Beacon Park & Tyland Barn
The British Summer is still annoying the hell out of me. I was all set to go and visit Beacon Wood Country Park on Saturday and then the heavens opened. Sunday was better so I packed the camera gear and made a dash for it while the sun was still out. I had one shot in mind - a Dragonfly. Last year there were loads flying about and settling, so, whilst my other half was on a 12 hour shift (yes, on a Sunday) I thought this would be a great opportunity for me just to sit and let a Dragonfly come to me.
This sit and wait approach has served me well in the past, but not this time. I did have a few visitors though. There were lots of Butterflies - many different species actually, so, rather than wait for the elusive Dragonfly, I got busy with them instead.
It has become clear to me that I may have to invest in a decent insect book. The Collins Gem guides I have are far too small to identify most species. I know precious little about Butterflies, but I suppose it might be a Grayling. Please correct me if I am wrong.
I am fairly sure this is a Red Admiral, but it was damn pretty nonetheless and stood out well. Quite lucky to get this one as it was very skittish.
The good thing about Butterflies is that they tend to land on the ground and I much prefer taking macro shots while laying down, so I was particularly pleased when this little fella fancied a rest.
This next one might be a Little Skipper, or in fact a Large Skipper. It may be neither. I am a photographer, not a biology student 
By this point I had given up actually taking a pic of a Dragonfly - they were happily buzzing around me but refusing to settle. So I decided to cut my losses and leave, with the intention of maybe stopping off somewhere on the way home. As i was leaving I noticed this thing on a leaf. Not sure what this is and my attempts to identify it have failed thus far. It looks a bit Hover-fly/Wasp/Hornet to me.
Driving back down Bluebell Hill I had the desire for an ice cream, so I dropped by Tyland Barn, headquarters of the Kent Wildlife Trust. I think I might join the Trust as they seem to do some good work. From their website:
Founded in 1958, Kent Wildlife Trust is the leading conservation charity for Kent and Medway – protecting wildlife, educating the public, influencing decision makers and restoring habitats.
Our reserves include a range of habitats of extraordinary beauty, that accommodate much endangered wildlife. The Trust manages over 59 reserves covering more than 3,000 hectares of land for wildlife including over 55 miles of roadside reserve.
(incidentally they sell Thornton’s Toffee Ice Creams and they are lush). Whilst eating my ice cream a Dragonfly settled nearby, so I figured my luck was changing.
Just for good measure, there seemed to be an abundance of Meadow Grasshoppers - hard to spot but out of the corner of my eye I saw one jumping and followed him.
I went for a little stroll around after this to stretch my legs and wandered past some massive stinging nettles that were blowing in the wind. Attached to one of them was this Speckled Bush Cricket. Not as sharp as i would like as the wind was pretty fierce and the nettle nearly stung my face a few times. No pain no gain I guess.
As I got back to the pond, I saw another Dragonfly settle on the bench. It seemed rude to ignore it.
All in all, not a bad haul for a couple of hours on a Sunday. I recommend both Beacon Wood Country Park and Tyland Barn for a lazy Sunday’s bug hunting. I expect these will be the last Dragonfly shots I get this summer… but hey, that’s the fun of bug hunting.
