Insects again

Lovely warm day today. Almost spring-like! The cows seemed happy, though they drank their water rather quickly. They have moved to a new field which always keeps them happy for a few days.

I managed to identify the ground beetles from yesterday - 2 Badister bullatus and an Anchomenus dorsalis. Both are pretty common species, but quite nicely marked - a change from the usual black. Also found a 7-spot Ladybird yesterday on Ground Ivy by the edge of a field.

Today had two highlights. Insect-wise, the first butterfly for the fields for 2015. A solitary Small Tortoiseshell Aglais urticae was flying near the pond. In the garden under the feeders was a Reed Bunting. This is our first one at Beech House. It seemed to be a first winter female. Buzzard was quite noisy over the field and the Kestrel was hunting, so presumably there was quite a bit of small mammal acivity.

This is my old painting of A. dorsalis taken from the Peregrine Productions plate BTL4 Garden Ground Beetles