today, so went to a nearby heath for a mooch round. Having located a Gorse bush with lots of ant-attended colonies of the aphid Aphis ulicis, I then managed to find my first Ant-nest Aphid, Platynaspis luteorubra. It's a known site, but nice to see one.

A Stoat video to make you smile! @naturespy.bsky.social

Bit of a surprisingly large invertebrates theme happening lately. 1st this very unwelcome Signal Crayfish, unearthed in Rattlinghope last week, then yesterday I found a 170mm Swan Mussel during the Tanyptera Trust recoding Day at Grimsargh Wetlands (private site with special access) near Preston.

A lovely mooch around Newtown (mid Wales) yesterday, finding Scymnus suturalis (Conifer Ladybird), Nephus quadrimaculatus (Ivy Ladybird), Rhyzobius lophanthae (Bristly Ladybird) and R. chrysomeloides (Arboreal Ladybird) #Coccinellidae #MicroLadybird #Wales

Is this a young Buff Ermine (Spilosoma lutea) larva please? Or am I completely off the mark? Tapped from ivy in Denbigh last week. Thanks! #Lepidoptera #Wales

Lots of Clouded Yellows down in Dorset - including a few pale forms like this female contrasting to a normal coloured male seen on the previous day. I’m assuming they’re not the Pale Clouded Yellow but I’m not sure if I’d know the difference.

Red Marsh Ladybird, Coccidula rufa, from last week's wildlife group trip to Rattlinghope.

Some insects from the wildlife group's trip to Rattlinghope last week: Golden-ringed Dragonfly, Bombus rupestris, female Long-winged Conehead and newly hatched Hairy Shieldbug nymphs.

VP this morning pristine juv Common Gull, 2 juv LRP, 4+ Green & 2+ Common sands, Snipe, 12 L Egret incl colour-ringed juv, 7 Grey Heron, 55 BHGull, Tufted, 9 Teal, 330 Greylag, Green Woodp, 2 family parties of Whitethroats, Redstart, juv Song Thrush, 3 Bullfinch etc #shropshirebirding 🪶 #ukwildlife

Great rarity today - a twitch! To Glos with @janettem34.bsky.social for the long-staying first-summer Long-tailed Shrike, only the third for Britain. Showed very well at times and was catching what looked like Orthoptera. Missed it catch a vole before we arrived. Heat hazy pics #ukbirding 🪶

You wait ages for one, and.. Lovely surprise this morning. I did see 1 of them in the trap during the early hrs. Also, 2 Tree-l. Beauty, Cydia amplana (a long overdue lifer for me), 9 SMW & 30 Jersey Tiger.

It was lovely to find a teneral Scymnus auritus (Oak Ladybird) in SE Shropshire yesterday! I do love a teneral! 🥰 #VC40Ladybirds #MicroLadybird

Mating pair of Blue-winged Grasshoppers (Oedipoda caerulescens) at Reculver in Kent. Big difference in sexual dimorphism. #Orthoptera

Found 34 adult and one early instar nymph of Striped Shieldbug (Graphosoma italicum) on the main part of Town Mead, Waltham Abbey today 3rd August. TL378003. All on dried stems and seed heads of Hemlock. #EssexWildlife #UKBugs

Tetrad-bashing for Orthoptera at @kentfieldclub.bsky.social's meeting last weekend, as it was in an under-recorded part of the county. So even finding common species was a great result - such as this Common Green Grasshopper and Lesser Marsh Grasshopper. #KentNature #orthoptera

I’m not sure if this is a first for Nottinghamshire, but I can’t find any records on NBN or iRecord! Metopoplax ditomoides - it landed on my window today.

From David Bentley: "Castle Water, Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, is buzzing with grasshoppers and crickets. This is Roesel's Bush-cricket, with its cream-coloured, curved edge to the pronotum ('collar')."

Also from yesterday's mooch in SE Shropshire, Nephus quadrimaculatus (Ivy Ladybird), Rhyzobius chrysomeloides (Arboreal Ladybird), Scymnus interruptus (Red-flanked Ladybird), and Clitostethus arcuatus (Horseshoe Ladybird), amongst others! #VC40Ladybirds #MicroLadybird

Thought this cow was rather lovely! Spotted in Mold, north Wales a couple of weeks ago! #WallArt #Wales

Nice grasshopper seen today... Still trying to get these in my garden!

A lovely mooch in SE Shropshire yesterday, finding Rhyzobius litura (Meadow Ladybird), R. lophanthae (Bristly Ladybird) with a tiddler! Scymnus auritus (Oak Ladybird) and Stethorus pusillus (Dot Ladybird) #VC40Ladybirds #MicroLadybird

#LadybirdYearList Species #23: a Kidney-spot Ladybird (Chilocorus renipustulatus) tapped out of a Euonymus shrub in my Waltham Abbey garden this morning 2nd August. Only my second garden record. #EssexWildlife #UKLadybirds

A Mullein plant at NWT Sweet Briar Marshes, Norwich yielded some nice finds today - Mullein Aphids (Aphis verbasci), Ant Nest Ladybird (Platynaspis luteorubra) and Lacebug Acalypta parvula. I have seen lots of reports of the ladybird this year so it was really great to find one (only my second).

Clockwise from top left: Donacia marginata, Ptychoptera lacustris, 11-spot Ladybird, Oplodontha viridula, Berytinus minor and Rhyzobius litura from a site outside Navan, Co. Meath during the week.

Not being able to walk temporarily (field trip - rabbit hole - broken leg) has a few consolations. Yesterday 11 Clouded Yellow flew through the garden. Today, this one stayed awhile, nectaring on knapweed

Always good to find a Troilus luridus (Bronze Shieldbug) nymph! From north Shropshire yesterday #Pentatomidae #Asopinae #Shropshire

Tapped this Mottled Shieldbug (Rhaphigaster nebulosa) nymph out of ivy in Upshire on 23rd July alongside an Ivy Ladybird (Nephus quadrimaculatus) dwarfed by comparison. #EssexWildlife #UKLadybirds #UKBugs

Some Micro Ladybirds from yesterday pm’s mooch in north Shropshire, Nephus quadrimaculatus (Ivy Ladybird), Coccidula rufa (Red Marsh Ladybird), Scymnus auritus (Oak Ladybird) and Stethorus pusillus (Dot Ladybird) with Ivy Ladybird and Oak Ladybird #VC40Ladybirds #MicroLadybird

Some ladybird larvae from Denbigh earlier this week, Rhyzobius lophanthae (Bristly Ladybird), Myrrha 18-guttata (18-spot Ladybird), Scymnus auritus (Oak Ladybird) and Stethorus pusillus (Dot Ladybird) #Coccinellidae #MicroLadybird #Wales